Etymology of the word "computer" - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 03:33:48 am
content: When was the word "computer" first used to describe the device which we all love (and sometimes hate)?Although he never completed it, Charles Babagge is credited with the invention of the first mechanical computer, but he called it a "Analytical Engine".Vannevar Bush actually built a "Differential Analyzer".Alan Turing wrote a paper on an "Universal Computing Machine", although his codebreaking machine at Blechtley Park was never really called a computer?Konrad Zuse's creations were never called computers, either.As far as I know, the first use of the name on an actual machine was ENIAC, developed by Eckert and Mauchly.My understanding is, the word computer in ENIAC was used due to its purported use: to replace the human "computers" which tediously calculated ballistic tables.Am I correct?

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 03:40:24 am
content: Similar to you, I've heard that in WWII, 'computer' meant a person who computes. It was mostly women because the men were kinda busy, you know, dying.Ed

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 04:09:58 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on July 12, 2017, 03:46:59 amShould've known Wikipedia would have the answer.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer#EtymologyLooks like WWII was about thelasttime that computer referred to a person.Ed

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 04:37:41 am
content: According to Wikipedia, the first written reference to human computer was 1613 (from the Oxford English Dictionary). My copy of the OED has 1646 as the first such reference. My copy is the compact edition. It is a single large volume instead of the many volumes of the full size edition, mainly because it uses a very small font. Maybe the compact edition leaves some references out too.1896 is the first reference to computer as a device in my copy of the OED. It refers to a circular slide rule like device.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 04:42:44 am
content: Human computers outlasted WWII by at least a decade. The computers of the early 1950s were unreliable and bleeding edge experimental. The transistorized versions started taking over from human computers in the mid 1950s and had just about completed the takeover by the early 1960s.I say just about because my first technical job was in 1967 and was doing the arithmetic for design of tire molds. Looking up sines, cosines and tangents in an eight place trig table and then doing the associated multiplications and additions using a Marchant mechanical calculator before writing the answer in a results table. Basically I was the computer for the mechanical engineer doing the design. Doing that for a few hours a day after high school every day made it very clear that I wanted to study and move up the technical food chain.Even that last vestige of the human computer in smaller organizations that couldn't afford a "real" computer died just a couple of years later with products from Wang, HP and others.

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 04:57:39 am
content: Quote from: Tom45 on July 12, 2017, 04:37:41 amThe single volume version was probably the 2nd (1989) edition. The 3rd edition (still in progress) indeed lists 1613 as the first citation: "I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number."Quote from: Tom45 on July 12, 2017, 04:37:41 am1869 according to the third edition: " plunged anew into the column of figures... Her pen was slowly traversing the length of the page, at an elevation of a quarter of an inch above the paper, her eyes following the course of the nib, as if it were the index of a patent computer."

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 05:25:49 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on July 12, 2017, 03:46:59 amEven before WWII, human computer was one of the few trained science/engineering jobs that were available to women. Which resulted in the first computer programmers (for the ENIAC) being all women, drawn from the computer profession.

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 05:36:53 am
content: If you guys haven't seen "Hidden Figures" yet, I recommend it - quite a good watch, IMHO.

author: strangersound
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 07:11:55 am
content: compute (v.)1630s, from French computer, from Latin computare "to count, sum up, reckon together," from com "with, together" (see com-) + putare "to reckon," originally "to prune," from PIE root *pau- (2) "to cut, strike, stamp." Related: Computed; computing.http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=compute

author: android
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 07:51:39 am
content: My first casual job was as a "dividend calculator" in the seventies - which meant I used a mechanical calculator to calculate payouts for the punters. It could have been worse I guessGoogle Ngram has the following to report about usage of the words "computer" and "calculator". It doesn't answer the OP question but is kind of interesting nonetheless...

author: dferyance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 03:36:00 pm
content: It seems that the word "computer", while still quite popular, is falling out of favor for the word "device" / "devices" -- sometimes "electronic devices". This is rather interesting to me because it is such a simple problem that could have been easier to solve. While computers in a laptop form factor are called "laptops" they are also still considered "computers". However computers in a tablet or pocket form factor are almost never called "computers". This is a problem for someone trying to talk about all kinds of personal computers regardless of form factor. If you just say "computers" people will think laptops and desktops and not think about tablets or mobile phones. So I've noticed that "devices" has been the go-to word for talking about all forms of computers. Rather than accept other form factors under the umbrella of computers, we've migrated to an even more confusing word in order to incorporate them. Language is odd.

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 05:29:05 pm
content: Quote from: dferyance on July 12, 2017, 03:36:00 pmA slight aside, my pet peeve: "$600? For a PHONE? With ONE DAY battery life? Bwahaha, you guys are ridiculous! My phone is for calling and texting and it lasts two weeks on a single charge!" My usual response: "Well then, how about call it a computer in your pocket. With a calling feature. Done - problem solved."

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:52:14 am
content: Quote from: dferyance on July 12, 2017, 03:36:00 pmThe term "tablet computer" is used quite commonly at work, but then again I work in a technical/scientific field. I suppose "tablet" is just short form, just as "app" means "application", although I refuse to use the term "app", proper English please people. Just as SAP is "S-A-P" and not "Sap" and SQL is "S-Q-L" and not "sequel" (and yes, I've heard all the arguments and attempted justifications in the world, I don't care) <can_of_worms>.Device is fairly common though, it could refer to anything from a traditional "computer" to a smart watch, in-car computer, basically anything with data storage of some kind.

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 03:06:39 am
content: Speaking of Pet Peeves....lots of people still call a Microcontroller a Microcomputer....which could be made into one, but not necessarily.Of course, even a larger segment of the population call it fondly a "Micro".