HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

The history of computer development is often to in reference to the different generations of computing devices. A generation refers to the state of improvement in the product development process. This is also used in the different advancements of new computer technology. With each new generation, the circuitry has gotten smaller and more advanced than the previous generation before it. As a result of miniaturization, speed, power and computer memory has proportionally increased. New discoveries are constantly been developed that affect the way we live, work and play.

Each generation of computer is characterized by major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices. There are five generations of computers, namely;

1.      First generation

2.      Second generation

3.      Third generation

4.      Fourth generation

5.      Fifth generation

First Generation: 1940-1956 (Vacuum Tubes)

The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. A magnetic drum, also referred to as drum, is a metal cylinder coated with magnetic iron-oxide material on which data and programs can be stored. Magnetic drums were once used as a primary storage device but have since been used implemented as auxiliary storage devices.

There were very expensive to operate and in addition they use a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation of computers relied on machine language to perform operations and they could only one problem at a time.

The UNIVAC and ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computing delivered to a business client, U.S. Census Bureau 1951

Second Generation: 1956-1963 (Transistors)

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computer. Transistor is a device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit. Invented in 1947 at Bell Labs, transistors have become the ingredient of all digital circuits, including computers.

The transistors was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generate a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printout for output.

Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. These were also the first computers that their instruction in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.

The first computers of this generation were developed for atomic energy industry.

Third Generation: 1964-1971 (Integrated Circuits)

The development of integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. These drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.

Instead of punch cards and printout, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

Fourth Generation: 1971-Present (Microprocessors)

The microprocessors brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits we rebuilt onto a “single silicon chip”. Microprocessors also control the logic of almost all digital devices, from clock radios to fuel-injection systems for automobiles.

What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004chip, developed in 1971, located all the component of the computer – from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls – on a single chip.

As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUI’s, the mouse and handheld devices.

Fifth Generation: Present and Beyond (Artificial Intelligence)

Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as recognition, that are being used today.

Artificial Intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like humans. The term was coined in 1956 by john McCarthy at the Massachusetts institute of Technology. Artificial intelligence includes:

·         Games playing: programming computers to play games such as chess and checkers.

·         Expert System:  programming computers to make decisions in real-life situations (for examples, some expert systems help doctors diagnose diseases based on symptoms).

·         Natural Language: programming computers to understand natural human languages.

·         Neural Networks: systems that simulate intelligence by attempting to reproduce the types of physical connections that occur in animal brains.

·         Robotics: programming computers to see and hear and react to other sensory stimuli