Carol L. Cook
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1. Discussion of the history of computers after
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A. Video and/or slide presentation of historical material
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B. Visit to museum with some of the historic machines
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C. Lecture
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D. Research
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2. Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of manual Accounting after
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A. Hands-on experience
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B. Speakers
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3. Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of using the computer in Accounting after
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A. Hands-on experience
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B. Speakers
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4. Discussion of the capabilities of the spreadsheet after
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A. Hands-on experience
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B. Lecture— Speakers
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5. “Real World” information about the computer in Accounting
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A. Field trips
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B. Speakers
Summary of Rationale
The Information Revolution is upon us. The starting point of the Information Revolution is the computer. Conceived by Charles Babbage and developed by many talented people including Blaise Pascal, Otto Steiger, Konrad Zuse, and Howard Aiken; the computer is the product of numerous human brains, which over centuries have analyzed, calculated and worked to perfect a machine that could extend our mental faculties, just as the Industrial Revolution extended our physical and mechanical faculties.
There are four important features of the Industrial Revolution. They were:
1. Wide scale and scope of change—the Industrial Revolution brought immense shifts in all aspects of human society.
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2. These changes took place with great rapidity.
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3. Once the process of the revolution was fully underway, its dynamism grew remorselessly and no power, no man nor combination of men cou1d set it against its course.
4. Hardly anyone foresaw its momentous coming nor envisioned its spectacular progress once it got under way.
The information Revolution or Computer Revolution is a natural and proper successor to the Industrial Revolution. The features of the Industrial Revolution have also become the features of the Computer Revolution.
The history of computers is a fascinating area largely unknown to people. A knowledge of its evolution from its earliest beginnings to the present day and the social-economic pressures which brought them into being will he1p us to understand the nature of their inevitable evolution in the the future.
It is necessary to explain that the essence of computers is the fact that a number or quantity can be represented by a physical thing. Once numbers can be expressed in this physical way, it becomes possible to manipulate them or change their state and by doing so, cause them to represent different numbers or quantities. This means that it is possible to construct a machine to perform these manipulations and thus act as an automatic calculator.
