Living Well 60+ May-June 2014

1 2 MAY/JUNE 2 0 1 4
The More Things
Change:
We’ve come a long way from
the huge computers of old
by Charles Sebastian, Staff Writer
“I think it’s fair to say that personal
computers have become the most
empowering tool we’ve ever created.
They’re tools of communication,
they’re tools of creativity and
they can be shaped by their user.”
– Bill Gates
In 1946, the Electronic Numerical
Integrator and Computer
(ENIAC) was launched to
calculate PILATES
artillery firing tables for
PLACE
PILATES
PLACE
the U.S. Army’s Ballistics Research
Laboratory. The ENIAC,
which was conceived by a team
at the University of Pennsylvania
and brought to life at the Moore
School of Electrical Engineering,
took up an entire room.
Today, an IPhone has more
memory and capabilities than the
ENIAC and can be carried in a
pocket.
The ENIAC started a revolution
Pilates is designed
to strengthen the
body’s core muscles
through low-impact
fitness techniques.
All sessions taught by
Stott Pilates trained
health professionals.
based on vacuum-tube technology,
which quickly became transistor-based
as transistors evolved.
This allowed for more compact
models. Then integrated circuits
started, which made smaller even
more possible. Then there came
microprocessors, which is where
we are today. We have 100 times
the storage on our iPods and laptops
now than we did on personal
computers in the 1980s. More and
more applications arrive each day
as computers never seem to find
their threshold but keep developing
new usages.
While computers improve and
change, just like almost anything
else, what’s amazing is the exponential
rate at which they improve
and change. The ENIAC was
designed for the same purposes as
many golden-age computers: to
run calculations and test probabilities.
No one could have predicted
computers would be used for gaming
in what today is a billion-dollar
industry. The computer gaming
revolution started in the 1970s
with games such as Combat,
Pong and Space Invaders. Basic as
they may seem today, these early
attempts at computer gaming
provided millions of
users with endless
fun. The Atari 2600,
Commodore 64
and Sega were some
of the first gaming
systems with massmarket
sales and
appeal.
As impressive as
the ever-advancing
electronics in computers may be,
what is equally impressive is the
ever-widening array of applications.
While Apple and Microsoft
remain the two biggest kids on the
block, much of their success and
dominance lie in their ability to
create applications that keep proving
highly useful.
Cellular phones, ATMs, the Internet,
microwaves – the list of how
computers have made life easier
goes on and on. The concept of
email, today a common element in
life, was challenging for people to
use when it was first introduced.
With the apparent ease computers
create for us, it’s typical to suspect
they might somehow corrupt us.
This was especially true as the
personal computer developed in
the 1980s because this is when
computers scaled down to an
individual level. The late Isaac
Asimov said, “I do not fear computers.
I fear the lack of them.”
While Asimov’s statement was not
shared by the populace 25 years
ago, today it would certainly ring
true. Computers, like any tool, are
as good or bad, as right or wrong,
as their users.
859-266-3810
365 Duke Rd.
Lexingtotn
studio@pilatesplaceky.com
follow us on:
Eastland Shopping Center 1020 Industry Rd. Ste 10 Lexington, KY 40505
859-253-0012 Mon 9-7, Tues-Sat 9-6