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Computing Device: Development and Characteristics
Lord Byron, the famous English romantic poet, had little interest in technology. Moreover, he sympathized with the Luddites, a movement against mechanical weaving machines. In his 1812 speech in the House of Lords, Byron defended Ned Ludds followers, mocking the mill owners who had replaced workers with automated looms (Isaacson, 2014). He was a romantic, adventurous, and rebellious person, guided by emotions rather than reason. Eventually, Lord Byron separated from the family and left his wife, Annabella, and his infant daughter, Ada. He sailed to fight in a war for Greek independence, where he died from cold (Isaacson, 2014). Lady Byron attempted to extinguish the restless fathers spirit in Ada by having the girl study mathematics (Isaacson, 2014). In this regard, Lord Byron posthumously contributed to his daughters upbringing as little Ada was introduced to mathematics and technology.
In the end, Ada Lovelace largely inherited her fathers romantic personality and combined vivid poetic imagination with an aptitude for mathematics. In particular, she realized that Charles Babbages Difference Engine could be used for operations other than number calculations. The Analytical Engine computing device concept was born mainly due to Adas poetic ingenuity. According to Isaacson (2014), Adas insight became the core concept of the digital age. Ada was right in her assumption that computing devices could adapt and express any piece of information.
In contrast, Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, inventor, and Adas friend, focused on numbers. Drawing inspiration from Joseph-Marie Jacquards looming machine, Babbage discovered a way of turning his Difference Engine into an Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computer (Isaacson, 2014). Cooperation with Ada Lovelace resulted in the developing of a program for Analytical Engine that could generate Bernoulli numbers (Isaacson, 2014). In this regard, Charles Babbage can be considered a creator of the first computer, whereas Ada Lovelace helped him refine the concept and recognize the true potential of computing devices.
Computer Characteristics: Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, and Howard Aiken
Four key characteristics of computing define the modern computer age. Firstly, the computer revolution embraced digital technology as a more promising approach than analog computing. Secondly, computer engineers adopted an effective binary digital system that worked better for performing logical operations. Thirdly, electronic components, such as vacuum tubes, transistors, and microchips, were invented for performance optimization. Finally, computers were created for general purposes, with the possibility to be programmed for various tasks (Isaacson, 2014). Computer pioneers such as Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, and Howard Aiken contributed to the advancements in each of the critical characteristics.
In particular, Alan Turing demonstrated the superiority of digital computing machines to analog devices. His imaginary Logical Computing Machine was able to solve mathematical computations of extreme complexity by reading binary symbols and performing actions based on a proper table of instructions (Isaacson, 2014). Turing also claimed that such a machine would be able to compute any computable sequence (Isaacson, 2014). In this regard, Turing also demonstrated the general purpose characteristic since his machine could work with instructions written for any other machine.
Similar to Turing, Claude Shannon saw the immense potential of a binary digital system for complex computations. However, his work revealed the true power of electronics, as Shannon took inspiration from electrical circuits used to route calls in phone systems (Isaacson, 2014). Shannon realized that relay circuits could be used for executing Boolean algebra functions, in which true propositions are valued as 1 and false as 0 (Isaacson, 2014). Essentially, he conceptualized ideas of binary coding and electronics still used in programming and modern computers.
Finally, Howard Aiken fulfilled the century-old ideas of Charles Babbage in practice, combining the original idea of the Difference Engine with modern execution. The Harvard Mark I computer constructed in 1944 was digital but not binary (Isaacson, 2014). In addition, Aiken did not adopt the burgeoning electronic technology Mark I used mechanical relays powered by electric motors, which negatively affected performance (Isaacson, 2014). However, Aikens project gave birth to a fully operational, automatic, general-purpose digital computing machine, which was the true start of the computer era.
Reference
Isaacson, W. (2014). The innovators: How a group of hackers, geniuses, and geeks created the digital revolution. Simon & Schuster.
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