The Computer

what do all these things have in common each of them works with information the word computer can be used to describe most of our machines which handle information there are two ways computers work with information they count as the dial of a telephone counts the clicks to make the right connection or they measure as a thermometer measures temperature these everyday machines are simple Compu computers but today when we say computer we mean the electronic computer [Applause] [Music] [Music] this computer has been given enough information and instructions so that it can hold written conversation with its operator in inside the computer this conversation uses thousands of electrical parts many parts are no larger than your fingernail some transistors are so tiny that 50,000 of them will fit in a fimble this computer has been instructed to ask for mathematical problems to be solved it takes much longer for Adrien to type in the problem than it does for the computer to solve it the computer can solve problems many times more difficult than these almost instantly a computer cannot think it simply counts electrical signals much the same way as you count the beads of an abacus instead of beads the computer counts electrical signals one by one with a speed of lightning and gives us the right answer computers are often equipped with an electronic screen much like your television set screens work fine for simple problems and solutions but where written records are needed computers give us information on high-speed printers we can understand how a computer works with information if we first examine a more simple machine all machines are meant to do a job to perform a process we put dirty clothes into a washing machine and it will process them into clean clothes again this machine can do several things so we must tell it what to do and when to do it we call these instructions a [Music] program a music box has many notes the roller is a program which makes the right notes sound at the right time to play a the tune what do you think controls this robot's movements the program controlling the processing in the washing machine calls for these clothes to be washed at the right temperature rinsed and spin dried a washing machine processes dirty clothes into clean clothes like most machines it saves us working with our muscles the computer helps us with the work of the Mind by processing information just as the mind the computer needs a way to remember the information it will process it needs a memory a record for a phonograph or the tape for a tape recorder is a kind of memory this music is stored in the grooves of the [Music] record each time the needle is placed on the same spot on the record the same sound is produced this is much the same kind of memory used in computers computers can be programmed for many things for instance they can sell tickets at a terminal many miles from where the computer is located in order for the computer to sell Tommy a ticket to the basketball game at the sports arena the computer must know the numbers of all the seats and how much each one costs this information which we also call data is punched into cards for the computer to read each hole is a separate bit of information the cards are read by a high-speed reader [Applause] and the information or data about each seat is transferred to the computer's memory of magnetic tapes or magnetic discs a program is sent to the memory which tells the computer what to do when someone inquires about buying a ticket Tommy and his mother want three seats for next Saturday the date and seat numbers are identified electronically and sent to the computer the seats are still available so Tommy's mother decides to buy the tickets for the family when she buys the tickets the computer sends the information needed to print them it also remembers that the seats have now been sold given information for its memory and a program of what to do the computer has instantly done the data processing needed to sell tickets to the basketball game this is just one small way computers help us save time and work computers allow us to solve more problems more rapidly and more accurately than ever before they help increase our knowledge about our world computers can map underground layers of Earth to help us find oil they can process ESS checks and credit cards they help to predict the weather help farmers to obtain good crops computers are used in building construction in scheduling transportation [Music] in research in Industry medicine and science computers help us all over the world and they even help us explore outer space what other work can you think of let computers do 4 3 2 1 iring command