-interesting that what is considered the first modern computer was commissioned by the department of defense because they wanted faster computing of ballistics, called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC (3)

-the "devices show the importance of calculation and modeling in human history" (3)
-many original machines were intended to make mathematics easier and faster, and the story of is important to the rise of the first computers

-IBM corporation came out of a machine designed for Census tabulation (23)

-John Astanoff was an electrical engineer and doctor of physics. He self-taught binary and, in an effort to perform faster calculations, designed his own computer using vacuum tubes and binary code. He was one of a handful of scientists in the world who understood binary code and it helped him build the first computer with a form of refreshing memory and a digital signal (27). After a lengthy legal battle, Astanoff and his ABC computer was deemed the first digital computer in the world (30).

-In attempting to break encrypted military codes during WWII, Turing helped facilitate the process of speedy computing (34). Without scientists engaging in real-world examples where they needed an edge mathematically and computationally, such advancements in computers and design might not have been possible.

-The cold war also helped facilitate jumps in computing technological invention, "never had a war been so dependent on research in science and technology" (47).

-The cold war era was also the first time that the government hired the nation's best and brightest students to work solely in scientific and computer research and defense research, without intending any of it for civilian research. "Without this Cold war--induced spending, computer technology would have developed more slowly." (48)
-By spending money and resources on technological development, computers and technology was vastly improved. What was intending to be used for military programs, later were extrapolated and updated or modified to be used for civilian projects and sales. Wars have helped man-kinds learning and innovation with technology and computers. "as always, American defense spending remained an important driver in the first three decades of electronic computers." (56)