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Computer | Definition, History, Operating Systems, & Facts | Britannica
A computer is a programmable device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Learn more in this article about modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent parts, and applications as well as about the history of computing.
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What is a computer? | Britannica
A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system, which uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, calculating algorithms, and displaying information. Computers come in many different shapes and sizes, from smartphones to supercomputers weighing more than 300 tons.
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Computer - Technology, Invention, History | Britannica
Computer - Technology, Invention, History: By the second decade of the 19th century, a number of ideas necessary for the invention of the computer were in the air. First, the potential benefits to science and industry of being able to automate routine calculations were appreciated, as they had not been a century earlier. Specific methods to make automated calculation more practical, such as ...
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Computer science | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica
Computer science is the study of computers and computing, including their theoretical and algorithmic foundations, hardware and software, and their uses for processing information. The discipline of computer science includes the study of algorithms and data structures and artificial intelligence.
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Computer - History, Technology, Innovation | Britannica
Computer - History, Technology, Innovation: A computer might be described with deceptive simplicity as “an apparatus that performs routine calculations automatically.” Such a definition would owe its deceptiveness to a naive and narrow view of calculation as a strictly mathematical process. In fact, calculation underlies many activities that are not normally thought of as mathematical ...
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Personal computer (PC) | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Personal computer, a digital computer designed for use by only one person at a time. A typical personal computer assemblage consists of a central processing unit, which contains the computer’s arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry on an integrated circuit; computer memory; and various peripheral devices.
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computer summary | Britannica
computer, Programmable machine that can store, retrieve, and process data. A computer consists of the central processing unit (CPU), main memory (or random-access memory, RAM), and peripherals (e.g., a keyboard, a printer, disc drives). Traditional histories of computers assign generations on the basis of technology.
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computer - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
A computer is a device for working with information. The information can be numbers, words, pictures, movies, or sounds. Computer information is also called data. Computers…
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Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software | Britannica
Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software: Before 1970, computers were big machines requiring thousands of separate transistors. They were operated by specialized technicians, who often dressed in white lab coats and were commonly referred to as a computer priesthood. The machines were expensive and difficult to use. Few people came in direct contact with them, not even their programmers ...
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Computer - Supercomputing, Processing, Speed | Britannica
Computer - Supercomputing, Processing, Speed: The most powerful computers of the day have typically been called supercomputers. They have historically been very expensive and their use limited to high-priority computations for government-sponsored research, such as nuclear simulations and weather modeling. Today many of the computational techniques of early supercomputers are in common use in ...