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computer
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A laptop computer Britannica's 21st-Century Technology Timeline personal computer and peripherals Moore's law computer hard drive DVD to CD comparison computer mouse laser printer inkjet printer
How does a quantum computer work?
For Students
computer summary
Quizzes
computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board
Computers and Technology Quiz
Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer
Computers and Operating Systems
Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer
A Brief History of the Computer Told from the 1990s: A Quiz
Internet http://www blue screen. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, media news television, crowd opinion protest, In the News 2009, breaking news
What Do You Actually Know About the Internet?
Related Questions
Read Next
Abstract vector hi speed internet technology background
History of Technology Timeline
Programming computer abstract
Influential Computer Programming Languages
Technical insides of a desktop computer
5 Components of Information Systems
Internet http://www blue screen. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, media news television, crowd opinion protest, In the News 2009, breaking news
Who Invented the Internet?
Discover
Normandy Invasion: Omaha Beach. World War II. D-Day. Infographic. SPOTLIGHT VERSION
Facts and Figures About the Landings on Omaha Beach During the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944
Dancers at a Cinco de Mayo festival at the Mission District, San Francisco, California. (Photo dated 2019.) holidays
Is Cinco de Mayo Mexico's Independence Day?
Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan
6 Animals That Eat Their Mates
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.
6 Lakes That Are Drying Up
Estimated battle casualties, Normandy invasion, World War II. WWII, D-Day
Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion and Campaign to Liberate Paris (June–August 1944)

computer: Media

Videos

How does a quantum computer work?
Learn about quantum computers.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Ada Lovelace's life and impact on scientific computing
Walter Isaacson discussing the life and impact of Ada Lovelace.
Video: © World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
How did the world's first programmable electronic computer work?
An overview of Colossus, the world's first large-scale electronic computer.
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
How the Elliott 803 transistorized computer works
Learn about the Elliott 803, a transistorized computer made in the United Kingdom...
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
What is the ICL 2966 computer and how does it work?
Learn about the ICL 2966, a mainframe computer utilizing integrated circuit technology,...
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Acorn Computers' BBC Micro explained
Learn about the BBC Micro, a microcomputer made in the 1980s by Acorn Computers,...
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Uncover the advancement in the brain-computer interface technologies and their contribution to improving human life
From devices that enable monkeys to control robotic arms with their minds to neural...
Video: Science in Seconds (www.scienceinseconds.com) (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Hear about a computer algorithm that can distinguish and deconstruct different types of smiles expressing automatically
Learn about a computer algorithm that can distinguish between smiles that express...
Video: © Massachusetts Institute of Technology (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

A laptop computer
A laptop is often used for its portability.
© Fatman73/Fotolia
personal computer and peripherals
A personal computer and its peripherals.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Moore's law
Gordon Moore observed that the number of transistors on a computer chip was doubling...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
computer hard drive
Computer hard drive.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
DVD to CD comparison
The DVD player uses a laser that is higher-powered and has a correspondingly finer...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
computer mouse
Computer mouse.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
laser printer
Laser printer.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
inkjet printer
Color inkjet printers can produce nearly any color by simultaneously heating and...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
local area networks (LANs)
Simple bus networks, such as Ethernet, are common for home and small office configurations....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
SETI@home
Screen shot of the SETI@home page.
Seti@home/University of California at Berkeley
Calculating Clock
A reproduction of Wilhelm Schickard's Calculating Clock. The device could add and...
The Computer Museum of America
Arithmetic Machine, or Pascaline
The Arithmetic Machine, or Pascaline, a French monetary (nondecimal) calculator...
Courtesy of the Computer Museum History Center
Step Reckoner
A reproduction of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz's Step Reckoner, from the original...
IBM Archives
Jacquard loom
Jacquard loom, engraving, 1874. At the top of the machine is a stack of punched cards...
The Bettmann Archive
Difference Engine
The completed portion of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, 1832. This advanced...
Science Museum London
Charles Babbage: Analytical Engine
A portion (completed 1910) of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Only partially...
Science Museum London
Ada Lovelace
Portrait of Ada Lovelace by Margaret Carpenter, 1836.
© IanDagnall Computing/Alamy
Hollerith census tabulator
This cover of Scientific American, August 30, 1890, displays various aspects...
IBM Archives
Vannevar Bush with Differential Analyzer
Vannevar Bush with his Differential Analyzer, c. 1935.
MIT Museum
Harvard Mark I, 1943
Designed by Howard Aiken, this electromechanical computer, more than 15 meters (50...
IBM Archives
Clifford Berry and Atanasoff-Berry Computer
Clifford Berry and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. The ABC, c. 1942, was possibly the...
Iowa State University Photo Service
Colossus computer
The Colossus computer at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, c. 1943. Funding...
Geoff Robinson Photography/Shutterstock.com
Manchester Mark I
The Manchester Mark I, the first stored-program digital computer, c. 1949.
Reprinted with permission of the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Eng.
Ferranti Mark I
Tom Kilburn standing beside the console of the Ferranti Mark I computer, c. 1950.
Reprinted with permission of the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Eng.
EDSAC computer
The EDSAC computer, 1947, with designer Maurice Wilkes (kneeling in the center of...
Courtesy of the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
IBM 650 computer system
Relatively inexpensive, compact, and easy to operate, the IBM 650 quickly became...
IBM Archives
Apple I
Steve Jobs (right) and Steve Wozniak holding an Apple I circuit board, c. 1976....
Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
Graphical user interface
The Xerox Alto was the first computer to use graphical icons and a mouse to control...
Courtesy of Xerox
first computer mouse
Douglas Engelbart invented the computer mouse in 1963–64 as part of an experiment...
Courtesy of the Bootstrap Institute
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer (PC) was introduced in 1981. Microsoft supplied the machine's...
IBM Archives
Compaq portable computer
Compaq Computer Corporation introduced the first IBM-compatible portable computer...
Courtesy of Compaq Computer Corp.
Palm Pilot
Introduced in March 1997, the Palm Pilot personal digital assistant (PDA) was equipped...
Courtesy of 3Com Corporation
BlackBerry
The BlackBerry personal digital assistant (PDA), manufactured by the Canadian company...
PRNewsFoto/Verizon Wireless/AP Images
iPod
Apple's fifth-generation iPod portable media player, 2005.
Courtesy of Apple
LV enV2
LG enV2 telephone by Verizon Wireless featuring a music player, games, mobile messaging,...
Verizon Wireless/PRNewsFoto/AP Images
Apple's Lisa computer
Apple's Lisa computer.
Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
first Apple computer
The first Apple computer.
Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.
Intel Desktop Board D915GUX
A detail of the Intel Desktop Board D915GUX. The primary circuit board connects all...
Copyright Intel Corporation
computers in a classroom
A school computer lab, its computers linked into a local area network (LAN) to allow...
© Brand X Pictures/Jupiterimages
Students using computers in a classroom.
© BananaStock
The basic organization of a computer.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Interactives

Britannica's 21st-Century Technology Timeline
Explore more about computers and technology in Britannica's 21st-Century Technology...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc
VIEW MORE in these related Britannica articles: