History of computing hardware

  History of computing hardware

Devices been used to aid computation for thousands of years probably initially in the form of a tally stick.Comparable geared devices did not emerge in Europe until the 16th century, and it was not until 1645 that the first mechanical calculator capable of performing the four basic arithmetical operations was developed.The Antikythera mechanism, dating from about the beginning of the first century BC, is generally considered to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer.The earliest known geared mechanism.  The electromechanical Zuse completed in 1941, was the world's first programmable computer.Colossus developed during the Second World War to decrypt German messages was the first electronic digital computer but although programmable it was not general purpose being designed for a single task. Neither did it store its programs in memory programming was carried out using plugs and switches to alter the internal wiring.Electronic computers using  began to appear in the early 1940s.