The Colossus was the name of a series of computers which were developed during World War 2 (1943-1945) by British code breakers to decode Enigmas. Colossus is regarded as the world's very first computer, used a binary numeric system, and wasn't Turing complete. It was a programmable, electronic, digital computer that performed only Boolean and counting operations. It used over 2000 vacuum tubes and thyratrons, a gas-filled tube used as a high-power electrical switch and controlled rectifier ("Colossus_Computer, " n.d.). Despite only being able to do one job, it was very fast and could process 25,000 characters per second. By using the Colossus, the British were able to take advantage of the decoded German messages. Unlike modern day computers, it was quite big and was programmed by plugs and switches, not by a stored program. Colossus was not included in the history of computing hardware for a long time due to its main purpose, the decoding of German Enigmas. No one except higher authority was allowed to know the existence of this machine as it would reveal how the British were able to decode the German messages. So because of these reasons, they were destroyed so that no one would know about the existence of these machines.
In 2016, computers have evolved significantly, and there are more and more technology that are coming out improved. They are smaller, faster, and contains much more information than the Colossus. Unlike the Colossus, they can perform many types of jobs with ease. Now technology is used everywhere and has been industrialized by people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The Graphical User Interface now allows many people to use computers easily as it is simple and understandable. Computers were significantly simplified, and developed for daily purposes. Now computers are a lot more than just tools, they are an essential part of everyone's lives. There are also programs that have been developed so that people can do much more on the computer. People are now able to send messages, play games, create more programs, and much more. Some computers now come with Artificial Intelligence, and can make various logical choices from the information that is given to them. Now every computer in the modern day requires a Central Processing Unit, RAM, and ROM along with various of other hardware. Computers will continue to evolve and change, as it changes our lives along with itself.
Colossus computer - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer
Who Invented the Computer? (with pictures) - wiseGEEK. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://www.wisegeek.org/who-invented-the-computer.htm