The essay for this lesson is required to be 1,000-1,500-words and should clearly demonstrate your understanding of your chosen prompt. Essays should be 5 or more paragraphs with a clear introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion.
Note – Use APA formatting, including:
Running head
Page numbers throughout
Times New Roman, 12pt
Double spaced
In-text citations
Section subheadings
Conclusion
Reference List
Choose ONE of the following prompts from which to compose your essay, and be sure to title your essay as indicated by the selected prompt:
1. Jacquard’s Loom: The history of computers is defined by innovative ideas or devices and the people that contributed to them. Write a multi-paragraph essay on the topic of Joseph Jacquard and Jacquards loom. Your essay should cover how Jacquards Loom was an innovation, how it contrasted with devices that came before it, the benefits it provided, and how it changed the future by introducing theoretical concepts. In addition, your essay should identify the contributions Jacquard’s Loom made to specific devices in Computer Generation 0 and what it contributed to successive Computer Generations that utilized Jacquards specific innovation.
2. “Computer” Evolution: The term computer, originally defined as a person who solved equations, has evolved through time along with each innovation to reflect the current understanding of what a computer is and what it can do. A “computer” would convey very different concepts over different decades due to the availability, cost, size, and usage of computers for different tasks.
Write a multi-paragraph essay that examines what the term computer would represent to a person in the early 1950s and the 1980s, and why that would be the case. Then, put the evolution of computers in context by comparing the understandings of people from those decades to those our current understanding of a “computer.”
3. Impactful Innovator: Write a multi-paragraph essay in which you select one historical figure, such as Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, or Grace Hopper, and explain why that persons innovations had a greater impact on the present than other innovators by comparison of their contributions. Support your conclusions with examples, observations, and other such details.
4. IBM Products: IBM holds a unique distinction in the history of computers, as they have produced and sold at least one product during every computer generation starting with Generation 0. Write a multi-paragraph essay in which you identify one IBM product produced during each computer generation, including details to support that product’s inclusion in its respective generation. Additionally, provide your observations on why IBM has been successful and what you think the future holds for IBM.
5. Gates and Jobs: Write a multi-paragraph essay that analyzes the contributions of Bill Gates/Microsoft and Steve Jobs/Apple toward the history of computers. Include descriptions in your essay of their contributions and the merits of those contributions toward the history of computers. Also, include your reasoning of where Gates and Jobs each rank as innovators using comparative analysis with the recognized greats such as Grace Hopper and Alan Turing. Support your reasoning with specific details of innovations.
