Neville’s computer career began when he was a student in the 1960s; little was known of computers, writing computer programs was a long and laborious process, and a mainframe computer occupied a whole room.

In his talk, Neville identified several people who made major contributions to the development of computers, among them Grace Hopper, who, in the 1960s, invented compiling (a program to convert written programs into computer language) and also popularised the term “debugging” when she identified that a moth had caused a computer glitch.

In the 1970s, there were major developments in the electronics industry.

The integration of a whole central processing unit onto a single chip greatly reduced the cost of processing power, and led to the microcomputer.

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen saw the potential of personal computers as mass-market devices and founded Microsoft.

In the 1980s, Neville won a competition run by the Royal Agricultural Society to develop a rural show program.

He has since sold his program to 20 societies, and Eurobodalla Show Society is one of them.

Neville said computers were now everywhere, and essential to run our cars, microwaves, televisions, GPS devices, and even electric toothbrushes.

With advances in technology, many people now work from home using personal computers. 

In retirement, Neville’s interest has moved to a hobby designing and building digital devices to remotely control such things as lights and garage doors.

At EuroSCUG’s next meeting, at 10am on June 6, at Moruya Golf Club, Richard Usher and Barry King from Telstra Batemans Bay will talk about smart phones.

Small groups will cover topics such as family history, smart phones and tablets, and technical and beginner help will be available.

Visitors are welcome to attend the meeting to see how the group operates.

Area groups meet in Batemans Bay, Moruya, Tuross Head and Narooma.

For more information, visit www.euroscug.org, or phone 0431 809 073.