ELECTRONIC COUNTING DEVICE

Electronic counting devices are the modern computer. The electronic counting devices are as follows:

1. Herman Hollerith Punch Card
2. John Von Neumann Machine
3. Modern Computer.

HERMAN HOLLERITH PUNCH CARD

In 1881, Herman Hollerith began designing a machine to tabulate census data more efficiently than traditional hand method.

Herman Hollerith invented and used a punched card device to help analyse the 1980 US Census data. A step toward automated computing machine. Herman Hollerith and James powers who worked for the US Census bureau, use the development of punched card which were first successfully with computer in 1980.

The also developed a device that could read the information that had been punched into the card automatically without human help which reduced the reading errors. These advantages were seen by commercial companies and soon led to the development of improved punch card using computers created by International Business Machine (IBM).

JOHN NEUMANN

In 1947, John Von Neumann began to design a new stored program electronic computer now referred to as the IAS computer.

This machine allowed for storage of program and data in the same memory. He proposed a solution to the drawback of ENIAC (Electronic Numeric Integrator and Calculator) to EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) and it was the first stored program in a computer in USA.

MODERN COMPUTER

John Neumann’s EDVAC reduced the number of operations done manually into computer operation after these series of computers were designed by different companies in commercial quantities.

The development of calculator that provides the function such as reciprocals, square and some scientific calculator even has some programming function in them.

Evaluation:

1. Mention the electronic counting device
2. Explain the function of Herman Hollerith’s Punch card
3. In what year was the new stored program electronic computer was designed.