Computer Computer History Computer History

History Inventors/Inventions Description of Event

Year/Enter
1936 Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer First freely programmable
computer.
1942 John Atanasoff & Clifford Who was first in the computing
Berry biz is not always as easy as ABC.
ABC Computer
1944 Howard Aiken & Grace The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
Hopper
Harvard Mark I Computer
1946 John Presper Eckert & John W.20,000 vacuum tubes later...
Mauchly
ENIAC 1 Computer
1948 Frederic Williams & Tom Baby and the Williams Tube turn
Kilburn on the memories.
Manchester Baby
Computer & The Williams
Tube
1947/48 John Bardeen, Walter No, a transistor is not a
Brattain & Wiliam Shockley computer, but this invention
The Transistor greatly affected the history of
computers.
1951 John Presper Eckert & John W.First commercial computer &
Mauchly able to pick presidential winners.
UNIVAC Computer
1953 International Business IBM enters into 'The History of
Machines Computers'.
IBM 701 EDPM Computer
1954 John Backus & IBM The first successful high level
FORTRAN Computer programming language.
Programming Language
1955 Stanford Research Institute, The first bank industry computer
(In Use 1959) Bank of America, and - also MICR (magnetic ink
General Electric character recognition) for
ERMA and MICR reading checks.
1958 Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
The Integrated Circuit
 1962 Steve Russell & MIT The first computer game
Spacewar Computer invented.
Game
1964 Douglas Engelbart Nicknamed the mouse because
Computer Mouse & the tail came out the end.
Windows
1969 ARPAnet The original Internet.
1970 Intel 1103 Computer The world's first available
Memory dynamic RAM chip.
1971 Faggin, Hoff & Mazor The first microprocessor.
Intel 4004 Computer
Microprocessor
1971 Alan Shugart &IBM Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its
The "Floppy" Disk flexibility.
1973 Robert Metcalfe & Xerox Networking.
The Ethernet Computer
Networking
1974/75 Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & The first consumer computers.
IBM 5100 Computers
1976/77 Apple I, II & TRS-80 & More first consumer computers.
Commodore Pet
Computers
1978 Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston Any product that pays for itself
VisiCalc Spreadsheet in two weeks is a surefire winner.
Software
1979 Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Word Processors.
Barnaby
WordStar Software
1981 IBM From an "Acorn" grows a
The IBM PC - Home personal computer revolution
Computer
1981 Microsoft From "Quick And Dirty" comes
MS-DOS Computer the operating system of the
Operating System century.
1983 Apple Lisa Computer The first home computer with a
GUI, graphical user interface.
1984 Apple Macintosh The more affordable home
Computer computer with a GUI.
1985 Microsoft Windows Microsoft begins the friendly war
 with Apple.

A Brief History of the Computer

Computers and computer applications are on almost every aspect of
our daily lives. As like many ordinary objects around us, we may need
clearer understanding of what they are. You may ask "What is a
computer?" or "What is a software", or "What is a programming
language?" First, let's examine the history.
1. The history of computers starts out about 2000 years ago
in Babylonia (Mesopotamia), at the birth of the abacus, a wooden
rack holding two horizontal wires with beads strung on them.

2. Blaise Pascal is usually credited for building the first digital

computer in 1642. It added numbers entered with dials and was
made to help his father, a tax collector.
The basic principle of his calculator is still used
today in water meters and modern-day
odometers. Instead of having a carriage wheel
turn the gear, he made each ten-teeth wheel
accessible to be turned directly by a person's
hand (later inventors added keys and a crank),
with the result that when the wheels were turned in the proper
 sequences, a series of numbers was entered and a cumulative
sum was obtained. The gear train supplied a mechanical answer
equal to the answer that is obtained by using arithmetic.

