Cyberworlds: computers and connections

Control
a very human quality

All systems, whether they are social, technological or living, are controlled and regulated in some way. At the heart of ‘control’ is the processing and distribution of information. Because computers are essentially machines that translate information from one form to another, they are excellent control devices.
Various apparatuses and strategies have been invented to help us to control machines and social organisations.

Here we look at some of the ways in which computers are used to control our environment.

traffic lights
Controlling technology - hidden computers Computers control many aspects of our world, yet they are usually hidden from view. Microprocessors (computers on a chip) are routinely incorporated into machines and technological systems as control elements. There are hundreds of these unseen, tiny ‘embedded’ chips in the home, car and office. Systems containing microchips may become interdependent, which can lead to greater autonomy but can also lead to errors in one system affecting many others.

Enigma cipher machine
Hollerith Tabulator - sorting the population This machine was developed by Herman Hollerith in response to a crisis that arose after the 1880 US census collection. By 1887 the data had not been interpreted and was becoming obsolete.
Hollerith’s machine facilitated the counting and sorting process in order that the complexity and therefore the usefulness of census data could be retained. Photo: the Hollerith Tabulator, which used punched cards, was also adopted by business and science, Library of Congress

Colossus
Jacquard loom: in 1801 Joseph–Marie Jacquard invented his famous weaving loom. It uses a continuous belt of punched cards to automatically determine the pattern to be woven and is the earliest example of programmed control of production machinery.