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grid"> <div class="col-sm-70 col-sm-offset-15"> Have computers replaced dogs as man's best friend? They've certainly become an indispensable part of daily life for most people in our modern society. The first modern computers used analog systems, which were especially useful for solving problems and simulating dynamic systems in real time. By the 1960s, digital computers had largely replaced their analog counterparts. Later there was a similar transition from mainframe computers to personal computers. The advent of personal computers brought computers into the individual consumer's home for the first time. Rapid developments in computer and Internet technology powered an ever-expanding selection of handheld digital devices such as the Palm Pilot, BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPod. Computer chips were increasingly embedded in consumer devices of all sorts, including cars, cameras, kitchen appliances, toys, watches, and much more, reinforcing the interconnected nature of the world in which we now live.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <h2 class="label my-30">Computers Encyclopedia Articles</h2> <div class="grid top g-10 mb-40"> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Computers/1">260-COM</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Computers/2">COM-IBM</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Computers/3">IBM-PAG</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Computers/4">PAL-USB</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Computers/5">VAL-ZUS</a> </div> </div> </div> <h2 class="label my-30 text-center">Featured Articles</h2> <div class="js-pinboard grid gy-20"> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/machine-learning" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/40/216540-138-14385CFE/How-machine-learning-is-predicting-synthetic-products.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="How is machine learning used in chemical synthesis?" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/machine-learning" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">machine learning</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Machine learning, in artificial intelligence (a subject within computer science), discipline concerned with the implementation of computer software that can learn autonomously. Expert systems and data... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/International-Business-Machines-Corporation" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/62/71262-050-25BFC8AB/Garry-Kasparov-Deep-Blue-IBM-computer.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/International-Business-Machines-Corporation" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">IBM</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> IBM, leading American computer manufacturer, with a major share of the market both in the United States and abroad. Its headquarters are in Armonk, New York. It was incorporated in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-program" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-134/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.134.26" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-program" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">computer program</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Computer program, detailed plan or procedure for solving a problem with a computer; more specifically, an unambiguous, ordered sequence of computational instructions necessary to achieve such a solution.... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/digital-computer" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/10/23610-050-6E34CF6B/portion-Difference-Engine-Charles-Babbage-logarithm-tables-1832.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Difference Engine" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/digital-computer" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">digital computer</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Digital computer, any of a class of devices capable of solving problems by processing information in discrete form. It operates on data, including magnitudes, letters, and symbols, that are expressed in... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/Android-operating-system" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-134/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.134.26" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/Android-operating-system" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Android</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Android, operating system for cellular telephones and tablet computers. 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The term is frequently applied to the project... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Bill-Gates" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/47/188747-050-1D34E743/Bill-Gates-2011.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Bill Gates" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Bill-Gates" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Bill Gates</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Bill Gates is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur who cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world’s largest personal-computer software company. Gates wrote his first software program at the... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-virus" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-134/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.134.26" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-virus" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">computer virus</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Computer virus, a portion of a computer program code that has been designed to furtively copy itself into other such codes or computer files. It is usually created by a prankster or vandal to effect a... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Dell-Inc" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/31/258831-050-796E315C/Dell-Laptop-personal-computer-Best-Buy-Store-2023.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Dell personal computer" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Dell-Inc" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Dell</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Dell, global company that designs, develops, and manufactures personal computers (PCs) and a variety of computer-related products. The company is one of the world’s leading computer brands and suppliers... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Babbage" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/57/6157-050-7EFEF3A6/Charles-Babbage-detail-oil-painting-Samuel-Lawrence-1845.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Charles Babbage" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Babbage" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Charles Babbage</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Charles Babbage was an English mathematician and inventor who is credited with having conceived the first automatic digital computer. In 1812 Babbage helped found the Analytical Society, whose object was... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Apple-Inc" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/79/255879-049-11E4DD62/history-of-apple-inc.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Photos of Apple, Inc. 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Presper Eckert, Jr., and John Mauchly, who had worked on... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/smartphone" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/98/126598-050-AC5C60AC/T-Mobile-smartphone-G1-display-panel-Android-OS-October-2008.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="G1 smartphone" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/smartphone" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">smartphone</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Smartphone, mobile telephone with a display screen (typically a liquid crystal display, or LCD), built-in personal information management programs (such as an electronic calendar and address book)), and... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/supercomputer" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/11/23611-050-580B9080/Cray-1-supercomputer.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Cray-1" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/supercomputer" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">supercomputer</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Supercomputer, any of a class of extremely powerful computers. The term is commonly applied to the fastest high-performance systems available at any given time. Such computers have been used primarily... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ada-Lovelace" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/31/187431-050-117E094C/Ada-Lovelace.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Ada Lovelace" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ada-Lovelace" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Ada Lovelace</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician, an associate of Charles Babbage, for whose prototype of a digital computer she created a program. She has been called the first computer programmer. 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