Major Essay Proposal
The essay topic I have selected is home computers. I would like to compare the impacts of computers on society with those of other major technologies and try to argue as well as conclude that home computers have had the greatest impact since the printing press.
My focus in the essay will be how computer technologies are applied to every respect of every day life. My goal is to illustrate as well as convince that without computers, we can not live a life like we do today, but without other technologies, and we may survive. A very simple generalized reason is that computers now can achieve almost everything some other technologies can.
A tentative outline is (sections and section headings subject to change):
- Introduction
- Overview of computers’ development
- Computers’ contribution to society in comparison with other major technologies such as television, operating system, radio or telegraph etc and give examples to support my view
- Use as my references well-known recent articles and try to summarize the main point
- Computers’ impact in the future
- What have I learned from all this
- Conclusions
- References
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Introduction
Computers are commonly used items in many areas. It is an important thing to people, especially the people who run organizations, industry, etc. Almost anything you know is run or made by computers. Cars and jets were designed on computers, traffic signals are run by computers, most medical equipment use computers and space exploration was started with computers. Most of the jobs today require the use of computers. These ‘mechanical brains’ made a huge impact on our society. It would be hard if we didn’t have the computer around.
computers appear to be everywhere today, Even when we don’t encounter them directly in their various forms of modern convenience devices, such as digital watches, microwave ovens, VCRs, and the like, we generate transactions that are processed via computers without actively doing anything: the utility companies are recording our usage, the phone company records incoming calls, our answering machine might be recording a message while we are doing something else.
Brief history of computers
Computers weren’t as technological and complex like the ones we know. Early computers didn’t use chips or monitors. They weren’t as small as the ones today. Back in the early 1600 to 1800s, people had theories, plans, or ideas of making a device that could do complex problems and mathematics so that they wouldn’t keep writing down problems and solve them manually. They wanted a device that could add and subtract. Many of them started building such a device. They called this device the calculator or computer, since it calculates. The first digital calculator which could add and subtract was made by Blaise Pascal, a famous mathematician. Pretty soon, many calculators/computers were being made.
As years passed by, newer calculators or computers were being invented one after the other. In 1671, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz invented a small computer, not the advanced technological ones, that could add and multiply. Soon after, Charles Xavier Thomas built a newer calculator that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. His invention was the first to become commercially successful. Most inventions and their inventors were inspirations to other people and wanted to continue their work and improve the computer their way. Probably one of the first complex computer that was an important part of the computer’s history was ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer/Calculator. This computer was big. It took a large room to fit this big computer in. ENIAC could do thousands of calculations, which it was made for. It was made by Presper Eckert and their associates. ENIAC was made during World War II so it was also used to calculate movement and strategies for the military during the war. It was very helpful for the Allied forces, especially America, during WWII. Computers have a long history to explain. Many scientists, inventors and computer technicians worked hard to make the computer and that hard work paid off. All the people who helped make the computer went down in history for doing so. The computer helped out the world a lot. You will see how profound it is in the next section.
The Major Impacts
Computers changed the world a lot. It helped man step forward into the future. Thanks to computers, space exploration came true, new designs of vehicles and other transportation were made; entertainment became more entertaining, medical science made more cures for diseases, etc. The computers impacted our lives in many ways. You may not notice it but they did make life a lot easier. Some people say that computers are taking away man power. That maybe true but computers did we make the impossible possible. It is impossible to name all the impacts in this paper, but we can see some major ones.
On Education
Through the use of advanced computing and telecommunications technology, learning can also be qualitatively different. The process of learning in the classroom can become significantly richer as students have access to new and different types of information, can manipulate it on the computer through graphic displays or controlled experiments in ways never before possible, and can communicate their results and conclusions in a variety of media to their teacher, students in the next classroom, or students around the world. For example, using technology, students can collect and graph real-time weather, environmental, and populations data from their community, use that data to create color maps and graphs, and then compare these maps to others created by students in other communities. Similarly, instead of reading about the textbook pictures depicting blood flow, students can use technology to see blood moving through veins and arteries, watch the process of oxygen entering the bloodstream, and experiment to understand the effects of increased pulse or cholesterol-filled arteries on blood flow.
Education was impacted by computers very much. Computers help out students in a lot of today’s projects and essays. If a student were to do an essay, they could look in an electronic encyclopedia in the computer or they could look up their topic on the internet. Computers help students in any way they need, researching, typing, searching, etc. Teachers use computers as well. They use computers to keep track of grades, type out instruction for their students, and to let students use the computer for school purposes.
On Business
Computers impacted many items in today’s business world area too. Business uses computers for keeping track of accounts, money, or items that they need. You may notice business people using computers a lot, especially the laptop computers, portable computers that can be taken to your work area. You may see people use things like pie-charts and graphs when they present information to other business people in meetings. Most of those charts were made by computers. The business field uses the computers a lot for their companies and organizations.
