What is a computer?

On the golden record traveling aboard the Voyager spacecraft there is a music section that opens with the piece Harmonices Mundi, composed by Laurie Spiegel¹.

Besides being a composer, Spiegel was a programmer, and she developed software for composing music, such as Music Mouse, a program for algorithmic musical composition.

On YouTube you can still find her 1980 album The Expanding Universe.

Although Spiegel has developed software and algorithms for composing music, she aims to use technology in music as a means of furthering her art and not as an end in itself.

“I automate whatever can be automated to be freer to focus on those aspects of music that can’t be automated. The challenge is to figure out which is which.” - Laurie Spiegel\

What is a computer?

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines computer as follows:

“An electronic device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in the form of information or signals.”

According to the Real Academia Española (RAE), the Spanish word “computador” is defined as follows:

computador -ra. ‘Electronic machine capable of processing information automatically and of solving mathematical and logical problems at great speed by means of computer programs’. These forms are the ones mostly used in the Spanish of the Americas, under the influence of the English computer. Preferences vary by region: in most countries of the Americas the feminine computadora is preferred, while the masculine computador is the majority usage in Chile and Colombia. In Spain the preferred term is ordenador, taken from the French ordinateur.

We have already talked about the mistake of calling them “ordenadores”, but apart from that, maybe it is time to question this definition. In the 19th century and the early 20th, a computer was defined as:

“A person who makes calculations, especially with a calculating machine”

Sure, because back then computers were usually women who operated calculating devices. Just as the film Hidden Figures depicts (which I recommend you watch, of course).

Nowadays, when we talk about a computer we don’t think of a person. The image that comes to mind is something like this:

Which fits the definitions of both the RAE and the OED. But there is an interesting difference in the RAE’s definition, something the OED’s does not contain, and that is the use of the word automatic.

Why is it interesting that it uses the word automatic? Because automation is the great advantage computers have to offer humanity.

Charles Babbage, who tried unsuccessfully to build a computer in the early 19th century, said:

“The economy of human time is the next advantage of machinery in manufactures”

Computers were created to give us more free time; not using them for that is a big mistake at this point. But that is not how they are used. The usefulness of computers comes from their capacity for automation and from the increase in productivity that automation generates, but what do we see in modern offices?

Stressed-out people entering data, performing repetitive tasks. There is a widespread misuse of computers.

Why does this happen?

There are several reasons, starting with the lack of skill and experience in automating processes. There are also the poor definitions of how to automate processes: in many cases the computer repeats exactly the same steps as the people did, even though there is far more freedom to model and to eliminate unnecessary steps. Or sometimes it is assumed that the benefits of automating won’t outweigh the costs of developing the automation. We also see situations where the project budget leaves out the development of certain features, which end up being solved through people’s effort, something that in Chile we have even given a colloquial name: “el chatomático” (roughly, the “dude-o-matic”: some guy doing it by hand). Of course, this lack of automation also hides inefficiency, bad habits.

A new definition of computer

In his book “No Devs, No Ops, No IT”², the author Hussein Badakhchani offers us the following definition of computer:

“Any device or machine (physical or virtual), that increases productivity by automating cognitive and algorithmic processes"

And he explains that he uses the term ‘algorithmic processes’ because it encompasses the meanings of ‘sequence of operations’ and ‘calculation’. But it also highlights the role of automation and the subsequent increase in productivity that automation generates. Finally, the advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have to be acknowledged, by adding to the definition the fact that these devices are increasingly capable of automating our cognitive processes.

The role of automating

This definition of computer is interesting, since it takes on the most important value computers give us: the ability to automate. We should not fear this power, and we must highlight it in our work as computer engineers. We must automate in order to free up people’s time for higher functions. This will of course have delicate and even catastrophic consequences, but it is inevitable. Either we take the path of the Luddites, or we accept that we must use our computers better and follow Laurie Spiegel’s example.

We can paraphrase Spiegel to define our job as computer engineers, as follows:

We automate, using computers, whatever can be automated, and so we free people to focus on those aspects of their work that can’t be automated. The challenge is to figure out which aspects those are and tell them apart.

And you, what do you think of these definitions?

Notes

Header photo: Electric Sheep 3404, taken from Wikipedia, designed by TreenaWelch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Sheep#/media/File:Electricsheep-3404.jpg