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☆ Where did the first mechanical calculator firstly appeared?
☆ What is the mechanical computer?
☆ What is the first electronic computer and when it was created?
☆ When did the first personal computer appear?
Many discoveries and inventions have directly and indirectly contributed to the development of the personal computer. Examining a few important developmental landmarks can help bring entire picture into focus.
The first computers of any kind were simple calculators. Even these evolved from mechanical devices to electronic digital devices.
Mechanical Calculators
One of the earliest calculating devices on record was the abacus，which has been known and widely used for more than 2，000 years. The abacus was a simple wooden rack holding parallel rods on which beads were strung. When these beads were manipulated back and forth according to certain rules，several different types of arithmetic operations could be performed.
Math with standard Arabic numbers found its way to Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries. In the early 1 600s a man named Charles Napier(the inventor of logarithms) developed a series of rods(later called Napier’s Bones)that could be used to assist with numeric multiplication.
Blaise Pascal was normally credited with building the first digital calculating machine in 1642. It could perform the addition of numbers entered on dials and was intended to help his father，who was a tax collector. Then in 1671，Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz invented a calculator that was finally built in 1694. His calculating machine could not only add，but by successive adding and shifting，could also multiply.
In 1820，Charles Xavier Thomas developed the first commercially successful mechanical calculator that could not only add but also subtract，multiply and divide. After that，a succession of ever improving mechanical calculators created by various other inventors followed.
The First Mechanical Computer
Charles Babbage，a mathematics professor in Cambridge，England，has been considered by many as being the father of computers because of his two great inventions—each a different type of mechanical computing engine.
The Difference Engine，as he called it，was conceived in 1812 and solved polynomial equations by the method of differences. By 1822，he had built a small working model of his Difference Engine for demonstration purposes. With financial help from the British government，Babbage started construction of full-scale model in 1823. It was intended to be steam-powered and fully automatic and would even print the resulting tables.
Babbage continued to work on it for 10 years，but by 1833 he had lost interest because he now had an idea for an even better machine，something he described as a general purpose，fully program-controlled，automatic mechanical digital computer. Babbage called his new machine an Analytical Engine.
This Analytical Engine would have been the first true general-purpose computing device.It has been regarded as the first real predecessor to a modern computer because it had all the elements of what is considered a computer today. This included
☆ an input device(using an idea similar to the looms used in textile mills at the time，a form of punched cards supplied the input)；
☆ a control unit(a barrel-shaped section with many slats and studs was used to control or program the processor)；
☆ a processor(or calculator)(a computing engine containing hundreds of axles and thousands of gears about 10 feet tall)；
☆ storage(a unit containing more axles and gears that could hold one thousand 50-digit numbers)；
☆ an output device(plate designed to fit in a printing press，used to print the final results).
Electronic Computer
A physicist named John V. Atanasoff was credited with creating the first true digital electronic computer in 1942，while he worked at Iowa State College. His computer was the first to use modern digital switching techniques and vacuum tubes as the switches.
Military needs during World War Ⅱ caused a great thrust forward in the evolution of computers. Systems were needed to calculate weapons trajectory and other military functions.In 1946，John P. Eckert，John W. Mauchly，and their associates in the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania built the first large scale electronic computer for the military. This machine became known as ENIAC，the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator. It operated on 10-digit numbers and could multiply two such numbers at the rate of 300 products per second by finding the value of each product from a multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was about 1，000 times faster than the previous generation of electromechanical relay computers.
ENIAC used about 18，000 vacuum tubes，occupied 1，800 square feet(167 square meters)of floor space，and consumed about 180，000 watts of electrical power. Punched cards served as the input and output；registers served as adders and also as quick-access read write storage.
From ENIAC to the present，computer evolution has moved very rapidly. The first generation computers were known for using vacuum tubes in their construction. The generation to follow would use the much smaller and more efficient transistor.
A personal computer or PC is a small，relatively inexpensive computer designed for an individual user. In price，personal computers range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over five thousand dollars. All are based on the microprocessor technology that enables manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one chip. Businesses use personal computers for word processing，accounting，desktop publishing，and for running spreadsheet and database management applications. At home，the most popular use for personal computers is for playing games and computer-assisted learning.