With the rapidly advancing technologies that are occurring in modern business, organizations are required to be ready, and able to adapt within their ever-changing environment. The computer technology has quickly become one of the most valuable assets in modern technology, and as such, is developing as an integral part of modern commerce. As with past technologies, the internet will have future technological advances develop from its own growth. The Internet has lead to the birth and evolution of electronic commerce or E-commerce. E-commerce has now become a key component of many organizations in the daily running of their business.
On entertainment
Another area computers impacted on is the entertainment area. Most of the people out there like science fiction or action movies, especially the ones with the neat looking effects. Well, those graphics were mostly made by computers. Most of the movies today use computer graphics to make things more realistic but not real. Computer graphics are mostly used on spaceships, aliens, monsters, and special effects. Movies like Jurassic Park, Wing Commander, Starship Troopers, used computers to make them look more interesting and realistic. There are even movies completely made by computers like Toy Story and A Bugs’ Life.
Not only movies used computer animations and graphics. Games on the latest game consoles like Play station used the computers to make the coolest games ever. Games now and days use computer graphics and animations to make the coolest games. Computer games also have their share. New 3D games were made by really cool computer graphics. It would be really boring without all this wouldn’t you think? That’s how computers impacted today’s entertainment.
On health
An important field computers impacted on is the medical field. The computers helped the hospitals out very much. In pharmacies, the pharmacists use computers to keep a record of what medication to give to a patient and the amount they need. Most computers in the hospital are used to keep data of patience and their status. Computers also keep track of equipment placement and status as well. Scientists need the help of computers to find cures for diseases that need cures like cancer and STDs. Without the computers help, cures for a lot of diseases wouldn’t have been found. Computer helped the medical area a lot and we are grateful for that since they keep track of our health.
Glimpse of impacts of other technology
Of course, there are many other important information technologies out there that have profound impact on almost everything, we can’t go through all of them here, below we will mention some, my point is that computer technology is the one in my view that have had the most profound impact, either computer technology can do what ever technology can or other technology need computer to be more effective.
Radio
The radio was certainly one of the most important inventions of the 1920s, because it brought a whole new way for people to communicate and interact. Radio provided a cheap and convenient way of conveying information and ideas.
Today, people listen to the radio online and radio-listeners substantially declining during the past few years.
TV
It’s hard to imagine a world without television. Most American families have multiple T.V. sets around the house and at least one is on from when they get up in the morning until they go to bed in the evening. It seems as if television is and always has been an important part of our everyday lives.
Today, you can also want TV online, and in a more flexible way.
Printing press
The effect of the printing press was to multiply the output and cut the costs of books. It thus made information available to a much larger segment of the population who were eager for information of any variety. The printing press certainly initiated an “information revolution” on the Internet today. Printing could and did spread new ideas quickly and with greater impact.
Without computers?!
Let’s imagine for a minute. Let’s think of a world without computers. People in the medical field wouldn’t have found a lot of cures to diseases, since most cures were found with the help of computers. Movies like Jurassic Park would never have been made without computers because they used computer graphics and animation in them. Pharmacies would have a hard time keeping track with what medications to give to patience. Counting votes would be impossible without computers and most importantly, space exploration wouldn’t be possible without the help of computers. It’s a pretty tough life without computers. Without computers, all this wouldn’t be possible.
SummaryComputers helped us take a large step into the future. Businesses and entertainment uses them to make profits, Education uses them to help educate students better, and the Medical field uses computers in different ways. Even you are playing computer games, when you are watching the latest movies, or you are researching on a topic for your essay on computer, you are affected by the computer.
Computers absolutely completely changed the world and it keeps changing. Everyone was impacted by this remarkable device. You might disagree with me a little bit, one thing is certain: without computers, we are not anywhere close to where we are today!
References and sources
Blaise Pascal (pronounced [blez pɑskɑl]), (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also Leibnitz or von Leibniz) (July 1 (June 21 Old Style) 1646 – November 14, 1716) was a German polymath who wrote mostly in French and Latin.
Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar (1785-1870) designed and patented the Arithmometer, in 1820. It was the first successful mechanical calculator that could add, subtract, and multiply.
John Presper Eckert Jr. (“Pres”), a computer pioneer, was born April 9, 1919 in Philadelphia and died June 3, 1995 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Nick Lemons, Computers Impact on Education, Business, Entertainment, history and future, and the Private Sector.
Alfred Lewis. The New World of Computers. Dodd, Mead, and Company, New York, 1965.
Roger C. Schank and Peter G. Childers. The Cognitive Computer. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., Workingham, Berkshire, Amsterdam, Don Mills, Ontario Sydney, 1984.
Swanson, Robert. “Computers.” Grolier Incorporated. Academic American Encyclopedia. Volume 5, Deluxe Library Edition.
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