Computing Hardware
The History
Tim Berner-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee also known as TimBL was born on 8 June 1955. He is English computer-scientist ,best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He made a proposal for an information management system in March 1989, and he implanted the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the internet sometime around mid-November of that year.
Alan Turing
Is a computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher mathematical biologists and ultra distance runner.
He was highly influential in the development of computer science.
During the second world war, Turing worked for the government code and cypher school(GC&CS) at Bletchley park, Britain's code breaking centre. For a time he led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war Polish bombe method, an electrometrical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine
The Fourth Generations of Computers
First generation
Second generation
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was created in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors.
The second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly, languages which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words.
Third generation
The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips , called semiconductors , which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.
instead od punched cards and printouts users interacted with the third generation computers though keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system.
Forth generation
Fifth generation
Inputs and Outputs
An input could be a Keyboard, Mouse, Controller, Touch screen, Internality gloves and a graphics tablet.
An Output could be Speakers, Monitors, Headphones, The LED on a memory stick when files are being put on it, Printer Oculus Rift and projector.
Drivers
A driver is software that allows your computer to communicate with hardware or devices. Without drivers, the hardware you connect to your computer—for example, a video card or a printer—won't work properly.
In most cases, drivers come with Windows or you can find them by going to Windows Update in Control Panel and checking for updates. If Windows doesn't have the driver you need, go to the windows compatibility center website, which lists thousands of devices, and has direct links to driver downloads. Also, you can often find drivers on the disc that came with the hardware or device you want to use, or on the manufacturer's website.
Monitor
Monitors are a output because they show what your doing with your inputs
Monitors are used to display text and pictures.
Basically it is the screen which we are allowed to have visual images. Without the computer monitors and humans wouldn't interact much
CPU
CPU (pronounced as separate letters) is the abbreviation for central processing unit.
Sometimes referred to simply as the central processor, but more commonly called processor, the CPU is the brains of the computer where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.
Printed Circuit Boards
On large machines, the CPU requires one or more printed circuit boards. On personal computers and small workstations, the CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor. Since the 1970's the microprocessor class of CPUs has almost completely overtaken all other CPU implementations
Ram/Rom
Main store (or computer memory) is divided into Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM).
ROM
ROM is memory that cannot be changed by a program or user. ROM retains its memory even after the computer is turned off. For example, ROM stores the instructions for the computer to start up when it is turned on again.
RAM
RAM is a fast temporary type of memory in which programs, applications and data are stored. Here are some examples of what's stored in RAM:
- the operating system
- applications
- the graphical user interface (GUI)
If a computer loses power, all data stored in its RAM is lost
Mother Boards
A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, planar board or logic board, or colloquially, a mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) found in computers and other expandable systems. It holds many of the crucial electronic components of the system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard contains significant sub-systems such as the processor and other components.
Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability and as the name suggests, this board is the "mother" of all components attached to it, which often include sound cards, video cards, network cards, hard drives, or other forms of persistent storage; TV tuner cards, cards providing extra USB or FireWire slots and a variety of other custom components (the term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability, such as controlling boards in televisions, washing machines and other embedded systems).
Touch Screens
touchscreen is an input device normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of a information processing system. A user can give input or control the information processing system through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus/pen and-or one or more fingers.[1] Some touchscreens use an ordinary or specially coated gloves to work while others use a special stylus/pen only. The user can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and to control how it is displayed (for example by zooming the text size).
The touchscreen enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed, rather than using a mouse touchpad, or any other intermediate device (other than a stylus, which is optional for most modern touchscreens).
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi
What is a Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
What’s more, the Raspberry Pi has the ability to interact with the outside world, and has been used in a wide array of digital maker projects, from music machines and parent detectors to weather stations and tweeting birdhouses with infra-red cameras. We want to see the Raspberry Pi being used by kids all over the world to learn to program and understand how computers work.
Raspberry Pi Foundation
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a registered educational charity (registration number 1129409) based in the UK. Our Foundation’s goal is to advance the education of adults and children, particularly in the field of computers, computer science and related subjects. See our stories page for more information about the Foundation’s charitable work.
You can read more about the history of Raspberry Pi and the people who have helped to make it the success it is today on our raspberry page
Rapid Prototyping (3D Printer)
3D printing (or additive manufacturing, AM) is any of various processes used to make a three-dimensional object. In 3D printing, additive processes are used, in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control. These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source. A 3D printer is a type of industrial robot.
3D printing in the term's original sense refers to processes that sequentially deposit material onto a powder bed with inkjet printer heads. More recently the meaning of the term has expanded to encompass a wider variety of techniques such as extrusion and sintering based processes. Technical standards generally use the term additive manufacturing for this broader sense.