Personal computers first appeared in the late 1970s. One of the first and most popular personal computers was the Apple Ⅱ，introduced in 1977 by Apple Computer.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s，new models and competing operating systems seemed to appear daily. Then，in 1981，IBM entered the fray with its first personal computer，known as the IBM PC. The IBM PC quickly became the personal computer of choice，and most other personal computer manufacturers fell by the wayside. One of the few companies to survive IBM’s onslaught was Apple Computer，which remains a major player in the personal computer marketplace.
Other companies adjusted to IBM’s dominance by building IBM clones，computers that were internally almost the same as the IBM PC，but that cost less. Because IBM clones used the same microprocessors as IBM PCs，they were capable of running the same software. Over the years，IBM has lost much of its influence in directing the evolution of PCs. Many of its innovations，such as the MCA(Micro Channel Architecture)expansion bus and the OS/2 operating system，have not been accepted by the industry or the marketplace.
Today，the world of personal computers is basically divided between Apple Macintoshes and PCs. The principal characteristics of personal computers are that they are single-user systems and are based on microprocessors. However，although personal computers are designed as single-user systems，it is common to link them together to form a network. In terms of power，there is great variety.
A smartphone(or smart phone)is a mobile phone with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than basic feature phones.
Early smartphones typically combined the features of a mobile phone with those of another popular consumer device，such as a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA)，a media player，a digital camera，or a GPS navigation unit. Modern smartphones include all of those features plus the features of a touchscreen computer，including web browsing，Wi-Fi，and the 3rd-party apps.
Currently，about 90% of handset sales worldwide are for devices driven by Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile operating systems.
In 2007，Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone，one of the first mobile phones to use a multi-touch interface. The iPhone was notable for its use of a large touchscreen for direct finger input as its main means of interaction，instead of a stylus，keyboard，or keypad typical for smartphones at the time.
2.08 saw the release of the first phone to use Android called the HTC Dream(also known as the T-Mobile G1). Android is an open-source platform founded by Andy Rubin and backed by Google. Although Android’s adoption was relevantly slow at first，it started to gain widespread popularity in 2010.
In the third quarter of 2012，one billion smartphones were in use worldwide. Global smartphone sales surpassed the sales figures for feature phones in early 2013. As of 2013，65 percent U.S. mobile consumers own smartphones. The European mobile device market as of 2013 is 860 million. In China，smartphones represented more than half of all handset shipments in the second quarter of 2012.
Worldwide smartphone shipments decreased 1.1% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2019，according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. While the past several years have delivered flat growth，2019 volumes dropped to levels below annual shipment levels between 2015 and 2018. In total，companies shipped a 368.8 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of 2019，which was up 2.9% from the previous quarter.
The overall decline was partly due to weak shipment growth in China，where consumers are still waiting for cheaper 5G handsets to hit the market alongside increased network coverage and 5G speeds. Large inventories from the third quater of 2019 for Huawei as well as competitive pressure on other domestic players also contributed to a sluggish quarter in China.
“Huawei’s performance continued to be strong in China，but while it has been diligently building up a presence as a top tier smartphone player in Western Europe，where shipments saw the biggest hit，”said Melissa Chau，associate research director with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.“Things will continue to look challenging for Huawei given that the trade war is still not yet resolved while new uncertainty raised around the COVID-19 could potentially have adverse effects on not just Huawei，but all players reliant on the China smartphone supply chain.”