This first mechanical calculator, called the Pascaline, had several

disadvantages. Although it did offer a substantial improvement
over manual calculations, only Pascal himself could repair the
device and it cost more than the people it replaced! In addition,
the first signs of technophobia emerged with mathematicians
fearing the loss of their jobs due to progress.
3. A step towards automated computing was the development
of punched cards, which were first successfully used with
computers in 1890 by Herman Hollerithand James Powers, who
worked for the US. Census Bureau. They developed devices that
could read the information that had been punched into the cards
automatically, without human help. Because of this, reading
errors were reduced dramatically, work flow increased, and, most
importantly, stacks of punched cards could be used as easily
accessible memory of almost unlimited size. Furthermore,
different problems could be stored on different stacks of cards
and accessed when needed.
4. These advantages were seen by commercial companies and soon
led to the development of improved punch-card using computers
created by International Business Machines (IBM), Remington
(yes, the same people that make shavers), Burroughs, and other
corporations. These computers used electromechanical devices
in which electrical power provided mechanical motion -- like
turning the wheels of an adding machine. Such systems included
features to:
o feed in a specified number of cards automatically
o add, multiply, and sort
o feed out cards with punched results
5. The start of World War II produced a large need for computer
capacity, especially for the military. New weapons were made for
which trajectory tables and other essential data were needed. In
 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchly, and their associates at the
Moore school of Electrical Engineering of University of
Pennsylvania decided to build a high - speed electronic computer
to do the job. This machine became known as ENIAC (Electrical
Numerical Integrator And Calculator)
6. The size of ENIAC’s numerical "word" was 10 decimal digits, and
it could multiply two of these numbers at a rate of 300 per
second, by finding the value of each product from a
multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was therefore
about 1,000 times faster then the previous generation of relay
computers. ENIAC used 18,000 vacuum tubes, about 1,800
square feet of floor space, and consumed about 180,000 watts of
electrical power. It had punched card I/O, 1 multiplier, 1
divider/square rooter, and 20 adders using decimal ring counters,
which served as adders and also as quick-access (.0002 seconds)
read-write register storage. The executable instructions making
up a program were embodied in the separate "units" of ENIAC,
which were plugged together to form a "route" for the flow of
information.
7. Early in the 50’s two important engineering discoveries changed
the image of the electronic - computer field, from one of fast but
unreliable hardware to an image of relatively high reliability and
even more capability. These discoveries were the magnetic core
memory and the Transistor - Circuit Element.
These technical discoveries quickly found their way into new
models of digital computers. RAM capacities increased from
8,000 to 64,000 words in commercially available machines by
the 1960’s, with access times of 2 to 3 MS (Milliseconds). These
machines were very expensive to purchase or even to rent and
were particularly expensive to operate because of the cost of
expanding programming. Such computers were mostly found in
 large computer centers operated by industry, government, and
private laboratories - staffed with many programmers and
support personnel. This situation led to modes of operation
enabling the sharing of the high potential available.
8. Many companies, such as Apple Computer and Radio Shack,
introduced very successful PC’s in the 1970's, encouraged in part
by a fad in computer (video) games. In the 1980's some friction
occurred in the crowded PC field, with Apple and IBM keeping
strong. In the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, the Intel
and Motorola Corporations were very competitive into the 1980s,
although Japanese firms were making strong economic advances,
especially in the area of memory chips. By the late 1980s, some
personal computers were run by microprocessors that, handling
32 bits of data at a time, could process about 4,000,000
instructions per second.
 Mainframes, minicomputers, and
microcomputers

A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central

processing unit. Another general characteristic of these computers is
that they occupy physically small amounts of space when compared
to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when
equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are
also personal computers (in the generic sense).[2][3]
The abbreviation "micro" was common during the 1970s and
1980s,[4] but has now fallen out of common usage.
Microcomputers, or PC's as they are often called, are abundant on our
desks, tables, offices, suitcases, everywhere.
This is the most visible form of computers in the present world and
comes in all forms and breeds.
There are many generations of particular design and technical
specifications from the start of this particular design.
Historically, a micro is associated with stand alone computing. Meaning
most computing takes (physically) place on the micro itself. In the
1980's when networking started to integrate into the offices PC'S
became connected with network servers, and
also mainframes and supers.

We all know a PC, probably heard of supercomputers. And like

mainframes mini computers are not so known to the general public.
Historically, a mini is associated with de-centralized computing.
Meaning most computing takes (physically) place on the mini itself.
Minicomputers are introduced in the early 1960s and announced a new
era in computing. They are relatively low cost and small. This setup
allowed more people to have access to computers and as a result a
splurt of new applications in universities, industry, and commerce are
created. Digital Equipment Corporation developed the PDP-1
minicomputer in 1960, and the PDP-8 virtualy conquered the market is
a sweep and sold over 40,000 units. In time some 200 companies
produced this type of minicomputers. DEC got at the top of the market
with the PDP-11, and with the VAX 11/780 system. The latter will
become a landmark system in the history of computing.

