COMPUTERS HISTORY AND PREZI

COMPUTERS

1.    THE COMPUTERS HISTORY:

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out an arbitrary set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. The ability of computers to follow a sequence of operations, called a program, make computers very flexible and useful. Such computers are used as control systems for a very wide variety of industrial and consumer devices. This includes simple special purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls, factory devices such as industrial robots and computer assisted design, but also in general purpose devices like personal computers and mobile devices such as smartphones. The Internet is run on computers and it connects millions of other computers.

Since ancient times, simple manual devices like the abacus aided people in doing calculations. Early in the Industrial Revolution, some mechanical devices were built to automate long tedious tasks, such as guiding patterns for looms. More sophisticated electrical machines did specialized analog calculations in the early 20th century. The first digital electronic calculating machines were developed during World War II. The speed, power, and versatility of computers has increased continuously and dramatically since then.

Conventionally, a modern computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices include input devices (keyboards, mice, joystick, etc.), output devices (monitor screens, printers, etc.), and input/output devices that perform both functions (e.g., the 2000s-era touchscreen). Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source and they enable the result of operations to be saved and retrieved.

2.  TYPES OF COMPUTERS:

   

1. Supercomputer
2. Mainframe Computer
3. Minicomputer
4. Microcomputer

• Supercomputer:

The most powerful computers in terms of performance and data processing are the Supercomputers. These are specialized and task specific computers used by large organizations. These computers are used for research and exploration purposes, like NASA uses supercomputers for launching space shuttles, controlling them and for space exploration purpose.The supercomputers are very expensive and very large in size. It can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms; some super computers can span an entire building.

• Mainframe computer:

Although Mainframes are not as powerful as supercomputers, but certainly they are quite expensive nonetheless, and many large firms & government organizations uses Mainframes to run their business operations. The Mainframe computers can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms because of its size. Super-computers are the fastest computers with large data storage capacity, Mainframes can also process & store large amount of data. Banks educational institutions & insurance companies use mainframe computers to store data about their customers, students & insurance policy holders.

Popular Mainframe computers

• Fujitsu’s ICL VME
• Hitachi’s Z800

• Minicomputer:

Minicomputers are used by small businesses & firms. Minicomputers are also called as “Midrange Computers”. These are small machines and can be accommodated on a disk with not as processing and data storage capabilities as super-computers & Mainframes. These computers are not designed for a single user. Individual departments of a large company or organizations use Mini-computers for specific purposes. For example, a production department can use Mini-computers for monitoring certain production process.

Popular Minicomputers

• K-202
• Texas Instrument TI-990
• SDS-92
• IBM Midrange computers

• Microcomputer

Desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablets & smartphones are all types of microcomputers. The micro-computers are widely used & the fastest growing computers. These computers are the cheapest among the other three types of computers. The Micro-computers are specially designed for general usage like entertainment, education and work purposes. Well known manufacturers of Micro-computer are Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony & Toshiba.

Desktop computers, Gaming consoles, Sound & Navigation system of a car, Netbooks, Notebooks, PDA’s, Tablet PC’s, Smartphones, Calculators are all type of Microcomputers.

3.  PROGRAMMING SYSTEM:

System programming (or systems programming) is the activity of programming computer system software. The primary distinguishing characteristic of systems programming when compared to application programming is that application programming aims to produce software which provides services to the user directly (e.g. word processor), whereas systems programming aims to produce software and software platforms which provide services to other software, are performance constrained, or both (e.g. operating systems, computational science applications, game engines and AAA video games, industrial automation, and software as a service applications).^[1]

System programming requires a great degree of hardware awareness. Its goal is to achieve efficient use of available resources, either because the software itself is performance critical (AAA video games) or because even small efficiency improvements directly transform into significant monetary savings for the service provider (cloud based word processors).

4. PREZI:

Prezi is a visual storytelling software alternative to traditional slide-based presentation formats. Prezi presentations feature a map-like, schematic overview that lets users pan between topics at will, zoom in on desired details, and pull back to reveal context.

This freedom of movement enables “conversational presenting,” a new presentation style in which presentations follow the flow of dialogue, instead of vice-versa.

Founded in 2009, and with offices in San Francisco, Budapest, and Mexico City, Prezi now fosters a community of over 75 million users with more than 260 million prezis around the world.

The company launched Prezi Business in 2016, with a suite of creation, collaboration, and analytics tools for teams. Prezi Business is an HTML5 application that runs on JavaScript.

5. WHEN WAS PREZI FOUNDED?

Prezi (or Prezi.com) was created by the support of Kitchen Budapest and Magyar Telekom in 2008 in order to replace ordinary slide-based presentations. Today the project is assisted by Sunstone Capital. The actual development was done by Zui Labs led by its three Hungarian founders Péter Árvai, Szabolcs Somlai-Fischer and Péter Halácsy. The word prezi is the Hungarian short form of presentation.

6. WHAT IS THE MEAN CRITISCIM ABOUT PREZI?:

The company has acknowledged that the “zooming user interface (ZUI)” has the potential to induce nausea, and offers tutorials with recommendations for use of layout to avoid excessive visual stimulation. There has also been criticism of Prezi’s lack of font and color options. Notably, Presentation Zen author Garr Reynolds once stated that he had never seen a good presentation using Prezi and was looking for one; in a later post, he refers to Chris Anderson’s talk at TED Global 2010 as one of the best TED talks ever, commenting that it was a good use of Prezi.

As Prezi is a Flash-based online zooming tool, most elements of the presentation cannot be read aloud by users with disabilities by means of a screen reader (e.g. it is not possible to add alt attributes to images and iframes used for the page design, and templates have been built to work without accessibility options). Prezi is considered by Web2Access to be an 'inaccessible service'. American educators have been advised that Prezi is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA/508) and that an accessible PowerPoint version of the presentation should be provided online for students where a Prezi has been used.