Computers: The Early History to Now

According to Computers The Life Story of a Technology, by Eric G. Swedin and David L. Ferro, the use of technology by humans began eons ago, although the face of technology has changed greatly with the times. The use of technology seems to be well documented by the remains of the earliest tools found in archeological sites and in later times, in the published works of the various inventors and the users of the assorted systems. Through this evolution of technology, humans have become more accepting and dependent on different types of machinery and now embrace it as an integral part of their daily lives. Swedin and Ferro say "...devices representing reality became very popular as both tools and objects of curiosity" (2) 
I believe this is an accurate statement that is relevant both in ancient times with the use of the mechanical computer used for navigation by the Romans and its more recent manifestation in the use of the Cray supercomputers that drive the operations of the world's most complex equations and calculations. But what is most interesting about this evolution is that it is always a human whose imagination and "thinking out of the box idea" that makes the great leap that leads to the advances that become commonplace a few years later.

The story that particularly intrigued me is the story of the genesis of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). All our lives, we have taken for granted that Big Blue has always been there and this story confirmed that idea. When Herman Hollerith developed a quicker and more precise way of processing census data for the U.S. Census Bureau in 1889 (21), and formed his company the Tabulating Machine Company, he could not have imagined that it would grow into the computer giant that it became over the next hundred years. Remnants of the monopoly that IBM had on the computer world for decades still exists today and there were few other viable choices for business and government use of technology. Their business model is still studied in business classes and IBM's approach to development of new products by using the deep pockets of the U.S. government to finance research was copied by developers of defense systems and other companies which require mega-million dollar investments. Using the trickle down theory, we are the beneficiaries of much of their original research, from calculators to memory chips to software, which are all commonplace today. These advances once pioneered by IBM have become more applicable in our lives years after they are declassified.

I was surprised that there wasn't anything written on ARPANET and the beginning of how computers began their communication network since we watched that documentary on it. I guess it is to come in the second half of the book. In the meantime, I do my blogging on an IBM clone desktop, I have an IBM laptop, and my work computer is also an IBM clone desktop. I would hazard a guess that IBM has had an impact on my computing life, albeit a weakening influence since my entire family is now using Macs.