In the beginning there was nothing, in the end there will be nothing, but now at this moment, we have machines capable of 1.6 billion times more calculations a second than humans can. Yet we just accept these marvelous machines without realizing where they come from and how far they have traveled.

The first ever idea for a computer was thought up by Charles Babbage in 1822. This machine was then funded by the British government as they saw this as an opportunity to make calculation tables cheaper and faster. In 1823 the first ever prototype, which was 1/7 the size of the original, was created. It was able to do powers and was even able to calculate the roots of the Quadratic Equation! Then in 1834, he put forth the idea of the Analytical Engine that resembles our modern computers. This Analytical Engine was able to be Programmed and was capable of storing data. Between 1846 and 1849 Charles Babbage worked on the Difference Maker No.2 which would be able to handle faster, larger equations at a cheaper cost. He died before he could build the model and all of his ideas were never fully built in his time ("Difference Engine").

The first electronic programmable computer was the Colossus in 1943. Its use was to help British code breakers in WWII to, you know, break codes n’ stuff. It did its job well, it was able to break codes like hot butter cuts through a knife. It was able to break codes for messages sent to and from Hitler. There were 10 Colossusi used during the war. After the war, they were all dismantled ("Colossus").

The first fully functional digital computer was the ENIAC invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. ENIAC was built for calculating artillery firing tables for the US military. Yet it was programmable so it would do many other things as well. Throughout 1943 and 1946 it was being built and was finished in 1946. It weighed over 50 tons and occupied over 1,800 square feet. When that computer was turned on people say that it dimmed the lights in Philadelphia.  Then EDSAC came along in 1949 and played the first ever game: OXO a tic tac toe game. J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly launched the Electronic Controls Company after their success with their computer (Computer Hope).

In 1964 the first desktop computer was revealed, The Programma 101. The Programma 101 was a computer that was easy to understand and it used a device similar to the floppy disc to run its commands. This computer gave way for the idea for a personal computer. At the time computers were still huge and showing a computer that was much smaller amazed the public. Even NASA was impressed and bought 10 to help calculate the moon landing. Programma 101 cost around $3,200 ($20,000 in 2018) ("The Incredible Story Of The First PC, From 1965 - Pingdom Royal").

In 1975 the first portable computer came to be, the IBM 5100. It weighed around 55 pounds but was still portable. It cost $19,975 so you had to pay a bit to be able to carry your 55-pound computer to work and then back home. It was popular and inspired other companies to make lighter and faster portable computers.

Apple first started to make computers in 1976 with them releasing Apple I to the public. It cost $666.66 to purchase and still needed a screen, power supply, keyboard and case to work. Apple 2 was later released in 1977 that already had a case and screen. It cost $1,298($5,367 today) ("Apple II Computer"), (Dormehl).

The IBM PC was released in 1981 for a cost of $1,565($4,313 in 2018). It became majorly successful after it was released. This type of computer became industry standard and helped Intel processors become even more dominant by its popularity in this computer (Klein).

On August 6, 1991, the World Wide Web was released to the public. In 1992 IBM released the IBM ThinkPad which was an easily portable work laptop. In 1996 there was more E-mail sent instead of postal mail in the US. This signifies the turn of communication switching to computers. In 1996 IBM’s Deep Blue AI defeats the world's best chess player. IBM’s AI shows that computers were advancing further beyond humans in specialized tasks. In 1997 Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars and sends real-time images back to NASA’s website. This makes the first thing to see mars a computer. NASA’s website breaks a popularity record(over 100 million people) on their website due to the landing and images. Netflix, craigslist, facebook, and google domains all come into existence in 1997. In 1998 Valve releases Half-Life taking the gaming world by storm. In 1999 and 2000 people feared the Y2K bug. Y2K was the bug that people feared that when the year 2000 came around all of the computers would crash and cause major devastation. This fear of the Y2K bug caused the computer companies to update their code, making further development easier and modernizing the industry. In 2000 Intel and AMD processors both surpass 1 GHz which most people never thought possible, showing that computers are already surpassing expectations and will keep doing so. Red Worm Virus causes 2 billion dollars in damages. This spread awareness of the dangers of viruses and made anti-viruses more popular. Reddit and Youtube were released in 2005. The iPhone was released in 2007 allowing for a computer to fit in your pocket. Macbook air released in 2008, showing that laptops don't need to be bulky to be powerful. Bitcoin was created in 2009 making online currency and soon becoming the strongest currency in the world. Raspberry PI a single board computer gets released in 2012 making home projects easier and more accessible. The Microsoft Surface was released in 2012 making another powerful computer that was light and portable (Computer Hope).

This story of computers shows that humans try to optimise everything, even things that have a very high limit. Computers has created millions of jobs and has made people work faster and better than ever before, and it is still advancing extremely quickly to this day. Even now we are working on quantum computers that will revolutionize modern computers.