Modern Marvels

Creation of the Computer (4x5)

Air date: Nov 24, 1996

They are the machines at the center of the information age. They have revolutionized our lives and our world, making previously unthinkable tasks automatic and linking people together around the planet. Join MODERN MARVELS® for a fascinating look at the history of the computer. See Charles Babbage's Victorian "counting machine," a mechanical computer that produced perfect results for any mathematical problem of six figures or less. Discover how IBM was launched with a punch-card counting machine built to speed the 1890 census. Trace the technological advancements that led to the first true modern "computers" and the rapid progress that saw computers shrink from room-sized monsters to the desktop units that are revolutionizing life in the '90s.