PCs, do the work of plucking the data out of the ether, rather than relying on a central unit to control the way those data are routed.

ECONOMIST: Ethernet

Those included stored memory (the ability to hold both a stored program and data), conditional control transfer, which allowed the computer to stop and be resumed, and the central processing unit, which allowed all computer functions to be coordinated through one source.

CNN: Machines on a mission