Developments in Computer Software
There also have been significant developments in computer “software” or the programs that control what computers do. In the past, if you wanted a computer to do some work for you, it was necessary to code your request into computer language. Such “programming” is complicated business and takes a great deal of time and effort. The programmer needs a detailed knowledge of a computer’s makeup. For this reason, computers traditionally have been the exclusive domain of those in the computing profession. But that is not the case today. The last decade has seen the development of control programs or “operation systems” that “manage” the computer and make it more usable. They allow users to communicate their needs directly to the computer in human language. Doctors, scientists, schoolboys, teachers, housewives—in fact, even persons with no knowledge of how a computer works—can get one to perform by using simple, English-like commands. Furthermore, the control programs “time-share,” that is, they enable many users to share computer time, allowing the enormous capacity to be used in serving many persons all at the same time.
Another very important software development involves computer communication via telephone lines. In recent years, the telephone networks have been used to carry coded data between terminals and computers. Due to the growth of this kind of activity, the public telephone authorities are cooperating internationally to develop networks exclusively for conveying computer information. Unlike the public telephone networks, these “data networks” will allow for multi-way conversations between machines.
Whereas the advances in hardware have made the computer more powerful, advances in software have made it more usable. Since computers are now more usable than in earlier years, manufacturers have been able to offer personal computing for the first time.
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