Section 1 Flashcards
What did computers originate from?
telephone switches in the early 1900’s
What is Moore’s Law?
trend of reducing switch sizes by half about every 2 years
What is a computer chip?
coin sized device that can hold an entire computer
When did Engineers configure telephone switches to do simple calculations like adding two numbers.
1920s
When were computers first created?
1940s
When could Engineers put multiple switches on a single chip. U.S. moon rocket program brought dramatically improved chips and decreased prices.
1960s
When could Earlier room-sized computers fit on one coin-sized computer chip.
1970s
When could Earlier room-sized computers fit on a pinhead-sized chip
Today
How long did civilizations agricultural age last?
many thousands of years
When did the Industrial Age start?
1700s
When did the Information Age start?
1990s
What happened when the Information Age began?
human activity shifting from traditional industry to creating/managing/using computerized information
What happened when the Industrial Age began?
transformed civilization towards manufacturing goods, leading to mass migration to cities, creation of strong nations, world wars, doubling of lifespans and thus dramatic world population growth, and more
What were computers in 1940s & 1950
large expensive machines for government and business purposes
few existed worldwide, costing millions of dollars, weighing over a ton, and occupying entire rooms
when were computer chips invented?
1950s
when did businesses begin buying more computers?
1960s and 1970s
when did people begin purchasing desktop and laptop computers for home use
1980s
when were computers began appearing in the form of electronic tablets, book readers, and smartphones too?
2000s
what is an embedded computer?
a computer inside another electrical device, like inside a TV, car, printer, thermostat, satellite, etc
What are computers built from?
connected switches that, like light switches, are either on or off. On is called 1, and off is 0.
what is a bit?
a single 0 or 1
what is a byte?
eight bits (01001111)
What is a character?
a letter (a, b, …, z, A, B, …, Z), symbol (!, @, #, …), or single-digit number (0, 1, …, 9). Basically, each item on a keyboard is a character (though more characters exist).
What is ASCII?
a popular code for characters. Ex: Using ASCII, the letter Z would be stored in a computer as 1011010