Definition of a Computer

Did you know that if you look in a dictionary printed before 1940, a definition of a computer is defined as a person who performs calculations.

This type of definition still exists today in the Oxford English Dictionary although takes secondary place -to the real definition as - a computer is a person who makes calculations, especially with a calculating machine.

The actual definition of a computer is much more complex: a device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in the form information or signals. Most computers operate electronically and manipulate data in digital form.

I do wonder how the definition of a computer will look like in 20 years time!