History
Introduction
The custom of referring to computer era in terms of generations came into wide use only after 1964. There are totally five computer generations know till today. Below we describe each generations along with its identifying characteristics.Although there is a certain amount of overlap between different generations, the approximate period shown each are normally accepted.
During description of various computer generations, you will come across several new terminologies and computer jargons that may not be able to understand properly. However the idea here is to prove you an overview of the major developments and technologies during the five generations of computer.
First Generation (1940-1956)
There are some of the early computers- ENIAC, EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701. These machines and others of their time used thousand of vacuum tubes. A vacuum tubes was a fragile device, which used filaments and could control and amplify electronic signals. It was the only high speed electronic switching device available in those days.These vacuum tubes computers could perform computations in milliseconds.One of the projects to commence in 1946 was the construction of the IAS computer at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. The IAS computer used a random access electrostatic storage system and parallel binary arithmetic. It was very fast when compared with the delay line computers, with their sequential memories and serial arithmetic.
Characteristics of the First Generation of Computers
Second Generation (1956-1963)
These computers make use of the transistors invented by Bell Telephone laboratories and they had many of the same components as the modern-day computer. For instance, 2nd generation computers typically had a printer, some sort of tape or disk storage, operating systems, stored programs, as well as some sort of memory. These computers were also generally more reliable and were solid in design.
The first generation computer were mainly used for scientific computations. However, the second generations computers were increasingly used in business and industry for commercial data processing applications like payroll, inventory, control, marketing, and production planning.
Third Generation (1963-1971)
Computer built using integrated circuits characterized the third generations. Earlier ones used SSI technology and later ones used MSI technology. ICs were smaller, less expensive to produce, more rugged and reliable, faster in operation, dissipated less heat, and consumed less power than circuits built by wiring electronic components manually, Hence, the -generations computers were more powerful , more reliable, less expensive , smaller, and cooler to operate than second- generations.
Parallel advancements in storage technologies allowed construction of larger magnetic core based random access memory as well as larger capacity magnetic disks and tapes. Hence, third-generations computers typically had few megabytes of main memory and magnetic disks capable of storing few tens of megabytes of data per disk drive.
On software front, standardization of high-level programming languages, time sharing, operating systems, unbundling software from hardware, and creation of an independent software industry happened during third generations. FORTRAN and COBOL were the most popular high-level programming languages in those days. American versions were called ANSI FORTRAN and ANSI COBOL. The idea was that as long as programmers follows these standards in program writing, a program could be run on any computer with an ANSI FORTRAN or ANSI COBOL, compiler. Some more high-level programming languages were introduced were introduce during the third-generations period. Noteable among these were PL/I, PASCAL, and BASIC.
Characteristics of the Third Generation of Computer
A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format.
While a computer can, in theory, be made out of almost anything (see misconceptions section), and mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). Originally, they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).[1] Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.[2] Simple computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and can be powered by a small battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.
A Brief History of ComputersIn 1640 mechanical calculators are manufactured for sale. Records exist of earlier machines, but Blaise Pascal invents the first commercial calculator, a hand powered adding machine. Although attempts to multiply mechanically were made by Gottfried Liebnitz in the 1670s the first true multiplying calculator appears in Germany shortly before the American Revolution. In 1801 a Frenchman, Joseph-Marie Jacquard builds a loom that weaves by reading punched holes stored on small sheets of hardwood. These plates are then inserted into the loom which reads the pattern and creates the weave. Powered by water, this "machine" came 140 years before the development of the modern computer.
The 1890 census is tabulated on punch cards similar to the ones used 90 years earlier to create weaves. Developed by Herman Hollerith of MIT, the system uses electric power(non-mechanical). The Hollerith Tabulating Company is a forerunner of today's IBM.
John Vincent Atanasoff
John Vincent Atanasoff begins work on a digital computer in 1936 in the basement
of thePhysics building on the campus of Iowa State. A graduate student, Clifford (John)
Berry assists. The "ABC" is designed to solve linear equations common in physics.
It displays some early features of later computers including electronic calculations.
He shows it to others in 1939 and leaves the patent application with attorneys for the school when he
leaves for a job in Washington during World War II. Unimpressed, the school never files and ABC is cannibalized by students.
First in Poland, and later in Great Britain and the United States, the Enigma code is broken. Information gained by this shortens the war. To break the code, the British, led by Touring, build the Colossus Mark I. The existence of this machine is a closely guarded secret of the British Government until 1970. The United States Navy, aided to some extent by the British, builds a machine capable of breaking not only the German code but the Japanese code as well.
Computer Generations
"Generations" in computer talk is a step in technology. It provide a framework for the growth of computer industry. Originally, the term "generation" was uesd to distinguish between varing hardware technologies but it has now been extended to include both hardware and software that together make up computer system.The custom of referring to computer era in terms of generations came into wide use only after 1964. There are totally five computer generations know till today. Below we describe each generations along with its identifying characteristics.Although there is a certain amount of overlap between different generations, the approximate period shown each are normally accepted.
