Computer Age:

Past,
Present,
&
Future

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First Generation (1940-1956) : Vacuum Tubes

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Characteristics of First Generation Computers
 These first generation computers were based on vacuum tube technology.

 These first generation computers were the fastest computing devices of their times
(computation time was in Milliseconds).

 These first generation computers were very large, and required a lot of space for installation.

 Since thousands of vacuum tubes were used, they generated a large amount of heat.
 Therefore, air conditioning was essential.

 These first generation computers were non-profitable and very slow equipment.

 They lack in versatility and speed.

 They were very expensive to operate and used a large amount of electricity.
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Structure of a First Generation Computer

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UNIVAC at a news center
 The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic
Computer I) was the first commercial
computer produced in the United States.

 It was designed principally by J. Presper

Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors
of the ENIAC (ENIAC, in full Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer, the
first programmable general-purpose
electronic digital computer)

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The Harvard MARK I
 The IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), called Mark I by Harvard
University’s staff, was a general purpose electromechanical computer that was used in
the war effort during the last part of World War II.

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Second Generation (1956-1963): Transistors
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Main Characteristics of a Second Generation Computer
 Second generation computer machines were based on transistor technology.

 Second generation computers were smaller as compared to the first generation computers.

 The computational time of Second generation computers was reduced to microseconds from
milliseconds.

 Second generation computers were more reliable and less prone to hardware failure.
 Hence, such computers required less frequent maintenance.

 Second generation computers were more portable and generated less amount of heat.

 Assembly language was used to program Second generation computers.

 Hence, programming became more time-efficient and less cumbersome.

 Second generation computers still require air conditioning.

 Manual assembly of individual components into a functional unit was still required. 9
IBM 7094
 The IBM 7090 is a second-generation
transistorized version of the earlier IBM 709
vacuum tube mainframe computers that was
designed for "large-scale scientific and
technological applications".

 The 7090 is the third member of the IBM

700/7000 series scientific computers.

 The first 7090 installation was in November

1959.

 In 1960, a typical system sold for $2.9 million

(equivalent to $55,400,000 in 2016) or could be
rented for $63,500 a month (equivalent to
$1,213,000 in 2016).

 An upgraded version, the IBM 7094, was first

installed in September 1962.

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Structure of a Second Generation Computer : The IBM 7094

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IBM 1401,1402,1403 & 1406

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Third Generation (1964-1971) : Integrated Circuits (IC)

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Integrated Circuit (IC)

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Characteristics of Third Generation Computers
 Third Generation Computers were based on integrated circuit (IC) technology.

 Third Generation Computers were able to reduce computational time from microseconds to nanoseconds.

 Third Generation Computers devices consumed less power and generated less heat. In some cases, air conditioning
was still required.

 The size of Third Generation Computers was smaller as compared to previous computers.

 Since hardware of the Third Generation Computers rarely failed, the maintenance cost for it was quite low.

 Extensive use of high-level language became possible in Third Generation Computers.

 Manual assembling of individual components was not required for Third Generation Computers, so it reduced the
large requirement of labor & cost.
 However, for the manufacture of IC chips, highly sophisticated technologies were required.

 Commercial production became easier and cheaper.

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IBM 360

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Fourth Generation (1971-1980) : Microprocessors

 The computers of fourth generation used very

large scale integrated(VLSI) circuits.

 VLSI circuits having about 5000 transistors and

other circuit elements and their associated
circuits on a single chip made it possible to have
microcompuers of fourth generation.

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Characteristics of Fourth Generation Computers
 Fourth generation computers are microprocessor – based systems.

 Fourth generation computers are very small.

 Fourth Generation computers are the cheapest among all other computer generations.

 Fourth generation computers are portable and quite reliable.

 Fourth generation computers do not require air conditioning since they generate negligible amount of heat.

 Minimum maintenance is required for Fourth generation computers since hardware failure is negligible for them.

 The production cost of Fourth generation computers is very low.

 GUI and pointing devices enables users to learn to use the computer quickly.

 Interconnections of computers leads to better communication and resource sharing.

 Fourth generation computers are very powerful than previous generations and can easily do more calculation 18
or
can run more programs at a time and for more hours.
APPLE II

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniac

inventors of the Apple II and
founders of Apple Computer.

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APPLE MACINTOSH

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Fifth Generation (1980-till date): Artificial Intelligence
 In the fifth generation, the 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.

 AI is an emerging branch in
computer science, which interprets
means and method of making
computers think like human beings. 22
Characteristics of Fifth Generation Computers
Combinations of some or all of the following technologies:
 extremely large scale integration
 parallel processing
 high speed logic and memory chips
 high performance, micro-miniaturization
 voice/data integration; knowledge-based platforms
 artificial intelligence, expert systems
 virtual reality generation
 satellite links
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iPad II

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APPLE MacBook

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Some latest technologies

that are released……
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