Does a pocket calculator have more computing power than the 1st space ships computers did?
116879
Well that is what "they" say. I think it is a little more complex than that. Certainly the newer pocket calculater has a faster processer and probably more available memory but the two devices have different functional needs. It would be like asking which is smarter a microwave oven or a cel phone. Even today components used in spacecraft are not cutting edge devices. This is for several reasons, some are cost and reliability, and some are the environmental differences between exposure to space and radiation and simply operating in your home.
615205
ever hear of a calculator?
496551
This is actually a fascinating question, so I'm going to give a long answer.  The short answer is "Nothing.  Nothing is similar."  Here's the long asnwer:\n\nTo the average user, it seems like there are a lot of similarities: \n\nthey both have memory, \nthey both take in information and put out information, \nthey both need sources of power\nThey both "think," sort of\n\nBut really, these are only similarities on the surface.  Although both you and your computer have memory, there are vast differences in how memory works, to the point where using the same word for the two types of memory is misleading.  While both you and the computer "think," how you do so is vastly different.  You work in patterns, the computer works in digital representations, which is more precise but far less efficient.\n\nComputers are phenominally fast calculators, but that's all.  They can add, subtract, multiply, divide, and move information around.  And nothing else.  I'm a programmer, trust me on this.  Everything they do is based on those basic operations.  Playing a video game is just basic math done incredibly fast.  Displaying an e-mail is just basic math on memory addresses and moving a block of numbers (representing the letters) from one location to another, where it can be turned into pixels (complicated math, but math none the less) and moving the results to specific memory ports where the electronic adapter turns the numbers into colors on the screen.  Computers seem "smart" because they're wickedly fast at processing numbers.\n\nYou, on the other hand, do poorly at numbers.  (And by 'you', of course, I mean humans.  But you knew that).  The fastest human savants calculate thousands of times slower than the computer in your microwave oven.  \n\nYou have advantages, though.  Your brain is a phenominal pattern matcher.  Your pattern matching abilities exceed anything any computer can achieve.  For example, if I scrawl the word "Howdy there!" on a piece of paper and hand it to you, you'd instantly know what it said, even if I was a wee bit sloppy with the letters or gave it to you upside-down.  The letters (and even the words) are patterns you've seen before and can immediately interpret them.  A computer would have to analyze it pixel-by-pixel and MIGHT be able to interpret the letters eventually.  But in all probability, the computer is going to have trouble figuring out where the lines start and stop, and which line goes with which line in the text.  Character recognition is a tricky thing for a computer... and if you give it the text upside-down it'll never figure it out.  \n\nEven a six-month-old baby is better at recognizing different faces than the best computer program running on the fastest computer that Homeland Security has.  And trust, me, they're working on improving that so they can recognize bad guys from security cameras.  \n\nNow we get back to memory and how vastly different they are.  A week from now, you'll remember that the paper said "howdy there!" and may or may not remember vaguely whether the handwriting was neat or sloppy.  This is because your memory stores the pattern.  The computer, however, could give an exact reproduction.\n\nStudies have been done with what types of things people remember.  When flashed briefly with an image of a cluttered desk, for example, and then asked to write down what was on the desk, people tend to remember the things that are out of place (a shoe, a tennis ball) and not remember things that were expected there (a stapler, a cofee mug).  This is because that powerful pattern matcher in your head evaluates the pattern (an office desk) and notes anything that doesn't match.  Your memory doesn't need to store typical desk items as much as it does exceptions.  It's very efficient that way.  You filter out the "ordinary" and spend almost no time thinking about the
491304
the first computer was made by an english man called charles babbage in the 1800s. it was like a calculater and was the size of a house. \nt
725769
Serious power is measured in FLOPS- Floating Instructions Per Second.  The average desktop today can clock a few billion FLOPS (GigaFlops or GFLOPS).  There is a supercomputer out there that can clock 207 TeraFLOPS- 70 trillion.  They are expecting one soon that can do 0.5 PetaFLOPS- 5 thousand trillion.   These computers are also the size of train cars and as expensive as they are fast.
