History Of Computers During World War II - 948 Words

History of Computers Introduction In today’s modern world, it’s hard to imagine life without computers. Throughout the decades, computers have gotten better, faster, and smaller. It’s hard to imagine that before the 20th century almost all calculations were done by mechanical devices such as the electromechanical computers; or, the first digital computers that had huge tubes around them that you had to designate a whole room just to fit the computer in. Today we have Internet, phone book, pictures, videos, telephone, mail, and camera that is compacted into one tiny device that can fit in your pocket. Electromechanical Computers There was a big push for technological advancement during World War II in order to gain the upper hand in the war. The computers built during this time period were mainly electromechanical. The calculations were performed by electrical switches that signaled the mechanical operation. Konrad Zuse, German Computer Engineer, created Z2; one of the very first electromechanical relay computers. It used fixed point arithmetic with 16-bits2. This was an upgrade from the previous one he had made named the Z1. The Z1 had a 22 floating point bit, but was slower2. Therefore, Z2 was more desired because it could compile data quicker. Around the same time, electromechanical devices called ‘bombes’ were created by the British in order to decipher the machines that the Germans had built during World War II3. The US laterShow MoreRelatedâ€Å"The Greatest Generation†: A Study of World War II Technology800 Words   |  4 PagesGeneration†: A Study of World War II Technology To some, World War II may seem like a great war that happened a long time ago, a war where however great the innovations during the war were, they are much out of date now, and so they have no impact on today’s world. 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