computer: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	computer system

Photos and Videos

A laptop computer

The Cray-1 supercomputer features a cylindrical core with vertical orange and red panels, surrounded by a padded black bench, set in a tiled computer room.

Labeled diagram of a personal computer system showing a monitor displaying graphics, a computer tower, two external speakers, a keyboard, a cordless mouse with labeled buttons, and a wireless Internet router.

Osborne 1 laptop computer

A line graph illustrating Moore's law, showing the exponential increase in the number of transistors on computer processors from 1970 to 2005, with key Intel processors labeled along the curve.

A labeled diagram of a computer hard drive with its cover removed, showing the disk, spindle, actuator, read/write head, arm, circuit board, power port, data cable port, and drive configuration port.

Diagram comparing the microscopic surface structures of a CD and a DVD, showing that DVDs have shorter pits and narrower track spacing than CDs, which allows for greater data storage. Measurement labels highlight the differences in minimum pit length and track spacing for each disc.

Diagram comparing a mechanical mouse and a cordless optical mouse, showing labeled internal parts such as the ball and rollers in the mechanical mouse and the LED, camera, and battery in the optical mouse, along with connectors for a personal computer.

Diagram of a computer laser printer showing the printing process: a laser beam creates an image on a rotating drum, attracting toner particles, which are then transferred and fused onto paper as it moves through rollers. Key components and steps are labeled.

How does a quantum computer work?

Ada Lovelace's life and impact on scientific computing

How did the world's first programmable electronic computer work?

How the Elliott 803 transistorized computer works

What is the ICL 2966 computer and how does it work?

See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Topics

real-time operation transaction processing instruction-level parallelism interactive mode concurrency batch processing fetch-decode-execute cycle storage output interface information system typewriter dictating machine duplicating machine history of technology construction Origins of agriculture Dress Furniture textile

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

default image

Konrad Zuse

German engineer

Alan Turing

Alan Turing

British mathematician and logician

default image

Yves Béhar

Swiss-born industrial designer

default image

Danny Hillis

American businessman

Computer interface pioneer Douglas EngelbartEngelbart holding a video conference on the right side of the computer screen while working on a document with a remote collaborator during a 1968 computer conference in San Francisco, California.

Douglas Engelbart

American inventor

default image

Robert H. Dennard

American engineer

default image

Seymour Cray

American engineer

William Hewlett photographed c. 1988

William Hewlett

American engineer

default image

Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

American business executive

Mauchly, John

John Mauchly

American physicist and engineer

default image

J. Presper Eckert

American engineer

default image

Howard Aiken

American mathematician and inventor

John von Neumann

John von Neumann

American mathematician

default image

Dirk Brouwer

Dutch-born American astronomer and geophysicist

Internet http://www blue screen. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, media news television, crowd opinion protest, In the News 2009, breaking news

What Do You Actually Know About the Internet?

Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer

A Brief History of the Computer Told from the 1990s: A Quiz

Technician operates the system console on the new UNIVAC 1100/83 computer at the Fleet Analysis Center, Corona Annex, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. June 1, 1981. Univac magnetic tape drivers or readers in background. Universal Automatic Computer

Computers and Operating Systems

White male businessman works a touch screen on a digital tablet. Communication, Computer Monitor, Corporate Business, Digital Display, Liquid-Crystal Display, Touchpad, Wireless Technology, iPad

Technological Ingenuity

computer chip. computer. Hand holding computer chip. Central processing unit (CPU). history and society, science and technology, microchip, microprocessor motherboard computer Circuit Board

Computers and Technology Quiz