398053
Originally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations under the direction of a mathematician, possibly with the aid of a variety of mechanical calculating devices such as the abacus onward. Examples of early calculating devices, the first ancestors of the computer, included the abacus and the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device for calculating the movements of planets, dating from about 87 BCE.[1] The end of the Middle Ages saw a reinvigoration of European mathematics and engineering, and Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of European engineers to construct a mechanical calculator.[2]\n\nCharles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable computer as early as 1820, but due to a combination of the limits of the technology of the time, limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with his design, the device was never actually constructed in his lifetime. A number of technologies that would later prove useful in computing, such as the punch card and the vacuum tube had appeared by the end of the 19th century, and large-scale automated data processing using punch cards was performed by tabulating machines designed by Hermann Hollerith.\n\nDuring the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated, special-purpose analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. These became increasingly rare after the development of the programmable digital computer.\n\nA succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features of modern computers, such as the use of digital electronics (largely invented by Claude Shannon in 1937)[3] and more flexible programmability. Defining one point along this road as "the first computer" is exceedingly difficult. Notable achievements include the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (1937), a special-purpose machine that used valve-driven (vacuum tube) computation, binary numbers, and regenerative memory; the secret British Colossus computer (1944), which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of valves could be made reliable and reprogrammed electronically; the American ENIAC (1946) — which was the first really general purpose machine, but still used the decimal system and had an inflexible architecture that meant reprogramming it essentially required it to be rewired, and Konrad Zuse's Z machines, with the electromechanical Z3 (1941) being the first working machine featuring automatic binary arithmetic and feasible programability.\n\nThe team who developed ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which has become known as the stored program architecture, which is the basis from which virtually all modern computers were derived. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored program architecture commenced in the late 1940s; the first of these were completed in Britain. The first to be up and running was the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, but the EDSAC was perhaps the first practical version that was developed.\n\n \nThe Apple II, an early personal computerValve-driven computer designs were in use throughout the 1950s, but were eventually replaced with transistor-based computers, which were smaller, faster, cheaper, and much more reliable, thus allowing them to be commercially produced, in the 1960s. By the 1970s, the adoption of integrated circuit technology had enabled computers to be produced at a low enough cost to allow individuals to own a personal computer of the type familiar today.\n\n[edit]\nHow computers work: the stored program architecture\nWhile the technologies used in computers have changed dramatically since the first electronic, general-purpose, computers of the 1940s, most st
185573
6th generation?  Reference?\n\n6th Gen computers have 8 Floating Point CPU registers
57637
I would tend to think that the hardware is more advanced than the software.  Hardware, of course, was around first with simple electrical circuits; however, over time, fabrication processes for CPUs has become more refined, allowing for more components per chip, smaller chip size and thickness, heat reduction, lower power consumption, etc.  Also, newer processors have several cores working in tandem on the same chip, which is the same as having multiple processors in one small package.\n\nAnother important note is that other pieces of hardware which run independently (and can be controlled by software drivers) are keyboards, scanners, monitors, network adapters, etc.\n\nSoftware, however, has been key in designing these new processors and other pieces of hardware, simulating them, designing board layout, etc.  One key point though, software cannot completely simulate an Input/Output device.  While there are design / emulation packages out there (even virtual PC software that allows one to simulate more advanced processors on lower end hardware), I have yet to see software completely replace the following *without* any hardware whatsoever: Keyboard, mouse, scanner, printer, monitor, CD/DVD drive, speakers, wireless data transfer, etc.\n\nI would have to say that hardware is more advanced.
134004
Hard to say considering computers are updated very often. Take in the fact all the different companies out there. but here's something to ponder on.\nNewest computer model will help with design of future speedy electronics\nIn the past three years, more and more chip manufacturers have adopted a computer model created at Berkeley to design and simulate the operation of new integrated circuits -- computer chips -- before going to the expense of fabricating them. The BSIM, Berkeley Short-channel IGFET Model, can model the operation of single transistors or millions linked in an integrated circuit, like a computer processor. \n\nNow EECS professor Chenming Hu, the model's lead developer, has developed a new version, BSIM4. The model was released last week for use by the semiconductor industry. \n\n"It paves the way for engineers to design computer chips with blinding speed and wireless electronics that communicate at higher frequencies," said Hu.
38850
Ever heard of a calculator? Your computer should have one! USE IT!
611147
I believe that it is.\n\nThe TI30 series is not a graphing calculator. It does have data entry capabilities, I think, but not to the extent of a graphing calculator.\n\nThe ACT site doesn't cite it as being prohibited.
989383
Great question!  I saw the answer to this several years ago, but I can't remember what the answer was.  I'm putting this on my watch list, because I'm curious, too.\n\nEdit:  Okay, I think I found it.  This excerpt is from "Why do clocks run clockwise) written in 1987.  I read this book a long time ago and I have it on my coffee table.  I knew I wasn't going crazy.\n\nA theory we have often heard is that the phone company intentionally reversed the calculator configuration so that people who were already fast at operating calculators would slow down enough to allow the signals of the phone to register. It's a neat theory, but it isn't true. Even today, fast punchers can render a touch-tone phone worthless. \n\nBoth the touch-tone key pad and the all-transistor calculator were made available to the general public in the early 1960s. Calculators were arranged from the beginning so that the lowest digits were on bottom. Telephone keypads put the 1-2-3 on the top row. Both configurations descended directly from earlier prototypes. \n\nBefore 1964, calculators were either mechanical or electronic devices with heavy tubes. The key pads on the first calculators actually resembled old cash registers, with the left row of keys numbering 9 on top down to 0 on the bottom. The next row to the right had 90 on top and 10 on the bottom, the next row to the right had 900 on top, 100 on the bottom, and so on. All of the early calculators were ten rows high, and most were nine rows wide. From the beginning, hand-held calculators placed 7-8-9 on the top row, from left to right. \n\nBefore the touch-tone phone, of course, rotary dials were the rule. There is no doubt that the touch-tone key pad was designed to mimic the rotary dial with the "1" on top and the 7-8-9 on the bottom. According to Bob Ford, of AT&T's Bell Laboratories, a second reason was that some phone-company research concluded that this configuration helped eliminate dialing errors. Ford related the story, which may or may not be apocryphal, that when AT&T contemplated the design of their key pad, they called several calculator companies, hoping they would share the research that led them to the opposite configuration. Much to their chargin, AT&T discovered that the calculator companies had conducted no research at all. From our contacts with Sharp and Texas Instruments, two pioneers in the calculator field, it seems that this story could easily be true. \n\nIt has also been suggested that if the lower numbers were on the bottom, the alphabet would then start on the bottom and be in reverse alphabetical order, a confusing setup. This might have entered AT&T's thinking, particularly in the "old days" when phone numbers contained only five digits, along with two exchange letters. \n\nFeldman, David (1987),Why do clocks run clockwise?, New York: Harper & Row.
