FABRIQUER un ORDINATEUR depuis la PRÉHISTOIRE 💻👴

Summary

The video traces the history of computing, beginning with the Babylonian architects' calculations for square roots 4000 years ago. It highlights key innovations like Pascal's 17th century mechanical calculator, Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine in the 1830s, and Ada Lovelace's conception of a universal computing machine. The development of electronics, binary logic, programming languages, transistors, microprocessors, and graphical user interfaces are explained as crucial steps toward modern personal computers and the Internet. The accessibility brought by the web browser is recognized as pivotal in making information technology ubiquitous today.

Takeaways

• 😲 The first calculators date back 4,000 years to Babylonian architects
• 😎 Charles Babbage designed plans for the first computer in 1830, but lacked key technologies to build it
• 👩‍💻 Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer, envisioning the machine's infinite possibilities
• ⚙️ Mechanical calculators evolved into programmable, electronic computers using transistors
• 🤯 Alan Turing's theoretical "Universal Machine" formed the basis for modern computing
• 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Multiple people contributed ideas over centuries that built the foundations of computing
• 🖥️ The first desktop computers were enormous, but got smaller thanks to microprocessors
• 📤 Programming languages evolved to be more human-readable over cryptic machine code
• 🖱️ The mouse and graphical interfaces made computers accessible to everyday people
• 🌐 The emergence of browsers and the internet brought computing into homes globally

Q & A

What was the first calculating machine invented and when?

The Pascaline was the first calculating machine, invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642. It could add and subtract.

Who invented the Analytical Engine and what was its purpose?

Charles Babbage invented the Analytical Engine in the 1830s. Its purpose was to be a general-purpose, programmable computer that could perform complex calculations automatically.

Who was the first computer programmer and what was her contribution?

Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer. In 1843, she published notes talking about an universal machine with almost infinite possibilities, envisioning concepts like loops and conditional branching.

What is the Turing machine and why was it important?

The Turing machine was an abstract concept invented by Alan Turing in 1936 to define computation. It was important because it showed that a machine following a set of instructions could compute anything that is computable.

When were transistors invented and why were they important?

Transistors were invented in 1947. They were important because they enabled electronics and digital computation, replacing electromechanical computers.

What was the first programming language?

FORTRAN, invented by IBM in 1954, was the first high-level programming language. It allowed more convenient mathematical notation.

When did personal computers first emerge?

Personal computers started emerging in the 1970s with kits and then mass market pre-built models like the Apple II in 1977.

Who invented the computer mouse and graphical user interfaces?

The computer mouse and early graphical user interfaces were invented at Xerox PARC in 1973, over a decade before being popularized by Apple.

When did the internet first emerge?

The early internet emerged in the 1960s out of ARPANET, a US military network. It connected to academic networks in the 1980s and became commercial in the 1990s.

What enabled the widespread adoption of computers and the internet?

Key factors enabling widespread adoption of computers and the internet were: affordable personal computers, intuitive graphical interfaces, the World Wide Web, and internet service providers.