计算机英语基础教程怎么上,大学计算机英语基础教程.doc

大学计算机英语基础教程

Computer Basics

简介：全书内容丰富，分为八章，主要内容包括计算机基础知识、微型计算机计算机硬件组成、操作系统原理、Windows XP使用、Office 2007办公软件、计算机病毒1.1 Development of Computer

Nothing epitomizes modern life better than the computer. For better or worse, computers have infiltrated every aspect of our society. Today computers do much more than simply compute. But where did all this technology come from and where is it heading? To fully understand and appreciate the impact computers have on our lives and promises they hold for the future, it is important to understand their evolution.

The history of computer development is often referred to the different generations of computing devices. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices.

Read about each generation and the developments that led to the current devices we use today.

1.1.1 History of Computer

1. First Generation (1940—1956)

The first generation computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms (see figure 1.1). They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.

First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

2. Second Generation (1956—1963)

By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed the computer’s development (see figure1.2). The transistor replaced the large, cumbersome vacuum tube in televisions, radios and computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery has been shrinking ever since. The transistor was at work in the computer by 1956. Coupled wi