Computers are a fairly new technology in our society. At least as we know them today. We've had mechanical aids to help us with counting and math at least back to 2400 BC with the Abacus. But an abacus is not really a computer is it?
One of the jokes I always enjoy springing on folks is the
Amish Laptop.
The line sort of gets faded as to what is a computer and when the first computer was made. After all computers are giant calculating devices. In 1833 Charles Babbage invented what he called the Analytical Engine. Punch cards were used to input data and the machine spit out data on punch cards.
Now a days we don't have to worry about punch cards. The first vacuum tube computer which took a large space to house, was a mechanical/vacuum combination known as the Z2. The Z3 which was created in 1941, was the very first electromechanical programmable computer.
The US built the ENIAC computer for calculating ballistics. They finished building it in 2 years and was completed in 1943. The first lady in the image on the left holds an ENIAC computer board.
Today general calculations and computers have come a long ways. Your car is a good example of a computer that no longer looks like a computer. Everything from firing control on the ignition system to controlling the feel of the ride are incorporated in them.
Cell phones today have more power and calculating ability than the first space capsule the astronauts used.
You find them in everything from home thermostats to traffic control and many times you aren't even aware they are there and on the job.