Evolution of

computing
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students should be

able to:
• Identify the early contributions in the evolution
of computing of different people
• Differentiate the five computer generations with
one another
• Relate how the evolution of computing made
an improvement in computing
Evolution of Computing 2
Definition of computer
• Computer is a programmable machine.
• Computer is a machine that manipulates data according
to a list of instructions.
• Computer is any device which aids humans in
performing various kinds of computations or
calculations.
• Three principles characteristic of computer:
§ It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined
manner.
§ It can execute a pre-recorded list of instructions.
§ It can quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data.
Evolution of Computing 3
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.
Evolution of Computing 4
Tally sticks

•Was an ancient memory aid device to

record and document numbers, quantities,
or even messages.

Evolution of Computing 5
abacus
• Is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in performing
mathematical calculations.
• Beads on rods to count and calculate
• Still widely used in Asia

Evolution of Computing 6
Napier’s bones
• Invented by John Napier in 1614.
• Allowed the operator to multiply,
divide and calculate square and
cube roots by moving the rods
around and placing them in
specially constructed boards.

Evolution of Computing 7
Slide rule

• Invented by William
Oughtred in 1622.
• Is based on Napier's ideas
about logarithms.

Evolution of Computing 8
Stepped reckoner

• Invented by Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672.
• The machine that can
add, subtract, multiply
and divide automatically.

Evolution of Computing 9
Jacquard Loom
• The Jacquard loom is a
mechanical loom, invented by
Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1881.
• The Jacquard concept of
recording data in the form of
holes punched in cards was
used in the design of punched-
card information processing
equipment.
Evolution of Computing 10
Arithmometer
• A mechanical calculator invented
by Thomas de Colmar in 1820,
• The first reliable, useful and
commercially successful
calculating machine.
• The machine could perform the
four basic mathematic functions.
• The first mass-produced
calculating machine.
Evolution of Computing 11
Difference Engine and
Analytical Engine
• The Difference Engine is an
automatic, mechanical
calculator designed to
tabulate polynomial
functions.
• The Analytical Engine is the
first mechanical computer.
• Invented by Charles
Difference Engine Analytical Engine

Babbage in 1822 and 1834

Evolution of Computing 12
First computer programmer
• In 1840, Augusta Ada Byron
or commonly known as Ada
Lovelace suggested Babbage
that he use the binary system.
• She wrote programs for the
Analytical Engine.

Evolution of Computing 13
Scheutzian Calculation Engine

• Invented by Per Georg Scheutz

in 1843.
• Based on Charles Babbage's
difference engine.
• The first printing calculator.

Evolution of Computing 14
Tabulating machine
• Invented by Herman
Hollerith in 1890.
• To assist in summarizing
information and
accounting

Evolution of Computing 15
Harvard Mark 1
• Also known as IBM Automatic
Sequence Controlled
Calculator (ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken
in 1943
• The first electro-mechanical
computer.

Evolution of Computing 16
z1
• The first programmable
computer.
• Created by Konrad Zuse in
Germany from 1936 to 1938.
• To program the Z1 required
that the user insert punch
tape into a punch tape
reader and all output was
also generated through
punch tape.
Evolution of Computing 17
Atanasoff-Berry
Computer (ABC)
• It was the first electronic
digital computing device.
• Invented by Professor John
Atanasoff and graduate
student Clifford Berry at Iowa
State University between
1939 and 1942.

Evolution of Computing 18
ENIAC
• ENIAC stands for Electronic
Numerical Integrator and
Computer.
• It was the first electronic
general-purpose computer.
• Completed in 1946.
• Developed by John Presper
Eckert and John W. Mauchl.
• There were also six female
programmers involved.

Evolution of Computing 19
edvac
• EDVAC stands for Electronic
Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer
• The First Stored Program
Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in
1952.
• It has a memory to hold both
a stored program as well as
data.

Evolution of Computing 20
The first portable computer

• Osborne 1 – the first

portable computer.
• Released in 1981 by
the Osborne Computer
Corporation.

