How Computers Get Input

 
Computers are information processing machines. That means that you can use them to access and change information like numbers, text, pictures, and even music. Think of what you can do to modify a single sentence. Using the computer, it's easy to add, delete, or rearrange words. To change a sentence with your computer, though, first you have to get the sentence into your computer.

Input devices are used to put information in your computer. You type a sentence on your keyboard and it goes into the computer. You speak into a microphone and your computer records your words. You make funny faces at the video camera and your computer records every one of them. Even the mouse you are about to click to move on to the next section is an input device. So, when you are ready, click it!

Four Components of a Computer

A computer processes information. A toaster processes bread. Although it's a simpler device, a toaster is a good way to demonstrate the four components of computer processing: input, storage, processing, and output. Just watch the animation on this page for a moment.

History of Computers

Throughout time, humans have invented ingenious calculating machines. One of the earliest was the abacus. It's about 5,000 years old. Mechanical calculators that could add and multiply (but not subtract!) were invented in the 1600s. In 1820, Charles Xavier Thomas de Colman invented the arithometer, a machine that could add, subtract, multiply and divide. It was Charles Babbage though, in the early 1800s, who designed mechanical calculating machines (see photo) that were the true ancestor of today's computers. Ada Byron King (Countess of Lovelace) was his programmer and today is considered the mother of computer programming.