Generations of Computer

The history of computer development is

often referred to in reference to the
different generations of computing
devices. A generation refers to the state
of improvement in the product
development process. This term 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 the
miniaturization, speed, power, and
computer memory has proportionally
increased. New discoveries are
constantly being developed that
affect the way we live, work and play.
Each generation of computers 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. Read about each
generation and the developments that
led to the current devices that we use
today.
First Generation - 1940-1956: Vacuum
Tubes

Image: Vacuum Tube Technology

Image: Vacuum Tube Technology
Image: Vacuum Tube Technology
Image: First Generation Computer ENIAC
using 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.
A single drum can have up to 200
tracks. As the drum rotates at a speed
of up to 3,000 rpm, the device's
read/write heads deposit magnetized
spots on the drum during the write
operation and sense these spots
during a read operation. This action is
similar to that of a magnetic tape or
disk drive.
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 to perform operations, and they
could only solve one problem at a time.
Machine languages are the only
languages understood by computers.
While easily understood by
computers, machine languages are
almost impossible for humans to use
because they consist entirely of
numbers. Computer Programmers,
therefore, use either high level
programming languages or an
assembly language programming.
An assembly language contains
the same instructions as a
machine language, but the
instructions and variables have
names instead of being just
numbers.
Programs written in high level
programming languages retranslated
into assembly language or machine
language by a compiler. Assembly
language program retranslated into
machine language by a program
called an assembler (assembly
language compiler).
Every CPU has its own unique
machine language. Programs must be
rewritten or recompiled, therefore, to
run on different types of computers.
Input was based on punch card and
paper tapes, and output was
displayed on printouts.
In 1945 two Americans, Presper
Eckert, and John Mauchly built the
ENIAC electronic computer The ENIAC
led to other vacuum tube type
computers like the EDVAC (Electronic
Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer) and the UNIVAC I
(UNIVersal Automatic Computer).
Acronym for Electronic Numerical
Integrator And Computer, the world's first
operational electronic digital computer,
developed by Army Ordnance to compute
World War II ballistic firing tables. The
ENIAC, weighing 30 tons, using 200
kilowatts of electric power and consisting
of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 1, 500 relays,
and hundreds of thousands of resistors,
capacitors, and inductors, was completed
in 1945.
In addition to ballistics, the ENIAC's field
of application included weather
prediction, atomic-energy calculations,
cosmic-ray studies, thermal ignition,
random-number studies, wind-tunnel
design, and other scientific uses. The
ENIAC soon became obsolete as the need
arose for faster computing speeds.
Second Generation - 1956-1963: Transistors

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and guided

in the second generation computer. Transistor
is a device composed of semiconductor
material that amplifies a signal or opens or
closes a circuit. In 1947 three scientists, John
Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter
Brattain working at AT&T's Bell Labs invented
what would replace the vacuum tube forever.
Invented in 1947 at Bell Labs,
transistors have become the key
ingredient of all digital circuits,
including computers. Today's
latest microprocessor contains
tens of millions of microscopic
transistors.
Prior to the invention of transistors,
digital circuits were composed of
vacuum tubes, which had many
disadvantages. They were much
larger, required more energy,
dissipated more heat, and were more
prone to failures. It's safe to say that
without the invention of transistors,
computing as we know it today would
not be possible.
The transistor was invented in 1947
but did not see widespread use in
computers until the late 50s. The
transistor 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 generated 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
printouts for output.
Image: Transistor
Image: Second Generation computer
Image: Punch card
Second-generation computers moved from
cryptic binary machine language to symbolic,
or assembly languages, which allowed
programmers to specify instructions in words.
High-level programming languages were also
being developed at this time, such as early
versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.

The first computers of this generation were

developed for the atomic energy industry.
Third Generation - 1964-1971:
Integrated Circuits
The integrated circuit, or as it is
sometimes referred to as
semiconductor chip, packs a huge
number of transistors onto a single
wafer of silicon.
Robert Noyce of Fairchild Corporation
and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments
independently discovered the amazing
attributes of integrated circuits. Placing
such large numbers of transistors on a
single chip vastly increased the power of
a single computer and lowered its cost
considerably.
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.
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.
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.
Semiconductor is a material that is
neither a good conductor of
electricity (like copper) nor a good
insulator (like rubber). The most
common semiconductor materials are
silicon and germanium.
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.
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.
Image: Integrated Circuit
Image: Third Generation Computer IBM-
360 using Integrated Circuits