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

• Notable early computing devices

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)