Talk:History of computing

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Revision as of 16:54, 3 May 2008 by imported>Pat Palmer (archiving another bit which I didn't write and don't want here at present)
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 Definition:  How electronic computers were first invented; how the technology underlying them evolved. [d] [e]
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Archive 1, 9-24-07: Talk:History_of_computing/Archive1

Philosophy

Thanks to Robert_King for helping me develop an initial draft of this page. What do people think of this as an approach for this page?Pat Palmer 18:53, 24 September 2007 (CDT)

  • Because "History of computing" is a potentially enormous topic, I'd like to organize this article in chronological order, with a bullet list under the main headings. (NOTE: I'm trying to illustrate this starting with the earliest items in the article, and will work on converting the existing material to this form when I can. This takes time, as new "starter" articles need to be created.)
  • Each bullet item should be only a few sentences long, pointing off to a longer article on the topic discussed. Limit: one paragraph per item.
  • Ideally, each bullet item should include one key reference (so that, eventually, there will be a decent bibliography for each item listed).
  • For now, I'd like to suspend decisions about whether a bullet item "deserves" to be on the list. Instead, please register any comments on this page. We will then seek expert oversight to help make longterm decisions about what "makes the list" or doesn't make the list.

next steps

I've put a bunch of placeholders for history since 1950. Those need a SHORT paragraph with pointers off to other articles. I've tried to hit the major trends. In most cases, I placed an occurrence in the decade where it became mainstream, rather than the one in which research leading to it began. I'd love to have some help filling in this stuff. Anyone?Pat Palmer 01:07, 3 May 2008 (CDT)

archive of former starting paragraph

I am saving this here in case we want to reinstate it, but I think I want to open the article differently: The earliest reference to the term, in 1631, comes from the French word with the same meaning, derived from the Latin word computare meaning "to count, to sum up." The word is formed from two roots: com- meaning "with", and +putare meaning "to reckon" (originally "to prune.")[1]. According to the first definition given by the Oxford English Dictionary, a computer is: "One who computes; a calculator, reckoner; spec. a person employed to make calculations in an observatory, in surveying, etc."Pat Palmer 16:31, 3 May 2008 (CDT)


archiving hidden timeline code here

Though it doesn't show up.Pat Palmer 16:33, 3 May 2008 (CDT)

another archived bit

I am removing this, for now: Not all of this may be regarded as positive, however; the explosive intrusion in life of the computer in all its facets is sometimes referred to as the digital revolution[2]. It may have a place somewhere; I'm not sure it belongs here.Pat Palmer 16:54, 3 May 2008 (CDT)

  1. ↑ "compute", Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
  2. ↑ The Digital Revolution, the Informed Citizen, and the Culture of Democracy by Henry Jenkins and David Thorburn (from the introduction to Democracy and New Media, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003). MIT Press (2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
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