landmark ∕ʹlændmɑːk∕ n. 里程碑
evolve from… to… 演进
digital∕ ʹdɪdʒɪtl ∕ adj. 数字的；数码的
mechanical calculator 机械计算器
abacus ∕ʹæbəkəs∕ n. 算盘
arithmetic ∕əʹrɪθmətɪk ∕ n. 算术
demonstration ∕ ˌdemənsʹtreɪʃn ∕ n. 示范
analytical engine 分析机
input ∕ʹɪnpƱt∕ n. 输入
output ∕ʹaƱtpƱt∕ n. 输出
vacuum tube 真空管
trajectory∕ trəʹdʒekətəri ∕ n. 轨迹
electrical engineering 电气工程
multiplication ∕ ˌmʌltIplɪʹkeɪʃn ∕ n. 乘法
electromechanical ∕ ɪˌlektrəƱmɪʹkænɪkl∕ adj. 机电的
transistor ∕trænʹzɪstə∕ n. 晶体管
inexpensive ∕ˌɪnɪkʹspensɪv∕ adj. 物美价廉的
individual user 个人用户
range from… to… 范围从……到……
microprocessor technology 微处理器技术
manufacturer ∕ˌmænjuʹfæktʃərə∕ n. 制造商
word processing 文字处理
desktop publishing 桌面出版
spreadsheet ∕ʹspredʃiːt∕ n. 电子表格
database management application 数据库管理应用
computer-assisted learning 计算机辅助学习
marketplace ∕ʹmɑːkɪtpleɪs∕ n. 市场
architeu /ʹɑːkɪtektʃə/ n . 体系结构
single-user system 单用户系统
stylus ∕ʹstaɪləs / n . 触笔；铁笔
1. Examining a few important developmental landmarks can help bring entire picture into focus. 研究几个重要的发展里程碑有助于清楚地理解整改重要的过程。
examining a few important developmental landmarks为-ing 短语作主语。
Watching TV too much is not good to our eyes. 看太多电视对我们的眼睛不好。
Getting ready to help others is very important to us. 乐于助人对我们来说是非常重要的。
2. A physicist named John V. Atanasoff was credited with creating the first true digital electronic computer in 1942，while he worked at Iowa State College. 1942 年，一位名叫约翰·文森特·阿塔那索夫的物理学家，在爱荷华州立大学因为创造了第一台真正的电子计算机而受到嘉奖。
1)a physicist named John V. Atanasoff中的named John V. Atanasoff为过去分词短语修饰名词physicist，过去分词短语修饰名词要后置，表示被动意义，相当于a physicist who was named John V. Atanasoff。单个过去分词修饰名词一般不后置，可表示被动或完成。
fallen leaves 落叶 the caught thief 被抓的小偷
2)was credited with creating…中的with为介词，后面接-ing 形式。
be good at doing something 擅长做某事
be bad for doing something 不适合做某事
3. The first-generation computers were known for using vacuum tubes in their construction. 第一代计算机以在其结构中使用真空管而出名。
1)first-generation computers中的first-generation是由first和generation之间用连字符连接组成的一个复合词，作定语修饰名词computers。复合词作定语的情况还有：
a 12-year-old girl 一个 12 岁的小女孩
a twenty-mile walk 20 英里的步行
2)be known for意为“因为……而出名”，与之相对应的be known as意为“作为……而出名”。
4. All are based on the microprocessor technology that enables manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one chip. 一切都是基于微处理器技术，这种技术使制造商能够把所有CPU放在一块芯片上。
句子当中be based on 意思为“以……为基础”，that enables manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one chip是定语从句，修饰the microprocessor technology，其中that 可以用which代替。
5. abacus：算盘。其起源最早可以追溯到公元前 600 年，它的出现被称为人类历史上计算器的重大改革，在计算机已被普遍使用的今天，古老的算盘在许多国家方兴未艾。人们把算盘的发明与中国古代四大发明相提并论，认为算盘也是中华民族对人类的一大贡献。
6. Analytical Engine：分析机。在穿孔卡的启迪下，巴贝奇开始了它的设计，分析机的重要贡献在于它包括了现代计算机都具有的五大装置：输入、处理、存储、控制、输出，开创了近代机械式计算机研究的先河。
7. ENIAC(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)：电子数字积分计算机的简称。这是世界上第一台电子计算机“埃尼阿克”，于 1946 年 2 月 14 日在美国宣告诞生。
这个庞然大物占地面积达 170 平方米，重达 30 吨。能在 1 秒钟内进行 5 000 次加法运算和 500 次乘法运算，这比当时最快的继电器计算机的运算速度要快 1 000 多倍。
8. COVID-19：新型冠状病毒肺炎(Corona Virus Disease 2019，COVID-19)，简称“新冠肺炎”，世界卫生组织命名为“2019 冠状病毒病”，是指 2019 新型冠状病毒感染导致的肺炎。