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Generations of Computers

Here are two advantages for each generation of computers: First generation (1940-1956): - Used vacuum tubes for circuitry - Magnetic drums for memory Second generation (1956-1963): - Transistors replaced vacuum tubes, allowing computers to be smaller and faster - Transistors were smaller than vacuum tubes Third generation (1964-1971): - Used integrated circuits, further reducing size and increasing speed - Allowed users to interact through keyboards and monitors Fourth generation (1972-2010): - Used microprocessors, allowing thousands of circuits on a single chip - Allowed computers to fit in the palm of the hand Fifth generation (2010-present): -

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52 views2 pages

Generations of Computers

Here are two advantages for each generation of computers: First generation (1940-1956): - Used vacuum tubes for circuitry - Magnetic drums for memory Second generation (1956-1963): - Transistors replaced vacuum tubes, allowing computers to be smaller and faster - Transistors were smaller than vacuum tubes Third generation (1964-1971): - Used integrated circuits, further reducing size and increasing speed - Allowed users to interact through keyboards and monitors Fourth generation (1972-2010): - Used microprocessors, allowing thousands of circuits on a single chip - Allowed computers to fit in the palm of the hand Fifth generation (2010-present): -

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COMPUTING DEVICES OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND BEYOND

ENIAC
The Electronic Numerical Integrator Calculator was the first
electronic computer used for general purposes, such as solving
numerical problems. It was invented by J. Presper Eckert and
John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania to calculate
artillery firing tables for the United States Army’s Ballistic
Research Laboratory.

Although it was not completed until the end of World War II, the
ENIAC was created to help with the war effort against the Germans. The ENIAC consisted of nearly
20,000 vacuum tubes, as well 10,000 capacitors and 70,000 resistors. It weighed over 30 tons.

EDSAC
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator is an early
British computer considered to be the first stored program electronic
computer. Built by Maurice Wilki, it was created by the university
of Cambridge in England.

It performed its first calculation on May 6th, 1949, and was the
computer that ran the first graphical computer game nicknamed “Baby”.

EDVAC
Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer was intended to be a vast
improvement upon ENIAC. Mauchly and Eckert started working on it two years
before ENIAC went into operation. Their idea was to have the program for the
computer stored inside the computer. This was made possible because EDVAC had
more internal memory than any other computing device at that time.

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER
The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of
computing devices. Each of the five generations of computers is characterized by a major
technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in
increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable computing devices.

FIRST GENERATION (1940 – 1956)


The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory. Vacuum tubes
were larger components and resulted in first generation computers being quite large in size, taking up a
lot of space in the room. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of
electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation
computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by
computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on
punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The
UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in
1951.
SECOND GENERATION (1956 – 1963)
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and thus ushered in the second generation of computers. The
transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late
1950s.Transistors were used in computers from 1956 to 1963. Transistors were smaller than vacuum
tubes and allowed computers to be smaller in size, faster in speed and cheaper to build.

The first computer to use transistors was the TX-0 and was introduced in 1956. Other computers that
used the transistors include the IBM 7070, Phileo Transac S-1000 and RCA 501.1. Second-generation
computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.

THIRD GENERATION (1964 – 1971)


The third generations of computers introduced the use of integrated
circuits (IC) in computers. Using IC’s further reduced the sizes of
computers as compared to second generation computers as well as
made them faster. Instead of punched cards and printouts, 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. IC’s are still used in computer today.

FOURTH GENERATION (1972 – 2010)


The fourth generation of computers took advantage of the invention of the
microprocessor, more commonly known as the CPU. It allowed thousands of
integrated circuits to be built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first
generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand.

The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer from the central
processing unit and memory to input/output controls on a single chip.

FIFTH GENERATION (2010 – Present day and beyond)

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

The use of parallel processing and super-conductors are helping to make artificial
intelligence a reality. Quantum computation, molecular and nano-technology will
radically change the face of computers in the future. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to
develop devices that would respond to natural language input, self-organization and are capable of
learning.

Classwork
1. List two advantages each of the five generations of computers.

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