Computers

16 Pages 3969 Words

ly more effective programming languages. In the decades beginning in the mid 1950’s we saw the introduction of FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, PASCAL and over 200 different programming languages to meet the needs of business, government and education through computer implementation and use. During the late 1950s as the number of computer literate people began to increase, a common joke was “last year I couldn’t spell programmer, now I are one”. Thus, computer literacy began and continued into the 1980’s to be associated with the ability to program a computer to do something useful or at the very least entertaining (remember the pong game?). This was further supported with the absence of a focus on the history of the development and use of information technology and the social and ethical issues which began to surround the industry as a whole.
The emphasis on data as a major corporate resource and a significant necessary asset for all levels of government began as improvements in computer software and data communications allowed the sharin...