Classification of Computers based on how the data is handled

Classification of Computers:

Based on how they handle the data, computers are mainly classified as follows:

  • Digital Computers
  • Analog Computers
  • Hybrid Computers

Analog versus digital Computers:

Digital ComputersAnalog Computers
Modern computers are called digital ComputersOlder computers are analog
Digital Computers Uses numbers to represent dataRepresent data using a range of values
Tends to break the data into small parts and use numbers to represent dataData is represented as variable signals along with a continuous set of values.

Digital Computers:

Image of Digital Compter
Image of Digital Computer or Personal Computer collected from Bing Image search
  • Digital Computer represent data using 1 or 0. 0 represents the off-state and 1 represents the on-state
  • 0 and 1 represent the binary state of the transistor
  • A personal computer is an example of a digital computer

Analog Computers:

The Telefunken RA 770 Analog Computer Image
The Telefunken RA 770 Analog Computer ( image collected from Bing Image Search)
  • Analog Computers were huge mechanical devices that consisted of electric motors, gears, and other moving parts.
  • Analog Computers represent data using changeable entities such as voltages, rotation of gears, and hydraulics.
  • more flexible but less precise than digital counterparts
  • The differential analyzer is an example of an Analog Computer made by Vannevar Bush in the late 1920s. It was used to solve differential equations.
  • Analogue computers have largely become obsolete, they have been used by computer scientists and engineers for mathematical calculations in the form of side rules.

Hybrid Computers:

 Printed circuit board (PCB) of the proposed hybrid computer.
 Printed circuit board (PCB) of the proposed hybrid computer. Image Collected from Google images
  • A computer system that comprises both digital and analogue components..
  • CT Scan Machine, Ultra Sound Machine, Electrocardiogram Machine, Auto Gasoline Pump installed in Petrol Pumps.

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