The Continuing Story of the Computer Age: Past, Present, and Future Appendix
The Continuing Story of the Computer Age:
Past, Present, and Future
Appendix
Objectives
• Describe the generations of computer design leading up to the present
• Describe the story of personal computer development
• Explain the underlying concepts and terms of artificial intelligence
• Explain the fundamentals of expert systems, robotics, and virtual reality
• Give examples of the impact these fields have on business and everyday life
Contents
• The Computer Age
• The First Generation
• The Second Generation
• The Third Generation
• The Fourth Generation
• The Fifth Generation
The Computer Age
• Rapid changes
• Four generations over 50 years
• Trends across generations– Decrease size– Increase speed
The First Generation
• 1951-1958
• Vacuum Tube– Heat– Burnout– Machine language
• Magnetic core memory
• Storage– Punched cards– Tape (1957)
UNIVACUniversal Automatic Computer
First computer built for business.
The Second Generation
• 1959-1964
• Transistor– Smaller– No warm-up time– Less energy– Less heat– Faster– More reliable
• Storage– Removable disk
pack (1954)– Magnetic tape
• Programming languages– Assembly language– FORTRAN (1954)– COBOL(1959)
Used primarily by business, university, government
The Third Generation
• 1965-1970
• Integrated Circuit– Electronic circuit on
small silicon chip– Reliability– Compactness– Low cost– Inexpensive – mass-
produced
• Family of computers
• Software– Upward compatibility– Unbundled software– Several programs
share computer’s resources
– Interactive processing
The Fourth Generation
• 1971-Present
• Microprocessor– General-purpose processor on a chip
• Explosive growth– Digital watches– Pocket calculators– Personal computers– Cars– Copy machines– Television sets
Personal Computer History
Apple (1975)
• Home use
• Keyboard
• Screen
• VisiCalc spreadsheet software
Personal Computer History
IBM (1981)• Became industry standard• Improved keyboard• 80-character screen• Add memory• Expansion slots• Encouraged hardware and software
development by others• Nonproprietary parts• Clones
Personal Computer History
Microsoft/Intel
• Wintel– Microsoft supplies operating system for PC
• MS-DOS• Windows
– Intel supplies microprocessor
• Continually challenged – others making inroads
Personal Computer HistoryThe Internet Revolution
• Started as ARPANet – a network of computers that could survive a nuclear attack
• Attractive to the average user– Links– Graphical browser
The Fifth Generation
• Mid 1990’s
• Intelligent computers– Artificial intelligence– Expert systems– Natural language
The Fifth GenerationAI – Artificial Intelligence
• How computers can be used for tasks that required human characteristics
• How to make computers do things that people currently do better
• Evolving science
The Fifth GenerationAI – How Computers Learn
• Improve performance based on past errors
• Knowledge base – set of facts and rules
• Inference engine – applies rules to the facts to create new facts
• ExampleFact: Amy is Ken’s wifeRule: If X is Y’s wife, then Y is X’s husbandCreated Fact: Ken is Amy’s husband
The Fifth GenerationData Mining
• Extracting previously unknown information from existing data– Relationships– Trends
• Look for hidden information that cannot be found because of the size of the database
The Fifth GenerationNatural Language
• Humans communicate with computers in the language they use on a daily basis
• Ambiguities of natural language
The Fifth GenerationExpert Systems
• Software used with an extensive set of organized data that presents the computer as an expert on a particular topic
• User– Knowledge seeker– Asks questions in English-like format
• Computer responds with an answer and explanation
The Fifth GenerationBuilding an Expert System
Expert system shellSoftware that contains the basic structure used to find answers to questions
Build knowledge baseKnowledge engineer writes rules
The Fifth GenerationRobotics
• Computer-controlled device that can physically manipulate its surroundings
• Primarily found in factories
• Field robots– Dangerous work– “Dirty” jobs
The Fifth GenerationVR – Virtual Reality
• Engage a user in a computer-created environment– User physically interacts with computer-created
environment– Immersion – user becomes absorbed in the VR
interaction
• How it works– Alters perceptions– Appeals to several senses at once– Presents images that respond immediately to
users movements
The Fifth GenerationVR – Virtual Reality
• The future of VR– Virtual showroom– Try new medical procedures on simulated
patients
• Problem– Simulator sickness– Costs