During description of various computer generations, you will come across several new terminologies and computer jargons that may not be able to understand properly. However the idea here is to prove you an overview of the major developments and technologies during the five generations of computer.
First Generation (1940-1956)
There are some of the early computers- ENIAC, EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701. These machines and others of their time used thousand of vacuum tubes. A vacuum tubes was a fragile device, which used filaments and could control and amplify electronic signals. It was the only high speed electronic switching device available in those days.These vacuum tubes computers could perform computations in milliseconds.One of the projects to commence in 1946 was the construction of the IAS computer at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. The IAS computer used a random access electrostatic storage system and parallel binary arithmetic. It was very fast when compared with the delay line computers, with their sequential memories and serial arithmetic.
Characteristics of the First Generation of Computers
- First Generation computers relied on vacuum tubes.These tubes controlled internal operations and were huge.
- There are too bulky in size, requiring large rooms for installation.
- They were the fastest calculating devices of there time.
- Each vacuum tube consumed about half of watt of power.
- As vacuum tubes used filaments, they had limited life.
- Due to low mean time between failures, these computers required constant maintenance.
Second Generation (1956-1963)
In second generation computer, the vacuum tubes which were used in first generation computers were replaced by transistors. This makes second generation computers smaller, faster and cheaper than first generation computers. Also the second generation computers understand the specific instructions and the symbolic language given by computer programmers in words and those instruction (program) could be stored inside the computer’s memory itself which was a another great advantage. At this time of second generation computers many high level programming languages were developed such as COBOL(Common Business-Oriented Language).
These computers make use of the transistors invented by Bell Telephone laboratories and they had many of the same components as the modern-day computer. For instance, 2nd generation computers typically had a printer, some sort of tape or disk storage, operating systems, stored programs, as well as some sort of memory. These computers were also generally more reliable and were solid in design.
The first generation computer were mainly used for scientific computations. However, the second generations computers were increasingly used in business and industry for commercial data processing applications like payroll, inventory, control, marketing, and production planning.
Characteristics of the Second Generation of Computers
- There were more than ten times faster than the first - Generations computers.
- There were smaller than first generations computers.
- They consumed less power and dissipated less than the first - generations computers
- They were more reliable and less prone to hardware failure than the first - generations computers.
- They had faster and larger primary and secondary storage as compared to first - generations computers.
- They were easier to program and than the first -generations computers. Hence, they had wider commercial use.
- Use of transitors for internal operations: tiny solid state transitors replace vacuum tubes in computers. The heat problem was then minimized and computers could be made smaller and faster.
Third Generation (1963-1971)
The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.
The 3rd Generation Computers were generally much smaller in size than the 2nd and 1st generation computers. This is because these newer computers made us of integrated circuits and semiconductors (a type of material that had the properties of an insulator and a conductor). 3rd generation computers also contained operating systems, which acted as overseers to the performance of a computer and which allowed computers to run different programs at once. Another function of operating systems is to make sure everything is flowing smoothly inside the computer. The 3rd generation computers made the transition from transistors to integrated circuits and from punch cards to electronic computer systems.A nonmetallic chemical element in the carbon family of elements. Silicon - atomic symbol "Si" - is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, surpassed only by oxygen. Silicon does not occur uncombined in nature. Sand and almost all rocks contain silicon combined with oxygen, forming silica. When silicon combines with other elements, such as iron, aluminum or potassium, a silicate is formed.
Silicon is the basic material used to make computer chips, transistors, silicon diodes and other electronic circuits and switching devices because its atomic structure makes the element an ideal semiconductor. Silicon is commonly doped, or mixed,with other elements, such as boron, phosphorous and arsenic, to alter its conductive properties.
During this time integrated circuits with transistors, resistors, and capacitors were etched onto a piece of silicon. This reduced the price and size of computers, adding to a general trend in the computer industry of miniaturization. In 1960 the Digital Equipment Corporation introduced the Programmed Data Processor- 1 (PDP-1), which can be called the first minicomputer due to its relatively small size.
The IBM 360 was introduced by IBM (duh!) in April of 1964, and was finally delivered in 1965. It was not actually a single computer, but was rather a family of six computers and their peripherals. These computers were all mutually compatible and all worked together. The first models of the IBM 360 used transistors, but later these computers made a transition from transistors to integrated circuits.
A chip is a small piece of semi conducting material(usually silicon) on which an integrated circuit is embedded. A typical chip is less than ¼-square inches and can contain millions of electronic components(transistors). Computers consist of many chips placed on electronic boards called printed circuit boards. There are different types of chips. For example, CPU chips (also called microprocessors) contain an entire processing unit, whereas memory chips contain blank memory.
Computer chips, both for CPU and memory, are composed of semiconductor materials. Semiconductors make it possible to miniaturize electronic components, such as transistors. Not only does miniaturization mean that the components take up less space, it also means that they are faster and require less energy.Semiconductor is a material that is neither a good conductor of electricity nor a good insulator.Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.
During this time integrated circuits with transistors, resistors, and capacitors were etched onto a piece of silicon. This reduced the price and size of computers, adding to a general trend in the computer industry of miniaturization. In 1960 the Digital Equipment Corporation introduced the Programmed Data Processor- 1 (PDP-1), which can be called the first minicomputer due to its relatively small size.
