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The Story of the Computer
How machines learned to think fast
Ever wonder how the screen you are looking at right now learned to do so many amazing tricks?
1/5
- Long ago
The Bead Counter
People used wooden frames called abacuses with sliding beads to add big numbers. It was humanity's very first step toward counting fast!
The big idea
Computers are just super fast counting machines that follow simple recipes.
Fun facts
- ✨ The very first computer 'bug' was an actual real moth stuck inside a machine!
- ✨ Computers only understand two numbers: zero and one.
- ✨ Your phone is millions of times faster than the computers that helped humans land on the Moon.
Science words
- Algorithm — A set of step-by-step rules for a computer to follow.
- Microchip — A tiny piece of silicon that acts like a mini computer brain.
- Binary — A secret code language made using only 0s and 1s.