• 2700 to 2300 B.C.E.

– The Abacus was invented somewhere in Sumeria

An abacus is a calculation tool used by sliding counters along rods or grooves, used to perform
mathematical functions. In addition to calculating the basic functions of addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division, the abacus can calculate roots up to the cubic degree. The beads are
manipulated with either the index finger or the thumb of one hand.

• 1630 – Slide Rule was invented by William Oughtred, based on John Napier’s rules for logarithms.

Slide rules can be used for multiplication and division, squares, cubes, square roots, cubes roots, trig
functions, and exponentials and logarithms.

• 1804 – The Jacquard machine was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard.

It enabled looms to produce fabrics having intricate woven patterns such as tapestry, brocade, and
damask, and it has also been adapted to the production of patterned knitted fabrics.

• 1833 – The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage(aka The Father of the Computer).

Analytical Engine is used to calculate the numerical value of trigonometric functions of any formula.
Babbage used a series of punch cards for input during the design of analytical engine that are for:
arithmetical operations, numerical constants, and load and store operations.

☆ 1940 to 1956 – First gen computers used Vacuum Tubes.

When early, first generation computers started being developed in the 1940's it was an obvious
choice to use Vacuum Tubes to perform their logical calculations, and some models would also use
vacuum tubes as a way to store computer memory. The first general purpose computer to use
vacuum tubes, the "ENIAC" developed by the US army in 1946, contained an amazing 17,500 vacuum
tubes! These computers were used only by large companies and organizations, like the United States
military or NASA. The computers in this generation relied on machine language to perform arithmetic
calculations and used vacuum tubes as their main processors. It could perform up to 5,000 additions
or subtractions per second and multiply as many as 20 numbers a second.

• 1947 – Transistors were invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at the
Bell Laboratories, which were later on used by computers.

Transistors are the main component of the microchips used in computers. Computers operate on a
binary system, which uses only two digits: 0 and 1. In a computer microchip, transistors act as
switches, letting current through to represent the binary digit 1, or cutting it off to represent 0.

• 1951 to 1952 – The UNIVAC(Universal Automatic Computer) was developed by J. Presper Eckert
and John Mauchly.
*Grace Hopper

The UNIVAC I was designed as a commercial data-processing computer, intended to replace the
punched-card accounting machines of the day. It could read 7,200 decimal digits per second (it did
not use binary numbers), making it by far the fastest business machine yet built.

☆ 1956 to 1963 – Second Gen computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes.

As the computers made in the second generation used transistors that made them more reliable,
smaller in size, faster in speed, more energy-efficient, and cheaper compared to the first generation
of computers. They contain magnetic storage disks and magnetic core memory.

☆ 1964 to 1971 – Third Gen computers used IC (integrated circuits)

Third-generation computers used integrated circuits in place of transistors. With the use of
integrated circuits, these computers became reliable, generated less heat, were small in size, fast,
very less maintenance, and were inexpensive. So, in the third generation of computers, the usage of
keyboards and monitors started instead of punch cards. With this introduction of time-sharing,
remote processing, and multiprogramming OS also happened. High-level languages used in this
generation are PASCAL, FORTRAN-II, ALGOL-68, COBOL, and BASIC.

☆ 1972 – 2010 – Fourth Gen computers took advantage of microprocessors (aka CPU).

Fourth Generation computers used the VLSI technology or the Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI)
circuits technology. Therefore they were also known as the microprocessors. Intel was the first
company to develop a microprocessor. Fourth generation computers became more powerful,
compact, reliable, and affordable. As a result, it gave rise to Personal Computer (PC) revolution. In
this generation, time sharing, real time networks, distributed operating system were used.

• 1975 – IBM 5100 was released and is known as the first portable computer.

The IBM 5100 Portable Computer is one of the first portable computers, introduced in September
1975, six years before the IBM Personal Computer, and eight before the first successful IBM
compatible portable computer, the Compaq Portable. The Portable Computer was intended to put
computer capabilities at the fingertips of engineers, analysts, statisticians and other problem-solvers.

☆ 2010 til the present day – Fifth gen computers are utilizing AI technology.

In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology,
resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having ten million electronic components. This
generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. The
computers of fifth-generation use AI (artificial intelligence) technology that includes: Development of
expert systems, Game Playing, Robotics, Natural language understanding, and Neural Networks. The
AI technology made these computers to understand human language as well as recognize graphs and
pictures.