Related topics: operating system , laptop , windows
Computer
hideA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.
Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.
The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.
For more information about Computer, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with computer
Glasgow's joking computer
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 11, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Glasgow Science Centre in Scotland is exhibiting a computer that makes up jokes using its database of simple language rules and a large vocabulary.
New techniques make carbon-based integrated circuits more practical
Dec 09, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (13) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford engineers have built what they believe is a chip with the most advanced computing and storage elements made of carbon nanotubes to date by devising a way to root out the stubborn ...
Entropy alone creates complex crystals from simple shapes, study shows
Dec 09, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (21) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that elevates the role of entropy in creating order, research led by the University of Michigan shows that certain pyramid shapes can spontaneously organize into complex quasicrystals.
Researchers demonstrate a better way for computers to 'see' (w/ Video)
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (17) |
4
Taking inspiration from genetic screening techniques, researchers from Harvard and MIT have demonstrated a way to build better artificial visual systems with the help of low-cost, high-performance gaming hardware.
Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics
Nov 26, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (12) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers ...
Selling chip makers on optical computing
Nov 24, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (11) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...
Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays (Update)
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
0
(AP) -- Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.
Turning heat to electricity... efficiently
Nov 18, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (65) |
9
(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way ...
Analysts warn that FTC suit could damage Intel
9 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
The Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Intel Wednesday -- the most far-reaching in a string of recent regulatory actions -- poses a huge threat to the Santa Clara, Calif., chip giant and could reshape the semiconductor ...
A new generation of computer tablets is on its way
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 17, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
2
I may have caught a glimpse of the future last week. In San Francisco, a startup company called Fusion Garage showed off the JooJoo, a touch-screen device that looks like the iPhone's big brother. The JooJoo ...
Soil Microorganisms? Role Cited as a Missing Factor in Climate Change Equation
Dec 17, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (7) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Those seeking to understand and predict climate change can now use an additional tool to calculate carbon dioxide exchanges on land, according to a scientific journal article co-authored by a University of ...
Computer simulation strengthens link between climate change and release of subsea methane
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (18) |
17
(PhysOrg.com) -- A first-of-its-kind computer simulation that mirrors real-world observations of methane bubbling up from a seabed in the Arctic Ocean provides further evidence that warming oceans may unleash ...
Intel hit with more antitrust charges in FTC suit
Dec 16, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
0
(AP) -- The Federal Trade Commission piled on new antitrust charges against Intel Corp. on Wednesday, seeking to end what it described as a decade of illegal sales tactics that have crippled rivals and kept ...
Microsoft to let Europeans pick browser in EU deal
Dec 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (5) |
1
(AP) -- More than 100 million Europeans will get to pick a Web browser after Microsoft agreed to offer Internet users a choice to avoid fresh fines - a move that could represent a real thawing of long-standing ...
US university coding future of news
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 16, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
Personalized newscasts culled from the Web and presented by digital avatars. Baseball stories written by computers using raw data.
