Computing device
Computing devices (not a standard term in the field) are a class of devices which could perform complicated calculations, but are not computers (i.e. 'stored-program computing devices'); instead, they are members of a more general class. I.e. all devices which can perform complex calculations, but are not 'computers', fall in this class. (A good example is the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, which was hard-wired to only be able to solve systems of simultaneous equations.)
Complex computing devices (i.e. things considerably more complex than a simple adding machines) generally preceded the creation of computers. Note that the operation of these devices often did proceed through a list of more basic operations (the definition of a program) - e.g. the operations controlled by the timing cams in Charles Babbage's Difference Engine. However, true computers are designed so that they can be easily changed to run any program.
See also
Further reading
- Paul E. Ceruzzi, Reckoners: The Prehistory of The Digital Computer, From Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945, Greenwood, Westport, 1983
- William Aspray (editor), Computing Before Computers, Iowa State University Press, Ames, 1990
- Brian Randell (editor), The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1973, 1982 (3rd edition)
