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The first attempts to mechanize the production of numerical tables were remarkable in conception coming at a time when a "computer" was in fact a person rather than a machine. This book is the first to provide a unified picture of the difference engines that were the mechanical predecessors of today's digital computer, to emphasize them as part of the history of numerical tables, and to give equal weight to the technical and social aspects of their creation.Lindgren analyzes the difference engin...

Published to tie in with a BBC2 series starting in September 1991, of which Jon Palfreman is the Executive Producer, this book explores the extraordinary rise of a new technology and the remarkable people behind it. It examines the past, present and future of computers - the machines that have dramatically changed the way in which people live, work, learn, make decisions and spend their leisure time. The first computers were massive and expensive machines that did little more than calculate and...

Writing has always been digital. Just as digits scribble with the quill or tap the typewriter, digits compose binary code and produce text on a screen. Over time, however, digital writing has come to be defined by numbers and chips, not fingers and parchment. We therefore assume that digital writing began with the invention of the computer and created new writing habits, such as copying, pasting, and sharing. Habitual Rhetoric: Digital Writing before Digital Technology makes the counterargument...

For anyone interested in organizational development since the Industrial Revolution, and for those involved in the financial world, The Growth of Credit Information will provide a wealth of material which has very rarely been made available in this way before. McNeil Greig provides a unique view of the last of the Trade Protection Societies - the origins of which were in the Industrial Revolution. It traces the development of what was to become the largest of these co-operative societies, now kn...

Most industrial nations actively support research and development of advanced computer technology. They usually justify public expenditures on the basis of both economic and national security benefits. This heavy government involvement and the international nature of the computer industry have created increasing challenges to accepted principles of international trade and investment.In this detailed analysis of the origins and evolution of government support for computer technology in the United...

This volume investigates how major corporations, such as Microsoft, Borland, Apple, Eastman Dodak, and Silicon Graphics, address usability issues. It presents case studies of each organization, outlining their program structures, program goals, and team members' responsibilities and resources. The book also addresses how usability is marketed inside the organization and to customers, as well as the lessons learned during the course of product development efforts. Each illustrated study includes...

After reading the newspapers and following the sharp oscillations of the stock market, it becomes apparent that hi-tech companies are of a different breed. Never before have the chances of making a fortune been so realistic and never before have large companies been so fragile. What is really going on inside these hi-tech companies? What types of pressures and challenges are they facing? And how do they cope? Computer software providers, especially the ones that specialise in handling the data...

• The first biography of `Amazing’ Grace Hopper •Based on both archival material and interviews with friends, colleagues and family •A fascinating overview of the beginnings of the computer age When Grace Hopper retired as a rear admiral from the US Navy in 1986, she was the first woman restricted line officer to reach flag rank and, at the age of seventy-nine, the oldest serving officer in the Navy. A mathematician by training who became a computer scientist, the eccentric and outspoken Ho...

A smart, lively history of the Internet free culture movement and its larger effects on society - and the life and shocking suicide of Aaron Swartz, a founding developer of Reddit and Creative Commons-fromSlate correspondent Justin Peters. Aaron Swartz was a zealous young advocate for the free exchange of information and creative content online. He committed suicide in 2013 after being indicted by the government for illegally downloading millions of academic articles from a non-profit onlin...

This book addresses the application of computing to cultural heritage and the discipline of Digital Humanities that formed around it. Digital Humanities research is transforming how the Human record can be transmitted, shaped, understood, questioned and imagined and it has been ongoing for more than 70 years. However, we have no comprehensive histories of its research trajectory or its disciplinary development. The authors make a first contribution towards remedying this by uncovering, documenti...

In the first three and a half years of its existence, Fairchild Semiconductor developed, produced, and marketed the device that would become the fundamental building block of the digital world: the microchip. Founded in 1957 by eight former employees of the Schockley Semiconductor Laboratory, Fairchild created the model for a successful Silicon Valley start-up: intense activity with a common goal, close collaboration, and a quick path to the market (Fairchild's first device hit the market just t...

This stimulating textbook presents a broad and accessible guide to the fundamentals of discrete mathematics, highlighting how the techniques may be applied to various exciting areas in computing. The text is designed to motivate and inspire the reader, encouraging further study in this important skill. Features: provides an introduction to the building blocks of discrete mathematics, including sets, relations and functions; describes the basics of number theory, the techniques of induction and...

Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron and his highly educated wife, Anne Isabella, is sometimes called the world's first computer programmer and has become an icon for women in technology. But how did a young woman in the nineteenth century, without access to formal school or university education, acquire the knowledge and expertise to become a pioneer of computer science? Although an unusual pursuit for women at the time, Ada Lovelace studied science and...

This biography chronicles William Gates' rise as the most powerful player in the computer industry--a man who has revolutionized the software industry with the incredible growth of his Microsoft company, that now threatens gigantic IBM. Reveals Gates' personal quirks and idiosyncrasies which helped fuel his fierce competitive spirit. Interviews Gates' closest friends, associates and former employees, and details IBM's as well as Apples' efforts to topple his Microsoft empire.

In this introductory text designed for graduate and undergraduate students, Dr Weinberg discusses the role of technology in social change and explores our expectations for computers in the information society. Chapters covering the history of computer technology, mainframe and personal computer environments, computer culture and information systems in organizations provide the student with a view of the technical, cultural and organizational changes that come with the advancement of information-...

- Which of Apple, Google and Microsoft had an office with a "drawer of broken dreams" - and what (real) objects lay inside it? - When did Microsoft have the chance to catch Google in making money from search - and who vetoed it? - Why did Google test 40 shades of blue on its users? - How long did outside developers wait before asking to write apps for Apple's iPhone after Steve Jobs announced it? - Who said that Microsoft should have its own music player - and why did it fail? The answers, and...