1) How was unique about Charles Babbage Analytical Engine, compared to his original Difference Engine?
The difference engine was capable of doing only one thing at a time, calculate by the method of differences. The purpose of the Analytical Engine was to do many different things at a time. It was programmable by punch cards.
2) What role did Ada Lovelace play in the development of the Analytical Engine?
She was Babbage’s interpreter to the world. She was considered to be the first computer programmer because she helped write programs for his machine.
3) How was the ENIAC computer reprogrammed?
Individual people would have to set up to 6000 switches and rewiring and replugging hundreds of cables connecting different parts of the machine. The individual would have to have extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the machine.
4) Name an innovation that helped make programming faster post ENIAC (see ep. 2)
Punch cards were used to program computers, followed by newer programming languages that were more similar to human speech.
5) What is it about binary counting that makes it so well suited to computers?
This is because it requires a single digit to process the counting. A zero would represent off and a one could represent on. Because the switch only has two possible modes, they were much faster than the gears used in earlier computers.
6) In what ways did UNIVAC influence the portrayal of computers in popular culture in the 1950s? Give an example. (see ep. 2)
It was the iconic “flashing lights” big computer upon which many science fiction movies would portray their prop computers in that time period. It was a room sized, large computer with a lot of flashing lights and witches.
7) Codebreaking required the automatic manipulation of symbols to unscramble messages during WWII. What was the name of the rudimentary computer at Bletchley Park in England that unscrambled Nazi codes.
It’s name was the Colossus.
8) Alan Turing who understood the implications of such machines later went on to describe them as __________ machines.
He described them as learning machines.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Write two paragraphs for each:
9) Describe when you first used computers and what types of tasks you performed on them.
I first used computers around 1992. My dad worked for Texas Instruments at the time, and we had two computers in the house. Back then, I was only around four years old. My dad would show me how to use DOS to bring up games or programs, but I never really grasped the technology until later on, when DOS wasn’t used anymore. I remember seeing wireframe models of cars on the computer as well.
Later on, after I moved from Texas to California, we had better computers in the house. I remember playing 3d games and flight simulators with joysticks. Other than gaming, I didn’t use the computers for much at all. I may have used it as a calculator, but I honestly cannot remember much about my first experiences with computers that doesn’t have to do with playing video games.
10) How restricted do you think computers are in terms of what they can do compared to how they are most often used?
What it all really boils down to is what the programmers design for people to use. Without having knowledge of the underlying process, a person can only do what is visible and initially available for them to select to do. In today’s world, most programs are limited specifically by the way they are laid out and prepared for use. That being said, most programs are produced to do a certain set of tasks which are then selected for use by the user.
Having a program where the user is able to program and create their own processes and essentially reprogram the program to do exactly what the want is going to be the future of most programs, outside of the ones where this idea has already been implemented. The only thing limiting the computers themselves are the speeds of the hardware.
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