Evolution of Computing 21
The first computer company
• The first computer company
was the Electronic Controls
Company.
• Founded in 1949 by J.
Presper Eckert and John
Mauchly.

Evolution of Computing 22
Computer generations

• First generation – 1946 - 1958

• Second generation – 1959 - 1964
• Third generation – 1965 - 1970
• Fourth generation – 1971 - Present
• Fifth generation – Present - Onwards

Evolution of Computing 23
Advancement to
modern computers
• What was the biggest advance that led to
modern computers?
§ Electricity
§ Transistor
§ Microchip
§ Data storage

Evolution of Computing 24
First generation (1946-1958)

• 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.

Evolution of Computing 25
First generation (1946-1958)

• 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.

Evolution of Computing 26
Vacuum Tubes

• First Generation Electronic

Computers used Vacuum Tubes
• Vacuum tubes are glass tubes
with circuits inside.
• Vacuum tubes have no air inside
of them, which protects the
circuitry.

Evolution of Computing 27
Univac - 1951
• First fully electronic digital
computer built in the U.S.
• Designed by J. Presper Eckert
and John Mauchly.
• ENIAC weighed 30 tons
contained 18,000 vacuum tubes
• Cost a paltry $487,000

Evolution of Computing 28
Grace hopper

• Programmed UNIVAC
• Recipient of Computer
Science’s first “Man of the
Year Award”

Evolution of Computing 29
First Computer Bug - 1945
• Relay switches part of
computers
• Grace Hopper found a moth
stuck in a relay responsible
for a malfunction
• Called it “debugging” a
computer

Evolution of Computing 30
second generation (1959-1964)

• 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.
Evolution of Computing 31
second generation (1959-1964)
• 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.
Evolution of Computing 32
Second generation (1959-1964)

•1956 – Computers began to

incorporate Transistors
•Replaced vacuum tubes with
Transistors

Evolution of Computing 33
First Transistor
• Uses Silicon
• developed in 1948
• The Nobel Prize in Physics 1956
was awarded jointly to William
Bradford Shockley, John
Bardeen and Walter Houser
Brattain
• Second Generation Computers
used Transistors, starting in 1956

Evolution of Computing 34
third generation (1965-1970)

•Integrated Circuit
•Operating System
•Getting smaller, cheaper

Evolution of Computing 35
Third generation (1965-1970)
• 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.
Evolution of Computing 36
Third generation (1965-1970)
• 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.

Evolution of Computing 37
Integrated Circuits
• Third Generation Computers
used Integrated Circuits
(chips).
• Integrated Circuits are
transistors, resistors, and
capacitors integrated together
into a single “chip”

Evolution of Computing 38
Operating system

•Software – Instructions for Computer

•Operating system is set of instructions
loaded each time a computer is started
•Program is instructions loaded when
needed

Evolution of Computing 39
Microprocessor - 1971

• Intel 4004 Microprocessor

§ The 4004 had 2,250 transistors
§ four-bit chunks (four 1’s or 0’s)
§ 108Khz
§ Called “Microchip”

Evolution of Computing 40
Fourth generation
(1971-present)
•MICROCHIPS
§Getting smaller and smaller, but we are still
using microchip technology

Evolution of Computing 41
Fourth generation
(1971-present)
•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.
Evolution of Computing 42
What is a microchip?

•Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit (VLSIC)

§Transistors, resistors, and capacitors
•4004 had 2,250 transistors
•Pentium IV has 42 MILLION transistors
§Each transistor 0.13 microns (10-6 meters)

Evolution of Computing 43
Personal computers

• MITS Altair
• 256 byte memory (not
Kilobytes or Megabytes)
• 2 MHz Intel 8080 chips
• Just a box with flashing
lights
• cost $395 kit, $495
assembled.

