The Computer: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #292

by Darrel Ince

"Computers have changed so much since the room-filling, bulky magnetic tape running monsters of the mid 20th century. They now form a vital part of most people's lives. And they are more ubiquitous than might be thought - you may have more than 30 computers in your home: not just the desktop and laptop but think of the television, the fridge, the microwave. But what is the basic nature of the modern computer? How does it work? How has it been possible to squeeze so much power into increasingly small machines? And what will the next generations of computers look like?
In this Very Short Introduction, Darrel Ince looks at the basic concepts behind all computers; the changes in hardware and software that allowed computers to become so small and commonplace; the challenges produced by the computer revolution - especially whole new modes of cybercrime and security issues; the Internet and the advent of 'cloud computing'; and the promise of whole new horizons opening up with quantum computing, and even computing using DNA."

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Technology, Computer Science, Computers

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2011

Reviews

[Tom Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a detailed overview of computer architecture and how it works, this is not the book for you. Although it does cover computer architecture at a basic level, it is mainly about the impact computers and the internet have had on our society. I'd say it's worth a read, and can provide good context for anyone interested in computers and computer science.

[Ayham أيهم · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring....

[Zach Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some great parts to this book (good overviews on how public key encryption works, 'pipe' interfaces and what a computer is in terms of in a network).

Mostly it was off topic and seemed like it was at best a first draft.

[Leah]

Another course book, though this one was far less interesting and actually annoyed me several times due to the incessant self-awareness of the writing style. I did enjoy the section which discussed e-books and physical books, and the future of the bookselling industry, both digitally and physically. Ultimately, I found this much more inaccessible than the previous book in this collection, which surprised me, considering I am familiar and comfortable with far more of the concepts in this book, than those in the short intro to information.

[Saunaguy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but already very dated.

[Natasha Holme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Some of it was way over my head, for example future computing based on DNA architecture, but that didn't stop me enjoying it. Ince succeeds in treating a heavy subject in a pleasingly light fashion.

[Usfromdk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts are quite dated and some of the other parts I didn't think too highly of, but in particular the content covered early on (~first 50 pages, after the introductory remarks) is on the other hand quite good - and that part of the coverage contains stuff most people almost certainly do not know about computers or the way they work. I feel quite conflicted about whether or not to recommend this book, and to whom.

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was The Computer A Very Short Introduction by Darrel Ince which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. This book gives a kind of general overview of computing and its history and various technologies. A very early which was in a universitie's computer science department cost $29,000 and had a 128kb of memory and had to have instructions entered on punch cards as well as a keyboard. This computer was also the size of a room. The owner of Intel came up with a law in 1965 that still holds true today. It states that the fastest available speed of processor doubles every 2 years. Interestingly the owner of IBM thought the world would only need 5 computers at any one time. It's estimated that a typical family in the USA has 30 computers if you include all the computer controlled devices they possess like dvd players, electronics in a car & even a computer keyboard has a tiny computer built into it separate to the computer it is connected to. A recent creation is the beowulf cluster, these are supercomputers with lots of ordinary processors that are much cheaper than a single super powerful processor that will fit in a suitcase and typically cost around $2,500. These computers usually run linux and are normally used on computer networks. There has been a supercomputer called Deep Blue that famously beat Gary Kasparov, the world chess champion at chess. In the future we are likely to see more computer controlled devices and the computers will get smaller and items like televisions and fridges which are just to be connected to the internet ie for automatically ordering food and entertainment will become more integrated.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succinct and sufficiently lucid introduction to the phenomenon of our times... and the continuing developments in the field not to mention the pitfalls

[Matthew Fleischmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to the world of computers – both educational and insightful.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ince is taking a birds-eye view of the most important concepts surrounding the modern computer. Don't expect too much in-depth descriptions of the technical aspects.