226781
$1267.00 + Tax\n\nOn a serious note: Calculators can just do Arthematic Operations while a computer system can do both Arthematic Operations as well as Logical Operations (AND, OR, XOR, XNOR, NOT, Shift Left Shift Right etc...) and using these Logical Operations speed up the Arthematic Operations.
215002
Oh, come on. Windows has a calculator built in. Anyway, it's $2,693,320. The guy above me used 2,500,000 instead of 250,000.
184082
None really. Originally "Notebook computer" was used to define a smaller and lighter portable computer but the terms are used pretty well  identically these days.
585531
Designing a computer is one thing, calculating is another.\n\nAt the beginning, there was the brain. Then the tools. then blah blah blah came the first calculator. It was crap and slow. To make a long story short humans have become pretty decent computer/chips designers by focusing on making them as fast as possible.\n\nBecause they are manufactured according to well-known laws and scalable processes, It has been possible to multiply exponentially the "speed" of computers over the last few decades, but no one has figured out yet how to do the same with the brain. \n\nBrain best practices, if they exist, are difficult to document, share, improve and preserve (it takes years to learn how to meditate properly, for instance, and when ). Chip/Computer/Software development, on the other hand, can regularly and consistently be improved upon.
915504
Second Generation Computers (1956-1963) \n\nThe invention of Transistors marked the start of the second generation. These transistors took place of the vacuum tubes used in the first generation computers. First large scale machines were made using these technologies to meet the requirements of atomic energy laboratories. One of the other benefits to the programming group was that the second generation replaced Machine language with the assembly language. Even though complex in itself Assemly language was much easier than the binary code. \n\nSecond generation computers also started showing the characteristics of modern day computers with utilities such as printers, disk storage and operating systems. Many financial information was processed using these computers. \n\nIn Second Generation computers, the instructions(program) could be stored inside the computer's memory. High-level languages such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were used, and they are still used for some applications nowdays. \n\nThird Generation Computers (1964-1971) \n\nAlthough transistors were great deal of improvement over the vacuum tubes, they generated heat and damaged the sensitive areas of the computer. The Intergreated Circuit(IC) was invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby. It combined electronic components onto a small silicon disc, made from quartz. More advancement made possible the fitings of even more components on a small chip or a semi conductor. Also in third generation computers, the operating systems allowed the machines to run many different applications. These applications were monitored and coordinated by the computer's memory. \n\nFourth Generation (1971-Present) \n\nFourth Generation computers are the modern day computers. The Size started to go down with the improvement in the integerated circuits. Very Large Scale(VLSI) and Ultra Large scale(ULSI) ensured that millions of components could be fit into a small chip. It reduced the size and price of the computers at the same time increasing power, efficiency and reliability. "The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, took the integrated circuit one step further by locating all the components of a computer (central processing unit, memory, and input and output controls) on a minuscule chip." \n\nDue to the reduction of cost and the availability of the computers power at a small place allowed everyday user to benefit. First came the minicomputers, which offered users different applications, most famous of these the word processors and spreadsheets, which could be used by non-technical users. Video game systems like Atari 2600 generated the interest of general populace in the computers. \n\nIn 1981, IBM introduced personal computers for home and office use. "The number of personal computers in use more than doubled from 2 million in 1981 to 5.5 million in 1982. Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being used." Computer size kept getting reduced during the years. It went down from Desktop to laptops to Palmtops. Machintosh introduecd Graphic User Interface in which the users didnt' have to type instructions but could use Mouse for the purpose. \n\nThe continued improvement allowed the networking of computers for the sharing of data. Local Area Networks(LAN) and Wide Area Network(WAN), were potential benefits, in that they could be implemented in corporations and everybody could share data over it. Soon the internet aand World Wide Web appeared on the computer scene and formented the Hi-Tech revolution of 90's.\n\nFifth Generation (Present and Beyond) \n\nFifth generations computers are only in the minds of advance research scientiets and being tested out in the laboratories. These computers will be under Artifical Intelligence(AI), They will be able to take commands in a audio visual way and carry out instructions. Many of the operations which requires low human intelligence will be perfomed by these computers. \n\nParal