History of computing/Definition

How electronic omputers were first invented, and how the technology underlying them has evolved rapidly. This history is challenging because of the complexity of any one computer, the speed with which computer technology has evolved, and the many different types of computers that have been built. Further, since computing reaches into so many different industries (such as telephony, automotives, or cameras) and has spawned a huge industry for the making of hardware and software for computers, it is difficult to know where such a history should stop.

This article is organized in sequential order, to present the major events in the development of general-purpose computing devices, including the basic evolution of their hardware components and software concepts. The article is organized by decade. Technologies appear, not in the decade in which they were first imagined or in which experimental versions became available, but in the decade in which they became widely accepted.