The IBM 360 was introduced by IBM (duh!) in April of 1964, and was finally delivered in 1965. It was not actually a single computer, but was rather a family of six computers and their peripherals. These computers were all mutually compatible and all worked together. The first models of the IBM 360 used transistors, but later these computers made a transition from transistors to integrated circuits.
A chip is a small piece of semi conducting material(usually silicon) on which an integrated circuit is embedded. A typical chip is less than ¼-square inches and can contain millions of electronic components(transistors). Computers consist of many chips placed on electronic boards called printed circuit boards. There are different types of chips. For example, CPU chips (also called microprocessors) contain an entire processing unit, whereas memory chips contain blank memory.
Computer chips, both for CPU and memory, are composed of semiconductor materials. Semiconductors make it possible to miniaturize electronic components, such as transistors. Not only does miniaturization mean that the components take up less space, it also means that they are faster and require less energy.Semiconductor is a material that is neither a good conductor of electricity nor a good insulator.Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.
Computer built using integrated circuits characterized the third generations. Earlier ones used SSI technology and later ones used MSI technology. ICs were smaller, less expensive to produce, more rugged and reliable, faster in operation, dissipated less heat, and consumed less power than circuits built by wiring electronic components manually, Hence, the -generations computers were more powerful , more reliable, less expensive , smaller, and cooler to operate than second- generations.
Parallel advancements in storage technologies allowed construction of larger magnetic core based random access memory as well as larger capacity magnetic disks and tapes. Hence, third-generations computers typically had few megabytes of main memory and magnetic disks capable of storing few tens of megabytes of data per disk drive.
On software front, standardization of high-level programming languages, time sharing, operating systems, unbundling software from hardware, and creation of an independent software industry happened during third generations. FORTRAN and COBOL were the most popular high-level programming languages in those days. American versions were called ANSI FORTRAN and ANSI COBOL. The idea was that as long as programmers follows these standards in program writing, a program could be run on any computer with an ANSI FORTRAN or ANSI COBOL, compiler. Some more high-level programming languages were introduced were introduce during the third-generations period. Noteable among these were PL/I, PASCAL, and BASIC.
Characteristics of the Third Generation of Computer
- They were more powerful than Second- generation computers. They were capable of performing about 1 million instructions per second.
- They were smaller than Second- generation computers requiring smaller space.
- They consumed less power and dissipated less heat than Second- generation computers. The rooms/areas in which third - generation computers were located still required to be properly air- conditioned.
- They were more reliable and less prone to hardware failures than Second- generation computers requiring lower maintenance cost.
- They had faster and larger primary and secondary storage as compared to Second- generation computers.
- They were genaral-purpose machines suitable for both scientific and commercial applications.
- Minicomputers of Third-generation computers made computers affordable even by smaller companies.
The 4th generation computers are marked by the usage of integrated circuits and microprocessors. As the years passed, computers became smaller and smaller, and their prices became lower and lower. Millions of components could be placed onto a single silicon chip. Computers became more efficient and more reliable, and they could perform more and more operations. They began to catch the eye of the general public, and soon more sophisticated software and equipment were designed. Networks became commonplace, and the whole world was connected by the Internet and by the World Wide Web. By the 1980's, very large scale integration (VLSI) squeezed hundreds of thousands of components onto a chip. The ability to fit so much onto an area about half the size of a U.S. dime helped diminish the size and price of computers. It also increased their power, efficiency and reliability.
Marcian Hoff
Marcian Hoff invented a device which could replace several of the components of earlier computers, the microprocessor. The microprocessor is the characteristic of fourth generation computers, capable of performing all of the functions of a computer's central processing unit. The reduced size, reduced cost, and increased speed of the microprocessor led to the creation of the first personal computers. Until now computers had been the almost exclusively the domain of universities, business and government. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the Apple II, the first personal computer in a garage in California. Then, in 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer. The personal computer was such a revolutionary concept and was expected to have such an impact on society that in 1982, VLSI made it routine to fabricate an entire CPU, main memory, or similar device with a single integrated circuit that can be mass produced at very low cost. This has resulted in new classes of machines such as personal computers, and high performance parallel processors that contains thousands of CPUs.
Marcian Hoff invented a device which could replace several of the components of earlier computers, the microprocessor. The microprocessor is the characteristic of fourth generation computers, capable of performing all of the functions of a computer's central processing unit. The reduced size, reduced cost, and increased speed of the microprocessor led to the creation of the first personal computers. Until now computers had been the almost exclusively the domain of universities, business and government. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the Apple II, the first personal computer in a garage in California. Then, in 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer. The personal computer was such a revolutionary concept and was expected to have such an impact on society that in 1982, VLSI made it routine to fabricate an entire CPU, main memory, or similar device with a single integrated circuit that can be mass produced at very low cost. This has resulted in new classes of machines such as personal computers, and high performance parallel processors that contains thousands of CPUs.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 APPLE introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors.
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 GUIs , the mouse and handheld devices.
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