The history of computer

It is difficult to identify who the device as the earliest computer, partly because the term "computer" is subject to different interpretations over time. Originally, the term "computer" referred to the person who performed numerical calculations (a human computer), often with the help of a mechanical calculating device.

History of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies - that of automated calculation and that of programmability.

Examples of early mechanical calculating devices included the abacus is a slide rule and arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism (which dates from around 150-100 BC). Hero of Alexandria (10-70 century AD) built a mechanical theater which performed a game lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that can be considered as a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism that performs the action, and when. This is the essence of programmability.