Computer

by Campbell-Kelly, Martin; Aspray, William

• ISBN13: 9780813342658
• ISBN10: 0813342651
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

Computer: A History of the Information Machine, Second Edition traces the story of the computer, and shows how business and government were the first to explore its unlimited, information-processing potential. Old-fashioned entrepreneurship combined with scientific know-how inspired now famous computer engineers to create the technology that became IBM. Wartime needs drove the giant ENIAC, the first fully electronic computer. Later, the PC enabled modes of computing that liberated people from room-sized, mainframe computers. This second edition now extends beyond the development of Microsoft Windows and the Internet, to include open source operating systems like Linux, and the rise and fall and potential rise of the dot.com industries.

Author Biography

William Aspray is Rudy Professor of Informatics at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction to the Second Edition	p. xi
Introduction to the First Edition	p. xiii
Before the Computer
When Computers Were People	p. 3
The Mechanical Office	p. 23
Babbage's Dream Comes True	p. 45
Creating the Computer
Inventing the Computer	p. 69
The Computer Becomes a Business Machine	p. 93
The Maturing of the Mainframe: The Rise and Fall of IBM	p. 117
Innovation and Expansion
Real Time: Reaping the Whirlwind	p. 141
Software	p. 163
New Modes of Computing	p. 185
Getting Personal
The Shaping of the Personal Computer	p. 207
Broadening the Appeal	p. 231
From the World Brain to the World Wide Web	p. 255
Notes	p. 281
Bibliography	p. 301
Index	p. 315
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.