Talk:Computer

minor: “See also”

“Glossary of computers” and “Glossary of computer hardware terms” both point to the same page. Maybe one should be removed? I can't yet do that because I'm not verified. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rafaelbeirigo (talk • contribs) 01:19, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

Done :) OliveYouBean (talk) 01:34, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Linguistics in the Digital Age

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2023 and 11 May 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): NNXXLLXX (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Nurbekyuldashov (talk) 01:52, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 May 2023

Image Colossus.jpg has wrong footer. Please change:

Computers and computing devices from different eras.
Top row: automatic mechanical calculator (1820) (difference engine), first-generation computer (Colossus computer)
Middle row: early vacuum tube computer (ENIAC), supercomputer (IBM Summit)
Bottom row: video game console (Nintendo GameCube), smartphone (LYF Water 2)

to

Colossus, the first electronic digital programmable computing device, was used to break German ciphers during World War II. It is seen here in use at Bletchley Park in 1943. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oriowiki (talk • contribs) 12:07, May 30, 2023 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template. — Paper9oll (🔔 • 📝) 13:05, 30 May 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 November 2023

remove \| from link to category \[\[Category:Computers| \]\] to \[\[Category:Computers\]\] Robert Wünsche (talk) 15:29, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

@Robert Wünsche:  Not done: It's not clear, but I assume that you're referring to the line [[Category:Computers| ]] - this is not a link, it is a category; the evidence is in the rendered page where it shows in the category box at the bottom, and not as a rendered link. If you are asking to remove the pipe and space, these are intentional: see WP:SORTCAT and WP:SORTKEY. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 10:16, 12 November 2023 (UTC)

Tim Berners-Lee

Hello. I was surprised at the absence of a mention of Tim Berners-Lee in this article, in the section about the internet. Having said that, I'm a perennial novice when it comes to computers, so I wonder if I've been misinformed that he 'invented' the internet (?)/the world wide web (?). I did recheck on Google and it seems that he did, but I'm aware that Google is not God, and I did only glance at the first few results. Paulb2210 (talk) 10:30, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

The Internet is the network of computers themselves and the underlying protocols that make basic communication possible. The Internet was first developed in the mid-20th century, culminating in the the Internet Protocol we presently use first veing published in 1974, authored by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. Berners-Lee was instead the primary inventor of the World Wide Web in 1990, which is the specific later technology that uses the Internet to share hypertext documents. It's a relatively common error to confuse the two. Remsense ‥ 论 11:22, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, Remsense. Do you think Berners-Lee is worthy of a mention in the article for being the primary inventor of the World Wide Web? Paulb2210 (talk) 13:49, 15 September 2024 (UTC)

I don't see him as a glaring omission from this article, as he only invented a particular piece of network software, rather than directly impacting the computer itself. Remsense ‥ 论 02:15, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. But it wasn't 'any old' piece of software, was it? How might the computer have developed without it? I'm guessing the majority, or at least a significant percentage, of computer users use their computer for social media and streaming entertainment; do those rely on the WWW? Or would those be possible without it? Paulb2210 (talk) 14:06, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

How might the computer have developed without it?

Desktop and laptop computers were in essentially the same architectural state in 1990 than they are in now, including network capabilities. I concede that the web mattered a lot for the development of mobile computer form factors, but I still think it is okay that we do not mention Berners-Lee by name, given we do not mention Cerf or many other important figures in the history of the Internet, and we only have so much space. Remsense ‥ 论 14:11, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, Remsense. Paulb2210 (talk) 15:26, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

• Can't think why STB-L would be mentioned here. 'Computer' is a much broader and older term than 'internet', let alone 'world-wide web' and STB-L's notability stems from the WWW. Andy Dingley (talk) 17:22, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

  Thanks, Andy. Paulb2210 (talk) 17:10, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

How might the computer have developed without it?

Hypercard stacks were already doing most of it, hypertext, scripting, integrating Quicktime VR in the 90s to give a Google Street-view -style perspective (as seen in Myst) and we already had eWorld so without the WWW we likely would have just seen eWorld host more interactive content via Stacks. It may have led to wikipedia earlier considering that wikipedia is ideologically like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and technologically like Hypercard.

I'm guessing the majority, or at least a significant percentage, of computer users use their computer for social media and streaming entertainment; do those rely on the WWW?

Some such services are available both by using web-browser protocols and by using their own independent API that's independent of the web. Some are served only via public web and others only via private API. I can appreciate that streaming cat videos is likely subjectively salient at the moment just as not getting killed by bombs was the benefit "the majority, or at least a significant percentage, of" people got from computers mid last century. I very much doubt Turing envisaged computers would be used to stream videos of cats, so I very much doubt that we can accurately speculate what computers will do in the very near future.

There are other computer technologies "the majority, or at least a significant percentage, of" people do or will depend upon daily whether that's automatic transmission systems in cars, autopilots in aeroplanes, microwave ovens, pacemakers, hearing aids, et al and I just don't think the article would benefit from citing the names of the people who invented cars, human flight, cooking, medicine, etc. Turing's point is that if a process can be reduced to calculations, it can be automated -- and that's a lot more than just streaming cat videos. 49.195.26.187 (talk) 12:24, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

Cleanup request

I just read the History section and a few segments seemed pretty rough / poorly formatted:

1. In 1831–1835, mathematician and engineer Giovanni Plana devised a Perpetual Calendar machine, which, through a system of pulleys and cylinders and over, -- if content was deleted from "and over" it should be restored; otherwise "and over" should be deleted.
2. after working on his difference engine he announced his invention in 1822, in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society, titled "Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables",[23] he also -- a comma cannot do that; change to "tables. He also" as a new sentence.
3. The metal–oxide–silicon field-effect transistor (MOSFET), also known as the MOS transistor, The MOSFET invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960,[72][73][74][75][76][77] It was the -- merge several run-on sentence fragments here into a genuine sentence: "The metal–oxide–silicon field-effect transistor (MOSFET), also known as the MOS transistor, was invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960 and was the".
4. SoC, and the flash memory is usually placed right next to the SoC, this all done to improve data transfer speeds, as the -- this is already a long run-on sentence by this point so begin a new one: "next to the SoC. This is done to".
5. modern SoCs (Such as the Snapdragon -- there is no need to capitalise "S" in "Such"; change to "such".

Thanks. 49.195.26.187 (talk) 11:39, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

 Done That whole section could use more care, but thanks for identifying some of the more egregious stuff. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 20:34, 11 October 2024 (UTC)