T y p e s o f C o m p u t e r s

1. Types of Computers Supercomputers Mainframe computers Pda’s Micro-computers Embedded system Bradley N Barley

2. Supercomputers Information • A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s and were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation (CDC), which led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research. • He then took over the supercomputer market with his new designs, holding the top spot in supercomputing for five years (1985–1990). In the 1980s a large number of smaller competitors entered the market, in parallel to the creation of the minicomputer market a decade earlier, but many of these disappeared in the mid-1990s "supercomputer market crash". • Today, supercomputers are typically one-of-a-kind custom designs produced by "traditional" companies such as Cray, IBM and Hewlett-Packard, who had purchased many of the 1980s companies to gain their experience. Since October 2010, the Tianhe-1A supercomputer has been the fastest in the world; it is located in China.

3. Mainframe Computers Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as "big iron"[1]) are powerful computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing. The term originally referred to the large cabinets that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers.[2][3] Later the term was used to distinguish high-end commercial machines from less powerful units.

4. PDA’s A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a palmtop computer,[1][2] is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet. A PDA has an electronic visual display, enabling it to include a web browser, but some newer models also have audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones or portable media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide Area Networks. Many PDAs employ touch screen technology. The term PDA was first used on January 7, 1992 by Apple ComputerCEOJohn Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton. In 1996, Nokia introduced the first mobile phone with full PDA functionality, the 9000 Communicator, which grew to become the world's best-selling PDA. The Communicator spawned a new category of mobile phones: the smartphone. Today, the vast majority of all PDAs are smart phones. Over 150 million smart phones are sold each year, while "stand-alone" PDAs without phone functionality sell only about 3 million units per year.[specify] Popular Smartphone brands include HTC, Apple, Palm, Nokia Nseries, and RIM.

5. Microcomputers A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense).[2][3] The abbreviation "micro" was common during the 1970s and 1980s,[4] but has now fallen out of common usage

6. Laptops A laptop (also known as a notebook)[1][2] is a personal computer designed for mobile use.[3][4][5] A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a track pad, and/or a pointing stick) and speakers into a single unit. A laptop is powered by mains electricity via an AC adapter, and can be used away from an outlet using a rechargeable battery. A laptop battery in new condition typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for three to five hours, depending on the computer usage, configuration and power management settings. When the laptop is plugged into the mains, the battery charges, whether or not the computer is running. Portable computers, originally monochrome CRT-based and developing into the modern laptop, were originally considered to be a small niche market, mostly for specialized field applications such as the military, accountants and sales representatives. As portable computers became smaller, lighter, and cheaper and as screens became larger and of better quality, laptops became very widely used for all purposes.

7. Embedded system An embedded system is a computer system designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions[1][2] often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer (PC), is designed to be flexible and to meet a wide range of end-user needs. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today.