History of Computers

The computer as we know it today, has evolved over several centuries. Human
need for computing, and advancing technology have led to the development of
affordable and powerful devices.

Computing hardware has been an essential component of the process of

calculation and data storage since it became useful for numerical values to be
processed and shared. The earliest computing hardware was probably some
form of tally stick; later recording devices include the Phoenician clay shapes
which represented quantities or 'counts' of items, probably livestock or grains,
in containers. These seem to have been used by the merchants, accountants,
and government officials of the time.

Devices to aid computation have evolved from simple recording and counting
devices through the abacus, the slide rule, early electronic computers to the
sophisticated mobile computing devices we have today.
In the beginning humanity has used devices to aid in computation for
millennia. One example is a device for establishing equality by weight: the
classic scales, later used to symbolize equality in justice.
Another is simple enumeration: the checkered cloths of the counting houses
served as simple data structures for enumerating stacks of coins, by weight. A
more arithmetic-oriented machine is the abacus. One of the earliest machines
of this type was the Chinese abacus, which was invented about 5000 years ago.

The Abacus
The Abacus is believed to be the precursor of computing. The Chinese abacus
was invented thousands of years ago (about 3000BC) as a means of keeping
tally / count. This was followed by the Greek mechanical device, the
Antikythera that was used for astronomical calculations.

1
Mechanical Calculators
1623 – Wilhelm Schickard built the first mechanical calculator that used cogs
and gears, followed by Blaise Pascal in 1642. The first mass-produced
mechanical calculator was created by Charlee Xavier Thomas around 1820. It
was called the Thomas Arithmometer and could add, subtract, multiply and
divide.
Napier’s Bones
A mechanical method for performing multiplication and division based on
manipulation of rods with printed digits.

The Slide Rule

Invented by William Oughtred in the 1620s. Allowed faster performance of
multiplication and division operations. Were mostly used by engineers and
professional whose work required calculations.

Slide rules were used by several generations of engineers. Engineers on the

Apollo program to send man to the moon used slide rules to perform
calculations, with an accuracy of 3 or 4 significant figures.

Punch Cards Technology

In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a loom in which the pattern being
woven was controlled by punched cards. The series of cards could be changed
without changing the mechanical design of the loom. This was a landmark
point in programmability.
In 1833, Charles Babbage moved on from developing his difference engine to
developing a more complete design, the analytical engine which would draw
directly on Jacquard's punch cards for its programming
In 1890, the United States Census Bureau used punch cards and sorting
machines designed by Herman Hollerith to handle the flood of data from the
decennial census mandated by the Constitution. Hollerith's company
eventually became the core of IBM, a technology giant. IBM developed punch
card technology into a powerful tool for business data processing and

2
produced an extensive line of specialized unit record equipment. By 1950 the
IBM card had become ubiquitous in industry and government. The warning
printed on most cards, "Do not fold, spindle or mutilate", became a motto for
the post-World War II era. Punch cards were later used to solve differential
equations, perform multiplication and division using floating point
representation.

Programmable machines
The main feature of a computer is its ability to follow a given set of
instructions.
1837 – Charles Babbage’s description of the analytical engine. A general
purpose computer that had a central processing unit, used punch cards for
input and a steam engine for power. Gears were used as the equivalent for
beads on an abacus.
1930s-1960s – desktop calculators
Mechanical calculators, cash registers and accounting machines were
redesigned to electric motors. The word computer was at that time used to
refer to people who used these machines.
The Universal Turing Machine
Invented in 1936. Turing proposed computing machines that could learn from
experience and solve problems by searching through the space of possible
solutions.
Electronic Computers
Early digital computers used electrically-driven switches or relays and were
slow in operation. The introduction of electronic components, vacuum tubes
known as valves, led to an increase in speed of operation because the
electronic components have no moving parts.
1937-1942 US citizen, Atanasoff developed techniques for using vacuum tubes
for digital numerical calculations. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer had
approximately 300 vacuum tubes and was not reliable.
The first fully functioning computer was the Colossus which was first used in
1944. It was not a general-purpose computer but was designed for

3
cryptanalytic tasks. This computer is believed to have been used by the US to
intercept and decode secret messages from the Germans. Few knew about this
computer being used in WWII due to restriction by the Official Secrets Act. The
computer did not store programs internally and for each new task, the
operator had to alter the machine’s physical wiring using plugs and switches.
1945 – Turing proposed the “Proposed Electronic Calculator” which was in fact
an electronic stored program general purpose digital computer. This proposal
led to the birth of the EDVAC by von Neuman.
1945 – ENIAC by Von Neuman
Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) estimated building cost £11,200. The
MOSAIC was derived from ACE and was greatly used in Britain’s air defense
during the Cold War period.
The Manchester machine was world's first commercially available computer,
the Ferranti Mark I. The first to be completed was installed at Manchester
University in February 1951; in all about ten were sold, in Britain, Canada,
Holland and Italy.

Other notable early stored-program electronic digital computers were:

EDSAC, 1949, built at Cambridge University by Maurice Wilkes
BINAC, 1949, built by Eckert's and Mauchly's Electronic Control Co.,
Philadelphia (opinions differ over whether BINAC ever actually worked)
Whirlwind I, 1949, Digital Computer Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Jay Forrester
SEAC, 1950, US Bureau of Standards Eastern Division, Washington D.C., Samuel
Alexander, Ralph Slutz
SWAC, 1950, US Bureau of Standards Western Division, Institute for Numerical
Analysis, University of California at Los Angeles, Harry Huskey
UNIVAC, 1951, Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, Philadelphia (the first
computer to be available commercially in the U.S.)
the IAS computer, 1952, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University,
Julian Bigelow, Arthur Burks, Herman Goldstine, von Neumann, and others

4
(thanks to von Neumann's publishing the specifications of the IAS machine, it
became the model for a group of computers known as the Princeton Class
machines; the IAS computer was also a strong influence on the IBM 701)
IBM 701, 1952, International Business Machine's first mass-produced
electronic stored program computer.

