Studying the history of computers, computers were originally designed to solve configuration puzzles
In 2022, I studied the history of computer development and made an interesting discovery:Computers start out solving setup puzzles.
In early artillery research, each new type of artillery required a set of firing meters for the artilleryman, indicating the angle at which the cannon could be fired so that the shell could hit the target. In 1943 during World War II, the instrument that calculated the ejection table was calledDifferential analyzer (pictured above).。Differential analyzers are analog devices, similar to previous slide rules, with a rotating disk driven by an electric motor and a steel shaft, connected together by connecting rods. It has to be set up manually to solve specific differential equations, and the entire setup takes up to 2 days。Lengthy set-up times lead to delays in computational work.
John. Machley planned to build an electronic computer that would be faster than a differential analysis machine, with John. Eckert proposed a plan and developed the first general-purpose electronic computer, "ENIAC".
The eniac is much faster, but it also takes a lot of time to solve a specific problem because the operator needs to."Programming"to develop the right operating procedures.
At that time".ProgrammingThis means setting up all the switches on the computer and plugging them back in, which can take days to complete.
The following diagram is of a programmer at ENIAC".ProgrammingProcess.
To help programmers save a long oneSet the time, Ecter and Mochley proposedStorage computerideasedvac, 1944, Feng. Neumann listened to Eckert and Mochley's presentations, and the trio refined the EDVAC design idea, but when the report was published, it was only signed by Von. Neumann's signature. This is Feng. Neumann architecture.
Feng. One of Neumann's major abstractions is the separation of computer hardware and software: hardware is the actuator, controlled by a controllerThe control logic of the controller is input by the input deviceConfiguration], and the result passes through the output device.
The input devices are primarilyConfigurationIn the early days, the configuration was mainly punch card tape. Then the punch tape was gradually transformed into a magnetic storage device.
So in the early days,Configuration information is a primary type of data。WhileConfigurationIt's for calculationsPersonalization
Personalization is the main type of early data
After telling so much history, the conclusion is that:Solving the personalization puzzle isA major driver in the birth of computers. Software is inherently designed to solve individual problems: hardware provides common capabilities, and software provides individual configurations.
The following extends the history of computing to digitization.
Digital transformation is also based on the division of labor between general and individuality to solve the problem of personalization
The first phase of the digital transformation planned in Germany is Industry 40, while Industry 4One of the most important features of 0 is:Personalized manufacturing
From the above figure, it can be seen that the characteristics of products in the era of digital economy are:The variety of products is gradually increasing, and the batch volume of products and the sales volume of individual products will decline in the future
How to solve the personalization puzzle?There are two types of schemes:
1) Product personalization, factory intelligence. Intelligent factory realizationPlatforms and production processesDivision of labor,The platform provides common featuresFlexible configuration of the production process provides individual process configuration for individual products
The product is intelligent and the functions are configurable。The most typical is intelligent equipment, such as smart phones, smart watches and other products, hardware provides the carrier of software, and personalized functions are flexibly realized through the purchase and configuration of software. The number of Apple mobile phone models per year in the smartphone era is far less than the number of Nokia mobile phone models per year in the feature phone era. But the personalization features of smartphones are far more abundant than those of Nokia phones.
in the digital ageThe demand is characterized by individuality。The support for personalization is realized through platformization and intelligence: the platform provides the support of general functions, including the support for the flexible definition of rich software ecology and personalized processesAnd the intelligent functions based on the platform realize personalization.