What does it take to learn the
latest in computers? Time travel, says an old-timer…
AD: Why do old-timers find it so
difficult to come to terms with computers?
BC: What do you mean?
AD: Well, you know, older generations
and new technology…
BC: So you think computers are modern?
AD: Of course!
BC: Incidentally, man began using
calculating devices more than 5000 years ago…
AD: C’mon, that’s the world’s
oldest argument… The abacus you’re referring to was just the
beginning of the computing evolution.
BC: Ok, what’s the smallest unit of
storage in a computer?
AD: Bit? Binary digit?
BC: Binary representations – 0s and
1s - were used in ancient India to classify Vedic meters as far back
as the second century AD. And that’s how information is stored
today – as binary numbers.
AD: Information storage was perfected
1700 years BEFORE the computer was invented?
BC: Funnily enough, even data storage
media was in place before computers were.
AD: What?
BC: Remember punch cards? They were
first used by Jacquard in 1804 to program his loom so that it could
perform predefined tasks. Almost a century later, this technology was
adopted by the Recording and Tabulating Company, which you now know
as...
AD: IBM!
BC: Correct! But one thing did not
change - there were enough people to oppose the new wave of
technology even back then – they called themselves the Luddites.
AD: So human intelligence was in
plenty, but constantly challenged... You're right, nothing has
changed!
BC: Absolutely! We had enough
brainpower to get a grip on artificial intelligence too, several
thousand years ago.
AD: You're having me on, right?
BC: Of course not... we had perfected a
system to paraphrase Sanskrit – scientists have found it to be
pretty similar to our current understanding of artificial
intelligence...
AD: At this rate you’re going to be
telling me that Chanakya wrote software.
BC: Not Chanakya, but Aryabhatta. Isn’t
it amazing that even programming came into existence much before
computers did?
AD: You're kidding!
BC: Developing solutions to solve
problems was made possible 3600 years ago... Aryabhata developed
algorithms called kuttaka that helped solve linear intermediate
equations…
AD: How do you know all this? I thought
I was the expert here.
BC: Sorry, the experts came much before
you and your computers. Panini's path-breaking work in setting rules
and definitions for Sanskrit grammar has been found to be in line
with the rules that define the structure of modern day computer
science.
AD: From Sanskrit to Silicon Valley…
incredible!
BC: Yes! Now, what would you call a
procedure for solving a problem, in computer terminology?
AD: An algorithm, of course!
BC: Right! Do you know that the term
dates back to the 9th century when notations were made using Hindu
Arabic numerals by Al-Khwarizmi, an Arab scholar? They were known as
Al-Khwarizmi or Algorismi. Today you know them as...
AD: …algorithms!
BC: Absolutely! In the modern day
context, Ada Lovelace developed the first algorithm for Charles
Babbage’s Analytical Machine in 1843. She is popularly referred to
as the world's first computer programmer and the computer language
Ada was named in her honour.
AD: At this rate, you will be telling
me that there was also an equivalent of Facebook many centuries
ago...
BC: Yes, people back then had developed
a very efficient system to network with the world outside.
AD: What was it?
BC: They just opened their windows and
had chat sessions with their neighbours.