Evolution of Computing 44
Electronic computers
First Second Third Fourth
Generation Generation Generation Generation
Technology Vacuum Transistors Integrated Microchips
Tubes Circuits (millions of
(multiple transistors)
transistors)
Size Filled Filled half a Smaller Tiny - Palm Pilot
Whole room is as powerful as
Buildings old building
sized computer

Evolution of Computing 45
Electronics

•Vacuum Tube
§a dinosaur without a modern lineage
•Transistor to Integrated Circuit to
Microchip

Evolution of Computing 46
Ibm pc - 1981
• IBM-Intel-Microsoft joint venture
• First wide-selling personal
computer used in business
• 8088 Microchip - 29,000
transistors
§ 4.77 Mhz processing speed
• 256 K RAM (Random Access
Memory) standard
• One or two floppy disk drives

Evolution of Computing 47
Apple computers
• Founded 1977
• Apple II released 1977
§widely used in schools
• Macintosh
§released in 1984, Motorola
68000 Microchip processor
§first commercial computer with
graphical user interface (GUI)
and pointing device (mouse)

Evolution of Computing 48
1990s: pentiums & power macs
• Early 1990s began penetration of computers into
every niche: every desk, most homes, etc.
• Faster, less expensive computers paved way for this
• Windows 95 was first decent GUI for “PCs”
• Macs became more PC compatible - easy file
transfers
• Prices have plummeted
• $2000 for entry level to $500
• $6000 for top of line to $1500
Evolution of Computing 49
Fourth generation

•The microprocessor brought the fourth

generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single
silicon chip.

Evolution of Computing 50
Fifth generation
(PRESENT-ONWARDS)
• 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.

Evolution of Computing 51
summary
• The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613,
referring to a person who carried out calculations, or
computations.
• Tally sticks is an ancient memory aid device to record and
document numbers, quantities, or even messages.
• Abacus is a mechanical device in performing mathematical
calculations.
• Napier’s bones was invented by John Napier in 1614.
• Slide rule was invented by William Oughtred in 1622.

Evolution of Computing 52
summary
• Stepped reckoner was invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in
1672.
• Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom that records data in the
form of holes punched in cards that was invented by Joseph-
Marie Jacquard in 1881.
• Arithmometer is a mechanical calculator invented by Thomas
de Colmar in 1820.
• The difference engine and analytical engine was invented by
Charles Babbage in 1822 and 1834 and is considered to be the
first mechanical computer.
Evolution of Computing 53
summary
• The first computer programmer was Ada Lovelace.
• The first printing calculator was invented by Per Georg Scheutz
in 1843 coined as Scheutizian Calculation Engine.
• The tabulating machine was invented by Herman Hollerith in
1890.
• Harvard Mark 1 is the first electro-mechanical computer.
• Z1 is the first programmable computer.
• The first electronic digital computing device is the Atanasoff-
Berry Computer (ABC).

Evolution of Computing 54
summary
• ENIAC is the first electronic general-purpose computer which
was completed in 1946.
• EDVAC is the first stored program computer which was
designed by Von Neumann in 1952.
• Osborne 1 is the the first portable computer.
• The first computer company is the Electronic Controls
Company.
• The first generation focused on the use of vacuum tubes for
circuity and magnetic drums for memory.
• First generation relied on machine language.
Evolution of Computing 55
summary
• Grace Hopper programmed the UNIVAC.
• The first computer but was in 1945, Grace Hopper found a
moth that caused the malfunction.
• The second generation replaces vacuum tubers and used
transistors.
• Transistors are smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient,
and more reliable.
• The third generation used the technology of integrated circuits.
It had miniaturized transistors and placed on silicon chips called
semiconductors.
Evolution of Computing 56
summary
• The users could interact with keyboard and monitors and the
interface with an operating system.
• Fourth generation was brought on by the microprocessor, small
computers become more powerful.
• Improvement on the GUIs, mouse, and handheld devices were
seen in the fourth generation.
• Fifth generation is still in development, it is based on artificial
intelligence, and the use of parallel processing and
superconductors.

Evolution of Computing 57
REFERENCES

•Reyes, F. (2005). Introduction to Information

Technology. Rex Book Store
•FTMS College. (n.d.). Evolution of
Computing

Evolution of Computing 58