What Is a Computer?
What defines what is a computer and what does a computer do? The computer is a recent term that was coined in order to name a new device that we have made within the last 100 years. How has computer-like devices changed over the years? At what point do we stop calling them computers and start referring to them as sentient beings? These questions were presented by Alan Turing. Alan Turing was one of the leading computer scientists of the 20th century who defined what a computer is and how it was to be perceived. Alan wanted to make a vessel in which you could store your mind. Alan believed that just like the neurons in our brain that are electrical pulses, we could simulate this on a silicon die. He believed that carbon lifeforms could be emulated by a silicon vessel and that one could one day be able to outlive his biological body, therefore extending his life using a computer.
Computers were always in my life for as long as I can remember. The first memory I have of using a computer was at CompUSA. Every Sunday my Dad and I would go to the sales at CompUSA to buy a stack of CDs. One day I came across one of the desktops on a table that had YouTube open, a site I never heard of until then, and intuitively started clicking on links. Back then YouTube had a menu where you could see videos that other people were currently watching and I vividly remember being drawn to a George Bush meme video, called George Bush Sunday Bloody Sunday(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS63vGDoLJ4). I clicked on it and was amazed to see George Bush singing a silly song. It made me realize that computers were a tool that could not only allow you to edit media, but share them with other people around the world. Using YouTube opened me up to seeing content that would never be allowed on TV. I begged my parents to buy me my own computer and they finally caved in and bought me a MacBook.
To be a functioning member of society, you have to know how to use a computer. A computer streamlines work and allows you to connect to anyone in the world close to the speed of light. Growing up in the 90s, most people did not have laptops because they were too expensive. People used pencil and paper to send messages through snail mail. Now typing a message takes longer than the process that is used to send the message. Computers allow us to communicate with one another on a global scale. Computers are never wrong because they will do what you tell them to do. Humans make mistakes that computers don’t.
I love to play computer games. Games got me through my teens. Playing computer games, I made a lot of online friends, some that I have been talking to for almost 6 years now. There are millions of people online at a time which allowed me to meet lots of like-minded people who shared the same hobbies as me. I found myself invested on the computer making money. Buying and selling items as a kid, I came across a lot of money just playing on the computer. One day while playing a competitive game, I found myself getting blackmailed and shortly after I was disconnected from my game. At the time, I didn’t know what was going on and I just sat there for an hour disconnected from everyone else. When I came back online, I found myself banned for 7 days for disconnecting. It was unlike any experience I have had thereafter. I found myself researching what happened and I couldn’t believe how easy it was for someone to attack someone on the internet. I want to study computer science so I can learn ways to be anonymous and stay safe online.
When computers were first made, they were meant to do repetitive tasks by running algorithms repetitively. Early computers had human input which we still see in modern computers. Computers were purposefully designed to be used by humans. Now we are seeing computers talking to each other without a human mediating them. Computers are turning towards AI which means they don’t need a human to tell them what to do. They can act on their own, based on previous actions which they can use to determine right from wrong. In the future will we see a form of currency that will allow computers to work for each other and generate their own economy by using bitcoin?
Computers have been miniaturized and have now started to become more application driven hardware wise. We are now seeing specially made computers that keep track of how far you walk in a day to computers that monitor your actions on the internet to serve you ads that take advantage of human emotions. At what point do computers stop being considered computers? What is the difference between an IOT coffee maker and a computer that shocks your heart when you have a heart attack? We have begun to see computers added to everything. We now have miniature computers that we keep in our pockets that we do everything from banking to taking pictures. I feel that today’s computers can be defined based on their security levels. Small computers are not as computationally fast as larger computers. This means that certain security measures must be weakened in order to make it operate fast. Now days everyone has a microphone and camera on them that could be potentially turned on by a malicious third party. It is important that computers have good security such as smart cars, robots and driverless cars because they can potentially have damaging effects if one person figures out how to exploit one. All of them are exploitable.
A computer helps to streamline everyday tasks and helps humans innovate faster by giving them a tool that can do almost anything in the wired world. Without a computer, it would be hard for a person to get by in modern society. As humans grow, we change computers to help aid us as we have begun to see with IOT. If I am to write this paper 20 years from now I’m sure my ideas and morals will change. As the times change and computers change, I will have to keep in mind that what I am learning now may not be relevant in a few years. Being able to understand what a computer is at its core will help me adapt to changes as time moves on.