We all know a PC, probably heard of supercomputers. But

mainframes are not so known.
When you watch television and see a movie with a big machine, or
hear people talking to each other (at college) about a mainframe do
you sometimes wonder what that is? What they are talking about?
Then this page is intended for you.
A mainframe is simply a very large computer. And totally different from
what you have on your desk. Don't say: what seems to be a mainframe
today is on your desktop tomorrow. Apart from the CPU's (processors)
that is far from true.
Mainframe is an industry term for a large computer. The name
comes from the way the machine is build up: all units (processing,
communication etc.) were hung into a frame. Thus the
maincomputer is build into a frame, therefore: Mainframe
And because of the sheer development costs, mainframes are
typically manufactured by large companies such as IBM, Amdahl,
Hitachi.
Their main purpose is to run commercial applications of Fortune
1000 businesses and other large-scale computing purposes.
Think here of banking and insurance businesses where enormous
amounts of data are processed, typically (at least) millions of
records, each day.
 Kinds of Networking

Local Area Network (LAN)

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small

physical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a
school, or an airport. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast
to wide-area networks (WANs), include their usually higher data-
transfer rates, smaller geographic place, and lack of a need for leased
telecommunication lines.
A local area network (LAN) supplies networking capability to a group of
computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office
building, a school, or a home. A LAN is useful for sharing resources like
files, printers, games or other applications. A LAN in turn often
connects to other LANs, and to the Internet or other WAN.
Most local area networks are built with relatively inexpensive hardware
such as Ethernetcables, network adapters, and hubs. Wireless LAN and
other more advanced LAN hardware options also exist.
Specialized operating system software may be used to configure a
local area network. For example, most flavors of Microsoft Windows
provide a software package called Internet
The local area network (LAN) is home to sheer bandwidth and
countless client server applications. Different companies have radically
different networks; some have a single PC and others have hundreds of
locations and thousands of computers. This page is intended to explain
the basic principles and components frequently found on the LAN. The
internal network is usually built with the highest bandwidth available. It
is then connected to a tiny internet connection which is almost always
a bottle neck for internet traffic. Most businesses of any size have at
least one server to provide extra computing features to the business.
The internet is explicitly distrusted and generally the network has
protection from the internet built in. The LAN is something that
businesses have complete control over. Network devices are much
simpler than servers and PCs. It is common (and best practice) to
duplicate significant portions of the Network to allow for failure without
having a noticeable impact on the network.

Metropolitan Area Network

A MAN is optimized for a larger geographical area than a LAN, ranging

from several blocks of buildings to entire cities. MANs can also depend
on communications channels of moderate-to-high data rates. A MAN
might be owned and operated by a single organization, but it usually
will be used by many individuals and organizations. MANs might also
be owned and operated as public utilities. They will often provide
means for internetworking of local networks. Metropolitan area
networks can span up to 50km, devices used are modem and
wire/cable

A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is a large computer network that

spans a metropolitan area or campus. Its geographic scope falls
between a WAN and LAN. MANs provide Internet connectivity for LANs
in a metropolitan region, and connect them to wider area networks like
the Internet.

A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is one of a number of types of

networks (see also LAN and WAN). A MAN is a relatively new class of
network, it serves a role similar to an ISP, but for corporate users with
large LANs. There are three important features which discriminate
MANs from LANs or WANs:
1. The network size falls intermediate between LANs and WANs. A
MAN typically covers an area of between 5 and 50 km diameter.
Many MANs cover an area the size of a city, although in some
cases MANs may be as small as a group of buildings or as large
as the North of Scotland.
2. A MAN (like a WAN) is not generally owned by a single
organisation. The MAN, its communications links and equipment
are generally owned by either a consortium of users or by a
single network provider who sells the service to the users. This
level of service provided to each user must therefore be
negotiated with the MAN operator, and some performance
guarantees are normally specified.
3. A MAN often acts as a high speed network to allow sharing of
regional resources (similar to a large LAN). It is also frequently
used to provide a shared connection to other networks using a
link to a WAN.

Wide Area Network

Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad
area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan,
regional, or national boundaries ). This is in contrast with personal
[1]

area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), campus area

networks (CANs), or metropolitan area networks (MANs) which are
usually limited to a room, building, campus or specific metropolitan
area (e.g., a city) respectively. The largest and most well-known
example of a WAN is the Internet.
WANs are used to connect LANs and other types of networks together,
so that users and computers in one location can communicate with
users and computers in other locations. Many WANs are built for one
particular organization and are private. Others, built by Internet service
providers, provide connections from an organization's LAN to the
Internet. WANs are often built using leased lines. At each end of the
leased line, a router connects to the LAN on one side and a hub within
the WAN on the other. Leased lines can be very expensive. Instead of
using leased lines, WANs can also be built using less costly circuit
switching or packet switching methods.
Network protocols including TCP/IPdeliver transport and addressing
functions. Protocols including Packet over
SONET/SDH, MPLS, ATM and Frame relay are often used by service
providers to deliver the links that are used in WANs. X.25 was an
important early WAN protocol, and is often considered to be the
"grandfather" of Frame Relay as many of the underlying protocols and
functions of X.25 are still in use today (with upgrades) by Frame Relay.
Academic research into wide area networks can be broken down into
three areas: Mathematical models, network emulation and network
simulation.