Week 2: Lecture Summary

acoverdale here, updating you on the second week of New Com Tech09!
Thursday's lecture topic was dry, but made bareable by Prf. Stephen Stockwell's outstanding background knowledge and interest in computer history. This is what was said:

Babbage, Turing and the birth of 'THE COMPUTER':
The first 'computer' wasa mechanical device invented by Charles Babbage in the 19th century and served the purpose of mathematics calculations only. Ada Byron then improved the computer to compose and play music, and to be of everyday use. The next innovation was conceived by Alan Turing, who developed the machine to decipher German codes in WW1. Fast forward 20 or so years to 1950 when IBM began comercially producing computers - large, expensive devices that were not seen as a necessity by all.

Xerox PARC, Apple and the PC:
Xerox-PARC released the first PC, but it didnt have a language (needed for interaction from humans). Bill Gates (a very young and poor Bill Gates!) wrote the first program for the computer and named in BASIC. In order to market this program he began a small company called Microsoft.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are the creaters of Apple. They began the company by producing a small circuit board called 'Apple 1', and sold them to people interested in creating the software. They then produced the 'Apple 2' - which sold beyond belief. In 1979 then bought a computer program called Visicalc, and the PC became a powerful business tool.
Meanwhile, IBM continued to produce mainframe's, determined to enter the PC market. They bought Microsoft, an operating system from Bill Gates, and eventually after several complications, the 'language' needed to run the system was too aquired.
At the same time this was occuring, Apple launched thier Graphic User Interface - thinking this would secure their position as market leader. IBM quickly caught on and released thier own version, titled Windows.
In 1991, Linus Torvalds invented another operating system to compete with the existing. Linus approached the invention in an unorthodox manner, by posting his ideas and discoveries on the internet so as to have maximum help and input. Eventually he created GNU/Linux, which is a combination of Free Software Foundations's GNU, and his own.

The Internet, the Web and Cyberspace:
The internet is a network of networks, often called internetwork. The networks include servers, mainframe's and PC's, loosely connected through the telephone system. The idea of 'internet', came from a business named RAND, who believed they could create a network of systems that could outlast a nuclear war as it has not central base and can easily be relocated. The US Department of Defence founded this research and project, which quickly escalated into a problem as email, hackers and MUD's (multiple user domains) took over.
The World Wide Web, or WWW as it is often referred to, is a use of the internet. The web includes all websites people have posted around the world - all written in HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language). Websites are easily accessible through 'browsers' such as Internet Explorer, which essentially read the HTML and translate it into commands and the English language. It is important to note that the internet is a collection of computers, every website on the internet is a collection of files, and when we use a web browers such as Internet Explorer we are looking at those webpages of files.
Cyberspace is a conceptual space, where words, relationships, data, wealth and power are manifested by people using computer language.

Early Internet Applications:
Email is a virtual system, which sends documents from one disperser to one or mulitple receivers. Mail Software Systems, and Webmail eg Hotmail are the programs in which people hold and view their mail. Email is asynchronus in that emails are sent, but not always received, and not always read on time, it is a one way burst of information.
File Transfer Protocol is uploading photos or data directly from your computer to the web. File transfers using this method are quicker than downloading directly through a browser.
Internet Relay Chat in its most common forms exists as chat rooms. People can type to each other in sychronus style, that is receive a reply instantly. With IRC you can exist in cyberspace as seperate identity.

MUD's:
Multiple user dungeons, such as WOW, were the first online games with many multiple users. There are limited pictures and actions take place by typing words. For example when you enter a room, you are told in words what is happening in the room and who you are with.

More Recent Internet Applications:
Some modern applications include Instant Messaging, Twitter, Myspace and Facebook.

I have also included one of my favourite youtube vidoes on the topic of 'The Internet' - please watch it as it is quite funny :)