Summary
Highlights
May-Li Khoe, a designer and inventor for Apple and educational products, introduces the widespread presence of computers in daily life, from pockets to cars. Nat, an original designer of the Xbox and virtual reality developer, poses the central question: what makes a computer a computer?
Humans have always created tools to solve problems, initially for manual work. Over time, the desire to build machines for 'thinking work,' like solving equations and tracking stars, emerged, shifting the focus from manipulating physical objects to manipulating information.
Pioneers of computer science identified four essential tasks for any 'thinking machine': taking input, storing information, processing it, and outputting the results. These four functions, despite seeming simple, are common to all computers, regardless of their complexity or era.
Early computers were large, slow, and made of wood and metal with mechanical parts. By the 20th century, computers began using electrical components. Initially, they were primarily calculators, manipulating only numbers, but have since evolved to enable communication, games, and robotics.
Input refers to the ways the world or a user interacts with a computer to provide information. This can be through keyboards, mice, microphones, cameras, touchscreens, or even sensors like heart rate monitors in wearable devices, or car sensors.
All information received as input is stored in a computer's memory. The processor then retrieves this information, manipulates it using algorithms (series of commands), and then stores the processed information back into memory. This cycle continues until the information is ready for output.
Output is how a computer presents its processed information. This can vary widely depending on the computer's purpose, from displaying text, photos, and videos on a screen to controlling robots. When computers are connected via the internet, one computer's output can become another's input.
Despite dramatic changes in their form and technology, all computers, from the earliest to the most advanced, consistently perform the same four fundamental tasks: input, storage, processing, and output. The future of computers lies in the hands of new designers and inventors.