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C00001 00001
C00002 00002	\input kermac.tex
C00005 00003	\arabicnumbering{1}
C00008 00004	\arabicnumbering{1}
C00011 00005	Computers.  Why is it that so many people fail to understand how they work
C00013 00006	The modern digital computer is truly a marvelous device but it is not a
C00018 ENDMK
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\ctrline{\Tit What You Need to Know about Computers}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
What is a computer\cr
The parts of a computer\cr
Why we need computers\cr
Problems in using computers\cr
How computers are being used\cr
How computers will be used\cr}}$$

\par\vfill
\eject

\ctrline{\Tit What is a Computer}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
Handles data\cr
Permanent files\cr
A stored program\cr
Multiplicity of steps\cr
Alternate program paths\cr}}$$

\par\vfill
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\ctrline{\Tit The Parts of a Computer}
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The arithmetic unit\cr
The storage unit\cr
Input-output devices\cr
The decision element\cr}}$$

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\ctrline{\Tit Why we need computers}
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People are too slow\cr
People make mistakes\cr
People are too expensive\cr
Not enough people\cr}}$$

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\eject

\ctrline{\Tit Problems in using computers}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
Wrong input data\cr
No human perception\cr
Rigid behavior\cr
Fraud protection\cr}}$$

\par\vfill
\eject

\ctrline{\Tit How computers are being used}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
Accounting\cr
Scientific problem solving\cr
Process control\cr
Information retrieval\cr}}$$

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\eject

\ctrline{\Tit How computers will be used}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
Tele-typed messages\cr
Personal computing\cr
Ordering merchandise\cr
Paying bills\cr
Personal newspapers\cr}}$$

\par\vfill
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$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill\cr
Self stearing automobiles\cr
Completely automated factories\cr
Automatic language translation\cr
Direct access libraries\cr
The automated home\cr}}$$
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\end
\arabicnumbering{1}
\normalpage
\lv
\par
\ctrline{\Tit What You Need to Know about Computers}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill⊗\quad#\hfill\cr
1.⊗Computers vs. calculators\cr
2.⊗The Parts of a computer\cr
3.⊗Why we need computers\cr
4.⊗Problems in using computers\cr
5.⊗How computers are being used\cr
6.⊗How computers will be used\cr}}$$

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1.⊗An arithmetic unit\cr
2.⊗A storage unit\cr
3.⊗Input-output devices\cr
4.⊗The decision element\cr}}$$

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1.⊗People are too slow\cr
2.⊗People make too many mistakes\cr
3.⊗People are too expensive\cr
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\eject
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1.⊗Wrong input data\cr
2.⊗No human perception\cr
3.⊗Rigid behavior\cr
4.⊗Fraud protection\cr}}$$
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1.⊗Accounting\cr
2.⊗Scientific problem solving\cr
3.⊗Process control\cr
4.⊗Information retrieval\cr}}$$

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\ctrline{\Tit How computers will be used}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill⊗\quad#\hfill\cr
1.⊗Tele-typed messages\cr
2.⊗Personal computing\cr
3.⊗Ordering merchandise\cr
4.⊗Paying bills\cr
5.⊗Personal newspapers\cr}}$$

\par\vfill
\ctrline{\Tit The long-range future}
$$\vbox{\halign{#\hfill⊗\quad#\hfill\cr
1.⊗Self stearing automobiles\cr
2.⊗Completely automated factories\cr
3.⊗Automatic language translation\cr
4.⊗Direct access libraries\cr
5.⊗The automated home\cr}}$$
\par\vfill
\eject
Computers.  Why is it that so many people fail to understand how they work
and so have an uneasy feeling about them?  A hour is certainly not long
enough to explain all there is to know about computers.  On the otherhand,
it should be quite long enough to dispel the sense of magic that seems to
surround the subject and allow you to read about computers in the public
press with some understanding.  So I am not going to try to make you into
computer scientists, but I do hope to add to your understanding a bit.

In looking around, I would judge that perhaps half of you have heard me talk
on this subject before, while the rest of you are either relatively new at
The Sequoias or at any rate did not hear me before.  My problem is how to
make what I have to say intellegent to the newer people without boring those
of you who heard me before.  In discussing my dilemma with Bernice, she 
maintained that I need not worry about repeating myself and pointed out that
I had been trying to explain computers to her for over thirty years and she
still did not understand them.

The modern digital computer is truly a marvelous device but it is not a
magical device and its overall behavior is really quite simple and easy to
understand.  Now do not get me wrong, a detailed understanding of how
computers are constructed and of how one makes use of their full
capabilities, all of this is difficult to understand and students who
intend to become computer scientists spend years in study.  So I am not
going to make you all into computer scientists in one hour.
Never-the-less it is possible to understand the basic ideas that underlie
the computer, enough to dispel this feeling of magic that some of you may
have.

The fact that so many of you are here tonight, makes me think that you
would like to gain this understanding and I am going to assume that you
are willing to try very hard just for the next hour to follow what I will
be saying.  Please do not give up too soon.

So where to begin.  Let me first mention the fact that there are two types
of computers, so-called analogue computers and digital computers.
Tonight, I am only going to talk about digital computers. They are called
digital because they deal with numbers or digits, that is they count much
as you might do and they keep track of quantities by assigning numbers to
them.

Then let me tell you a bit of history.  The basic ideas underlying the
modern digital computer were first formulated by an english mathematician
Charles Babbage in 1833.  Yes I said 1833 not 1933. Interestingly enought
Babbage actually tried to construct his analytic engine as he called it
out of mechanical parts since electrical devices were, of course, still
unknown.  Babbage was an irascible and basically unhappy man who felt that
the world was against him and he was a man ahead of his time.

He did have one loyal supporter, and this will interest the women in the
audience.  Lady Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron the poet,
abandoned any pretenses of following in her father's footsteps and
developed an early interested in mathematics.  Lord Lovelace became
interested in Babbage's machine, thinking he could use it the predict the
outcome of horse races where he regularly lost large sums of money. It was
natural, therefore, for Lady Lovelace to also become interested in
Babbage's Analytic engine and it is from her writings that we now are able
to read about Babbages's work.  Lady Lovelace was certainly the first computer
programmer.  Would you like to see what these people looked like?

SLIDE 1 and 2


While we have the lights off let me show you an outline of what I am going
to talk about.