isn't it amazing? AMAZING!!!, isn't it surprising? SURPRISING!!!, isn't it?? yeah it is... computers...

            A computer is a device that is known all over the world, if not all then maybe most of the people for programming. The word computer generally means a “programmable machine”. We know it as an appliance which is used to create documents, reports, for internet, and others. But, what we don’t know that there are many other uses of computer, depending on their types. The computer we use for documents and researches is known as the “personal computer”.  A computer has two principal characteristics. These are: it responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner and it can execute a prerecorded list of instructions or a program.

The timeline of the development of computers is quite long, but there are only four major generations in the history of computers. The first generation started in 1946 when the ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator system became active or operational. This system was built by the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC is significant because it is the first general electronic computer system and was also used for research. ENIAC weighed around 30 tons and is two stories tall. ENIAC operated using 18000 vacuum tubes and could perform 500 basic arithmetic functions per second. Other computers followed ENIAC. In 1951, the computers of the first generation were improved dramatically because of the invention of UNIVAC I which still used vacuum tubes. UNIVAC I had the greatest difference compared to the other computers that were created between the period of ENIAC and UNIVAC I. This is because UNIVAC I is the first machine-purpose built for commercial electronic data processing. The second generation of computers started in 1959 when transistors became commercially available until 1964. The transistors were much smaller, generally reliable, and use less power than the vacuum tubes. These resulted to more powerful and faster computers. These computers are about twenty times than ENIAC. The third generation started in the late 1960’s. This was when the silicon chips were used instead of transistors. These computer chips were equal to hundreds of transistors. The fourth generation of computers was during the 1970’s. This generation is identified by the number of circuits that can be packed into a single chip. This technology led to the mass usage of personal computers. In the future, during the fifth generation, computers already process data through light pulses instead of electrical pulses. Computers literally operate at the speed of light, and process data hundreds of times faster than the computers today.

There are also other types of computers. These are personal computers, the workstations, the minicomputers, the mainframes, and the supercomputers. Personal computers also have many types. These are the PDA or the Personal Digital Assistant, the Palmtop, the Hand-held computer, the Subnotebook computer, the Laptop computer, the Notebook computer, the Desktop model, and the Tower model.

I can only say that we should know the value and the worth of computers in our lives because these devices have really great roles and have helped us a lot. Also, let us not us abuse the help the computers had given, is giving, and will be given to us, and let us not use it in a bad way.