The Ever-Evolving Computer

The human race doubled its technological knowledge — which is another way of saying the creation of new technology tools — from the year 1 A.D. to the year 1750. But then, in just 150 years — by 1900 — that technological knowledge doubled again, and once again between 1900 and 1950. Since then, we have made more progress than in the preceding 10,000 years.

The computer is part of our expanding technological knowledge, but it is also a tool used to advance that knowledge. One reason is that the computer, unlike a plow or an airplane, can be used for many different things. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, no one imagined we would have computers in wristwatches or cash registers. No other technology has grown so fast, nor provided us with so many benefits, as the computer.

What is the next great challenge for computer hardware?Today, it appears to be portable computers that have no keyboards, known as pen-based computers.They use an electronic stylus to draw simple characters when issuing instructions. Pen-based computers are currently being used to fill out forms or complete reports that only require writing in block letters. This includes salespeople who must collect data in the field or at the job site — for example, sales representatives taking orders in grocery stores; construction site supervisors, who must evaluate drawings and reports; equipment maintenance, public utility, or safety workers; and a variety of data collectors, such as census takers. But in time these computers will be able to "learn" our handwriting, opening up the use of computers to a large population that cannot or will not type on a keyboard.