DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS After Abacus, the first machine that is usually regarded as the forerunner of modern

computers was named the Analytical Engine.

History of computing The analytical engine was designed by an English mathematician, Charles Babbage in
Before 1900, most data processing was done manually using simple tools like stones & 1832. The engine is recognized as the first real computer and Babbage as the father of
sticks to count and keep records. computing.
Historical development of computers can therefore be traced back to the time human
beings were struggling to invent non-electronic tools that would simplify arithmetics COMPUTER GENERATIONS
such as Abacus and Napier’s bones. It took several years after Babbage designed the analytical engine to come up with an
electronic computer.
Around 2000 years ago, Asian merchants came up with a special calculating tool called The age of modern electronic computer can be traced back to 1940s. These are
Abacus that could be used to calculate large figures. classified into five generations depending on the technology used to develop them.
Abacus A Computer generation is a grouped summary of the gradual developments in the
An Abacus is made up of a rectangular frame and a crossbar at the middle. It is fitted computer technology such that computers of the same group have similar technological
with wires or strings running across from the frame to the crossbar. characteristics.
The transition from one generation to another is influenced by the amount of research
How to represent a number using an Abacus towards further improvement of the computers and related facilities.
Each bead in the lower row has a value of 1, while each bead in the upper row has a
value of 5. To represent a number, the bead is moved to the crossbar. Those beads 1. First generation computer. (1940s to 1958)
away from the crossbar represent zeros. The 1st generation of computers used thousands of electronic gadgets called Vacuum
tubes or Thermionic valves to store & process information.
The Figure below represents the number 6908 (Six thousand nine hundred and eight). The tubes consumed a lot power.
They generated a lot of heat during processing due to overheating.
The computers constantly broke down due to the excessive heat generated, hence were
short-lived, and were not very reliable.
Their internal memory capacity was small. They used Magnetic drum memories.
Cards were used to enter data into the computers.
The computers were very large in size because they used big physical devices in their
circuitry.
They were very slow in terms of processing speed.
The computers were very costly - they cost millions of dollars.

Examples of 1ST Generation computers:

 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator) built in 1946 .
 EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) developed in 1945.
 UNIVAC (UNIVersalAutomatic Computer).
 IBM 650.
 LEO (Lyon’s Electronic Office)
Napier’s bones. 2. Second generation computers. (1958-19640
Napier’s bones was developed by John Napier, a Scottish mathematician in the 17 th - Computers in this generation operated using tiny solid-state
century. It helps in multiplication and division. electronic devices called transistors that were much smaller than the
vacuum tubes.
The analytical engine. - These computers produced less heat,
- They were much faster, smaller in size and more reliable than those
made of vacuum tubes.
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 - They used Magnetic core memories. - These technologies have led to the development of computers
- RAM Memory size expanded to 32 KB. referred to as Supercomputers, which are very powerful, and have
very high processing speeds.
- Examples of second generation computers include: IBM1401 AND - They are able to perform parallel (or multi-processing) whereby a
7070, UNIVAC 1107, ATLAS LEO Mark III and Honeywell 200. single task is split among a number of processors.
3. Third generation computers. (1964-1970) - The memory sizes are very large, range between 1 Gigabyte & 1
- The third generation computers used electronic devices called Terabyte.
integrated circuits (ICs). - These computers have special instructions sets that allow them to
- An integrated circuit consists of thousands of small transistor circuits support complex programs that mimic human intelligence often
etched on a semiconductor called a silicon chip. referred to as artificial intelligence. Such computers can work
- Third generation computers emitted less heat, were smaller in size without human intervention and a lot of research is still going on in
and were easier to program, use and maintain compared to their this field.
predecessors. - They are also characterized by connectivity to internet, superior
- The storage capacity of the computers (i.e., the RAM memory sizes) hardware and software and are very small in size.
expanded to 2 MB.
- The computers used a wide range of peripheral devices. DISADVANTAGES OF USING COMPUTERS
- The computers could support more than user at the same time. 1) Computers are very costly in terms of purchase & maintenance.
Computers can only be used areas where there is source of power.
- They were also able to support remote communication facilities . 2)
3) Requires skilled manpower to operate, i.e., one has to have some knowledge so as
- Magnetic disks were developed for storage purposes. to operate a computer.
- The 1st microcomputer was produced during this period (1974). 4) A computer, like any other machine can break down.
5) Information stored in computers can easily get lost due to power interruptions or
- Examples of third generation computers include smaller and less machine breakdown.
expensive minicomputer such as IBM360 and ICL 19000 series. 6) A computer doesn’t have its own intelligence, i.e., it cannot do any useful job on
4.Fourth generation computers. its own, but can only work as per the set of instructions issued.
- Fourth generation computers are characterized by very low emissions 7) The computer technology is changing very fast such that the already bought
of heat, are small in size and easier to use and maintain. computers could be made obsolete/ out dated in the next few years.
- The 4th generation computers used Large Scale Integrated (LSI) 8) The emergence of computers has increased the rate of unemployment since they
circuits &Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. are now being used to perform the jobs, which were done by human beings.
- The computers were small, and very fast. Their processing speeds 9) Computers have led to increase in computer crimes especially in Banks. The
increased to 50 Million instructions per second. computer criminals steal large amounts of funds belonging to various companies
- Had large storage capacity, i.e., their memory sizes expanded to by transferring them out of their company accounts illegally. In addition, they
several hundred Megabytes. destroy vital data used in running the companies.
- Memories used included Magnetic disks, Bubble memories &
Optical disks.
- Examples of fourth generation computers include IBM 370 and 4300,
Honeywell DPS-88 and Burroughs 7700.

5. Fifth generation computers.

- In this generation fall today’s computers.
- The technologies used are Parallel architectures, 3-Dimensional
circuit design & super conducting materials.