First Generation Computers 1940s

Electronic circuits, relays and capacitors replaced the mechanical equivalents
starting in the 1940s.The Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the Z3 and the Colossus
are considered first generation computers. They were built by hand and used
punched cards or punched paper tape for input and main storage. The
electronic circuits consisted of vacuum tubes.
In 1955, Maurice Wilkes invented microprogramming, which was later widely
used in the CPUs and floating-point units of mainframe and other computers,
such as the IBM 360 series.
Microprogramming allows the base instruction set to be defined or extended
by built-in programs (now sometimes called firmware, microcode, or
millicode).
In 1956, IBM sold its first magnetic disk system, RAMAC (Random Access
Method of Accounting and Control). It used 50 24-inch metal disks, with 100
tracks per side. It could store 5 megabytes of data and cost $10,000 per
megabyte.
Features of First Generation Computers
i. Size: Computers were very large and could take up entire rooms.
ii. Speed: Very slow and could only process one instruction at a time.
5
 iii. Cost: Very expensive and only large organisations could afford them.
iv. Energy Consumption: They consumed a significant amount of electricity
v. Produced a lot of heat and required air conditioning
vi. Reliability: They were unreliable because the vacuum tubes (valves)
frequently burned out.
vii. Programming: They were mainly programmed in machine language and
assembly language.
viii. Input and output devices: they used punch cards, paper tape and
magnetic tape.
ix. Memory: used magnetic tapes and drums
x. Operating Systems: They mainly used bath operating systems.
Examples
Colossus (£100,00), Mark 1, Eniac (cost US6m), Edvac
Quantity – there were about 100 different vacuum tube computers produced
between 1942 and1963.

Second Generation Computers (1950s to early 1960s)

The transistor, invented in 1947, replaced the fragile and power-hungry valves.
The use of transistors and printed circuit boards resulted in smaller but more
reliable machines, with lower power consumption. For example, the
transistorized IBM 1620, which replaced the bulky IBM 650, was the size of an
office desk. Second generation computers were still expensive and were
primarily used by universities, governments, and large corporations.
Features of Second Generation Computers (1959-1965)
i. More reliable than 1st gen
ii. Faster than 1st gen
iii. Used less electricity
iv. Smaller than 1st generation but still large in size
v. Used transistors instead of valves
vi. Still costly but cost of production less than that of 1st generation
vii. Used magnetic tapes for data storage
viii. Used punch cards for input and output. Use of the keyboard was
introduced
ix. Still generated a lot of heat and AC was required

6
 x. Supported machine and assembly languages.
Examples
IBM1620, IBM7094, CDC1604, CDC3600, Univac 1108

Third Generation Computers (1964-1971)

The invention of the integrated circuit by Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce
led to an explosion in the use of computers. The IC is made up on miniaturised
transistors that are placed on silicon chips.
The microprocessor, developed by Ted Hoff at Intel, led to the development of
the microcomputer - small, low-cost computers that could be owned by
individuals and small businesses. Microcomputers, the first of which appeared
in the 1970s, became available to many people in the 1980s and beyond.
Instead of punched cards and print-outs, users interacted with 3 rd gen
computers through keyboards and monitors.
Features of Third Generation Computers
i. More reliable than the previous 2 generations due to use of ICs
ii. Smaller in size
iii. Less heat produced
iv. Faster
v. Less maintenance required
vi. Costly
vii. Aircon required
viii. Consumed less power
ix. Supported high-level language

Examples
IBM 360, Honeywell 6000, PDP ( Personal Data Processor), Univac 9000

7
Fourth Generation Computers
Thousands of ICs were built onto a silicon chip.
1981 IBM release first computer for the home user and Apple in 1984.

Microprocessors were increasingly used in more everyday products. The

increased number of computers that could be linked together to form
networks led to the birth of the internet. Graphic user interfaces (GUI), the
mouse and handheld devices were developed.
Intel produced the first microprocessor
Features of fourth generation computers
i. VLSI (very large scale integration) used.
ii. Very cheap
iii. Portable and reliable
iv. Use of personal computers
v. Use of AC not mandatory
vi. Use of RAM and ROM
vii. The concept of the internet was introduced
viii. Great developments in the area of networks.
ix. Computers became easily available
x. Pipeline processing
Examples
IBM system 3090, IBM RISC6000, IBM RT, Illiac IV, Cray 2 XMP, HP 9000,
Apple computers

Fifth Generation Computers

Fifth Generation of Computers has been built using the technology called
Artificial Intelligence (AI). This technology encourages computers to behave
like humans. Some of the applications of AI have been seen in features like
voice recognition, entertainment, etc. The speed of the Fifth Generation of
Computers is the highest while the sizes are the smallest. A big improvement
has been noticed so far over the years in the various generations of computers
in the aspect of speed, accuracy dimensions, etc

8
Features
i. ULSI (Ultra Large Scale integration)
ii. Development of true AI
iii. Development of natural language programming
iv. Advancement in parallel processing
v. Advancement in semiconductor technology
vi. More user-friendly interfaces with multimedia features
vii. Availability of very powerful and compact computers at lower prices

Examples
Supercomputers, robots, face detectors, thumbprint