History of Computers

History of ComputersComputer TechnologyDay 2

Computer Generations: OverviewGeneration Time Principal

TechnologyExamples

Zeroth Late 1800’s to 1940 Electro MechanicalPunch Cards

Tabulating and Sorting Machines

First 1940 to 1956 Vacuum Tubes ENIACUNIVAC I

Second 1956 to 1963 Transistors Mainframes

Third Late 1960’s- 1970’s Integrated circuit MainframesMini computers

Fourth 1971 to Present Microprocessors MainframesMini-computersMicro-computers

Fifth Present and Beyond Artificial Intelligence In development

Zeroth Generation Based on metal gears or mechanical relays. Examples

French inventor Joseph-Marie Jacquard Developed a loom Controlled automatically by reading instructions from a

punch card. American Herman Hollerith

Regarded as the father of modern automatic computation.

Built first punched-card tabulating and sorting machine. • Used for 1890 census• Reduced 10-year job to 3 months• Saved taxpayers five million dollars

Zeroth Generation: Illustrated

Punch Card

ABC

1st – 3rd Computer Generations: Illustrated

Vacuum Tubes

Transistors

Integrated Circuits

1st Generation: 1940-1956 Used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic

drums for memory. Very large and expensive to operate.

Took up entire rooms. Used great deal of electricity

No operating system Used custom application programs designed specifically for

the task the computer needed to perform. Could only solve one problem at a time.

Input came from punched cards and paper tape. Output displayed on printouts, not a monitor.

1st Generation: Examples Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), built by

John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University during 1937-1942, considered world’s first. Used punch cards for input and output. Solved large systems of simultaneous equations

(up to 29 equations with 29 unknowns). Incorporated several major computing

innovations Binary arithmetic Regenerative memory Parallel processing Separation of memory and computing functions.

2nd Generation:1956-1963 Transistors replaced vacuum tubes. Used punched cards for input and

printouts for output. Ran programming language compilers.

Programming languages developed Programmers could specify instructions in

words. Made it possible to develop software.

First computers to store instructions in their memory.

2nd Generation: Examples IBM 1620

Announced October 1959 Referred to as CADET,

jokingly meaning “Can’t Add, Doesn’t Even Try”

IBM 7090 Designed for “large-scale

scientific and technological applications.”

Typical system sold for $2,900,000 or rented for $63,500 month.

NASA used 7090s to control the Mercury and Gemini space flights.

3rd Generation: 1964-1971 Integrated Circuit developed. First computers that had an operating

system. Multi-tasking ability (different applications

could run at the same time). Central program monitored memory.

Mini-computers developed. Users could interact with computers

through keyboards and monitors. First computer game published.

3rd Generation: Examples IBM 360—Mainframe

Introduced in 1964 Took four years to

develop and cost $5 billion ($24 billion today).

One of the major business accomplishments in U.S. history.

The Chip that Changed the WorldVideo and Study GuideDay 3

4th Generation: 1971-Present Intel developed first microprocessor (MPU).

Whole CPU (Central Processing Unit) fit onto one microchip.

Intel 4004 processor contained 2300 transistors on a chip of silicon 1/8” x 1/16” in size.

Altair 8800 was the first commercially available microcomputer. Sold as a kit for $397 or assembled for $439. Used a 2 MHz Intel 8080 processor and had

256 bytes of RAM.

4th Generation: 1971-Present Personal Computers (PCs) became

available. IBM introduced the first home computer in

1981. Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984.

Microprocessors became available in other products.

Led to the development of Networks and the Internet Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) Handheld Devices

4th Generation: Examples Commodore Pet

First year of production: 1976 Price at Introduction

$595.00 (4K RAM) $795.00 (8K RAM)

Peripherals Black and Green Monitor Dedicated Cassette Floppy Drive

4th Generation: Examples HP-85B

Features included Thermal printer and a tape drive Built-in tape cartridge drive Ability to copy anything from the HP-85's display to its

printer by touching a key. Possible to execute subroutines from mass

storage devices Electronic disk (an added option) made it

possible to write large programs that ran quickly. Could purchase either 16K or 32K of user

program RAM.

5th Generation: Present and Beyond Based on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Voice recognition is currently available. Parallel processing and superconductors

are helping to make it a reality. Goal is to develop devices that

respond to Natural language input. Capable of learning and self-organization.