Scribd
Upload
50 views

Lecture Note 3

The document summarizes the history of computers through five generations: - The earliest "computers" were humans who performed calculations by hand. The abacus was invented in ancient Babylon as a mechanical calculation aid. - The first generation of electronic computers used vacuum tubes, magnetic drums for memory, and filled entire rooms. They operated using machine language and punched cards. - The second generation used transistors, making computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. Assembly languages were introduced. - The third generation saw the development of integrated circuits, making computers much smaller, cheaper, and faster. Operating systems and GUIs were introduced. - The fourth generation used microprocessors built onto silicon chips, enabling computer networking and the Internet.

Uploaded by

johnsamba15
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
50 views

Lecture Note 3

The document summarizes the history of computers through five generations: - The earliest "computers" were humans who performed calculations by hand. The abacus was invented in ancient Babylon as a mechanical calculation aid. - The first generation of electronic computers used vacuum tubes, magnetic drums for memory, and filled entire rooms. They operated using machine language and punched cards. - The second generation used transistors, making computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. Assembly languages were introduced. - The third generation saw the development of integrated circuits, making computers much smaller, cheaper, and faster. Operating systems and GUIs were introduced. - The fourth generation used microprocessors built onto silicon chips, enabling computer networking and the Internet.

Uploaded by

johnsamba15
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

HISTORY OF COMPUTER

Earliest Computer
•Originally calculations were computed by humans, whose job title was computers.
•These human computers were typically engaged in the calculation of a
mathematical expression.
•The calculations of this period were specialized and expensive, requiring years of
training in mathematics.
•The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person
who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used
in that sense until the middle of the 20th century.

Abacus
•An abacus is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in performing
mathematical calculations.
•The abacus was invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C.
•The abacus in the form we are most familiar with was first used in China in
around 500 B.C.
•It used to perform basic arithmetic operations

Computer Generations
There are five generations of computer:
•First generation–1946 -1958
•Second generation–1959 -1964
•Third generation–1965 -1970
•Fourth generation–1971 -today
•Fifth generation–Today to future

The First Generation


•The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for
memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms.
•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 Second Generation


•Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of
computers.
•One transistor replaced the equivalent of 40 vacuum tubes.
•Allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and
more reliable.
•Still generated a great deal of heat that can damage the computer.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to
symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify
instructions in words.
•Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts
for output.
•These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory,
which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.
The Third Generation
•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.
•Much smaller and cheaper compare to the second generation computers.
•It could carry out instructions in billionths of a second.
•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.

The Fourth Generation


•The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon 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 GUIs, the mouse and
handheld devices
The Fifth Generation
•Based on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
•Still in development.
•The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial
intelligence a reality.
•The goal is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are
capable of learning and self-organization.
•There are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today.

You might also like