- The first use of the word 'computer' was recorded in 1613. This referred to a person who carried out calculations or computations. From the end of the 19th century the word changed to the meaning of a machine that carries out computations.
- The history of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies, automated calculation and programmability.
- In 1801, Joseph Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom by introducing a series of punched paper cards as a template which allowed his loom to weave patterns automatically. This was an important step in the development of computers because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns is regarded as an early form of programmability.
- It was the fusion of automatic calculation with programmability that produced the first recognisable computers.
The development of the Internet
- Unlike any other technology, the Internet is hard to define as it can be whatever we make it. We can shape it. We can mold it. But most importantly, we can use it to connect people, communities, and countries around the world.
- The Internet has changed a lot in the first two decades since it came into existence. It was conceived in the era of time-sharing, but has survived into the era of personal computers, client-server and peer-to-peer computing, and the network computer.
- It was envisioned as supporting a range of functions from file sharing and remote login to resource sharing and collaboration, and has produced electronic mail and more recently the World Wide Web. But most important, it started as the creation of a small band of dedicated researchers, and has grown to be a commercial success with billions of dollars of annual investment.
- The Internet must and will, continue to change and evolve at the speed of the computer industry if it is to remain relevant. It is now changing to provide new services such as real time transport, in order to support, for example, audio and video streams.
- Tim Berners-Lee worked as an independent contractor at CERN after graduating. While at CERN he proposed a project based on the concept of hypertext, to ease sharing and updating information among researchers. To demonstrate, he built a prototype system named ENQUIRE.
- The first website built was at CERN within the border of France, and was first put online on 6 August 1991.
- In 1993 the Internet carried only 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunication, by 2000 this figure had grown to 51%, and by 2007 more than 97% of all telecommunicated information was carried over the Internet.
