The first electronic computer The term computer today refers to a digital computer one that has become common in offices and homes as a desktop, laptop, or notebook. It has an internal microprocessor that accomplishes an amazing number of tasks, considering the size and capabilities of the earliest machines. The first fully automatic large-scale calculator was built by Howard Aiken of Harvard with engineers from IBM. It was called the Harvard Mark I and was completed in 1944. Data were entered on punched cards, and output was on punched cards or processed on an electric typewriter. It was a large machine 50 feet (15 meters) long and eight feet (2.4 meters) high. The first generation of what can be called a real computer, not just a calculator, was the Colossus, put in operation in 1943 in London, England. It was used to decipher German codes in World War II. The Colossus, however, was built only for this task. The distinction of the first general-purpose computer goes to a machine known as ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator designed and built in Pennsylvania in 1946. These machines were enormous by today's standards, but they were less powerful than today's computers. They used hundreds of vacuum tubes. The invention in 1948 of the more efficient and much smaller transistor, which does the same work as the vacuum tube, helped make today's personal computers possible.

Only 20 years later, Nomi was making extra cash working with those punch cards. She would bring home boxes of those cards and sometimes hired her kids & their friends. They were always thrilled to make extra cash. Nomi is some entrepreneur!!! Next...