Here is some computer trivia that I have compiled for those of you who have not been in the industry as long as some of us (in other words, those of us who are almost as old as dirt).
- When was the term ‘computer bug’ first used? – It is widely believed that the term ‘computer bug’ was first used by Grace Hopper on September 9th, 1945 when a moth (that’s right, a real bug) short-circuited a relay-based computer called the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University when it inadvertently got caught in Relay 70 of Panel F. Once they had cleared the moth from the relay, they told everyone that they had ‘debugged’ the computer. However, since the early days of the 20th century, anytime a machine had a problem, they would say it had a ‘bug’ in it, so even if this incident did not happen, it stands to reason that someone may have used the term ‘bug’ anyway.
- Where did the term ‘BASIC’ language come from? – Some believe the term BASIC was used to signify the simplicity of this programming language. While this may be partially true, in actuality the term ‘BASIC’ is an acronym spelled like this ‘B.A.S.I.C.’. It stands for ‘Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code’.
- Other acronyms
- DOS – Disk Operating System
- SCSI – Small Computer System Interface
- IDE – Integrated Device Electronics
- USB – Universal Serial Bus
- ATA – Advanced Technology Attachment
- ATAPI – ATA Packet Interface
- SATA – Serial ATA
- CPU – Central Processing Unit
- GPU – Graphics Processing Unit
- MPEG (or MPG) – Motion Picture Experts Group
- JPEG (or JPG) – Joint Photographic Experts Group
- The first version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, was an add-on to MS-DOS. It was shipped with Windows Paint, Windows Write, an appointment calendar, a card filer, a clock, a notepad, a computer terminal, a control panel, Clipboard, MS-DOS Executive, a game called ‘Reversi’ and a RAM driver. A later version was bundled with Microsoft Excel as a marketing tool to help aid its popularity.
- Several modern products owe their conception to the TV show ‘Star Trek’. Among these are the flip-phone, iTunes and the iPod, to name a few. Even the iPad is strangely similar to the Star Trek ‘PADD’ device. Did you also know that the Original Star Trek TV Series was the first TV show to feature an interracial kiss. It occurred between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols).
- The first computers filled an entire building and yet were less powerful than your laptop, PC or even your smartphone today.
- The first movies to make extensive use of computer simulation were Tron in 1982 followed by The Last Starfighter in 1984. The first fully computer animated film was Toy Story.
- The IBM PC was first introduced on August 12th, 1981. This year it turns 30.
- A hard drive’s speed in relation to user experience is based on three factors, the type of interface (ex. SATA is faster than IDE), the access time (less time is better) and the rotational speed of the drive (faster rotational speed in rpms is better). The hard drive is one of the biggest bottlenecks to perceived computer performance.
