What is a Computer

Computers have become ubiquitous in the modern world. Nearly every home and office has at least one desktop or laptop computer. Many homes and offices have many computers. Automobiles, microwave ovens, televisions, phones and many other common electronic appliances are powered by micro-computers or nano-computers. Computers have become such an integral part of our lives that we often take them for granted.

Wikipedia defines a computer as "a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions" [...]. Other definitions emphasize computing, calculation, and the manipulation or computation of mathematical equations. These statements are accurate definitions of what a computer is, but they seem strangely sterile and outdated in 2008.

There are perhaps two ways of considering this situation.

1. Computers have advanced so rapidly that dictionary definitions are obsolete. The dictionary definitions, while technically accurate, define a very limited and low-level computer function.

2. Modern computers bear little resemblance to their early predecessors. Electronic computing was being developed during the 1940s - 1950s. While primitive mechanical computing devices existed for centuries prior to this it was only in the 1950s that machines that fit the modern definition of computers were invented. Truly modern computers have only been in production for the past 10 - 20 years.

A modern computer is simply an electronic device that is capable of storing, processing, manipulating and outputting various types of information (data). This ranges from the microchip embedded in your coffee pot or wrist watch to a high-performance Internet server. Most people think of a desktop of laptop computer when referring to a computer though.