2.

Computer Evolution

April 28, 2025 ABMI 1121: ICT Concepts 1

 Computer Evolution:

 History of Computers
 Computer generations
 Classification of computers

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 History of Computers:

 The first electronic computers were produced in

the 1940s. Since then, a series of breakthroughs
in electronics have occurred leading to great
improvements in the capacity, processing speed
and quality of computer resources.
 The evolution of computerization in business
may be summarised as:
 1870s: Development of the typewriter allows
speedier communication and less copying.
 1920s: Invention of the telephone enables both
Wide Area Networks (WAN) and Local Area
Networks (LAN) communication in real time.
This marks the beginning of telecommunication.

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 History of Computers:

 1930s: Use of scientific management is made

available to analyse and rationalise.
 1940s: Mathematical techniques developed in
World War II (operations research) are applied to
the decision making process.
 1950s: Introduction of copying facilitates cheap
and faster document production, and the (limited)
introduction of Electronic Data Processing (EDP)
speeds up large scale transaction processing.
 1960s: Emergence of Management Information
Systems (MIS) provides background within which
office automation can develop.

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 History of computers

 1970s: Setting up of telecommunication networks to

allow for distant communication between computer
systems. There is widespread use of word processors
in text editing and formatting, advancement in
personal computing- emergence of PCs. Use of
spreadsheets.
 1980s: Development of office automation
technologies that combine data, text, graphics and
voice. Development of DSS, EIS and widespread use
of personal productivity software.
 1990s: Advanced groupware; integrated packages,
combining most of the office work- clerical,
operational as well as management.

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 History of Computers

 2000s: Wide spread use of Internet and

related technology in many spheres of
organisations including electronic commerce
(e-commerce), e-learning, e-health

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 Landmark Inventions
 ~500 B.C. - counting table with beads
 ~1150 in China - ABACUS - beads on wires
 1642 Adding machine - Pascal
 1822 Difference machine/Analytic Engine - design by Babbage
 1890 Holerith punched card machine - for U.S. census
 1944 Mark I (Harvard) - first stored program computer
 1947 ENIAC (Penn)- first electronic stored program computer
 1951 UNIVAC - first commercial computer; 1954 first
installation
 1964 IBM - first all-purpose computer (business + scientific)
 1973 HP-65, hand-held, programmable ‘calculator’
 ~1975 Altair, Intel - first Micro-computer; CPU on a “chip”

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Next

Computer Generations

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 Computer Generations

 The view of computers into generations is

based on the fundamental technology
employed. Each new generation is
characterized by greater speed, larger
memory capacity and smaller overall size than
the previous one.

April 28, 2025 ABMI 1121: ICT Concepts 9

 Computer Generations

First Generation Computers (1946 – 1957)


Used vacuum tubes to construct computers.

These computers were large in size and
writing programs on them was difficult.

Major drawbacks of First generation
computers.
1. The operating speed was quite slow.

2. Power consumption was very high.

3. It required large space for installation.

4. The programming capability was quite low.

5. Cumbersome to operate – switching between

programs, input and output

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 Computer Generations

Second Generation Computers (1958 - 1964)

 Replaced vacuum tubes with transistors

 The transistor is smaller, cheaper and dissipates

less heat than a vacuum tube.

 Second generation also saw the introduction of

more complex arithmetic and logic units, the use of

high – level programming languages and the
provision of system software with the computer.
 Transistors have higher operating speed. They

have no filament and require no heating.

Manufacturing cost was also lower. Thus the size of
the computer got reduced considerably.

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 Computer Generations

 It is in the second generation that the

concept of Central Processing Unit
(CPU), memory, programming language
and input and output units were
developed.
 The programming languages such as
COBOL, FORTRAN were developed
during this period

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 Computer Generations

Third Generation Computers (1965 - 1971)

 Had an integrated circuit.

 Although the transistor technology was a major

improvement over vacuum tubes, problems

remained. The transistors were individually mounted
in separate packages and interconnected on printed
circuit boards by separate wires. This was a
complex, time consuming and error-prone process.
 The early integrated circuits are referred to as

small-scale integration (SSI). Computers of this

generation were smaller in size, lower cost, larger
memory and processing speed was much higher.

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PC Basics
 Computer Generations

Fourth Generation Computers (1972 – late

1990’s)
 Employ Large Scale Integrated (LSI) and Very

Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuit

technology to construct computers.
 Over 1,000 components can be placed on a

single integrated-circuit chip.

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 Computer Generations

Fifth Generation Computers

 These are computers of 1990s

 Use Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuit

technology to build computers. Over 10,000

components can be incorporated on a single
integrated chip.
 The speed is extremely high in fifth generation
computer. Apart from this it can perform
parallel processing. The concept of Artificial
intelligence has been introduced to allow the
computer to take its own decision.

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 next:

 Classification of computers

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 Computer Classification:

 Computers can be classified in different

ways as shown below:
1. Classification by processing
2. Classification by purpose
3. Classification by generation
4. Classification by power and size/
configuration

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 Computer Classification:

Classification by processing
 This is by how the computer represents and

processes the data.

Digital computers are computers which process data that
is represented in the form of discrete values by operating
on it in steps. Digital computers process data
represented in the form of discrete values like 0, 1, 2.
They are used for both business data processing and
scientific purposes since digital computation results in
greater accuracy.
Analog computers are used for scientific, engineering,
and process-controlled purposes. Outputs are
represented in the form of graphs. Analogue computers
process data represented by physical variables and
output physical magnitudes in the form of smooth
graphs.

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 Computer Classification:

 Hybrid computers are computers that have the

combined features of digital and analog computers.
They offer an efficient and economical method of
working out special problems in science and various
areas of engineering.

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 Computer Classification:

Classification by purpose
 This is a classification by the use to which the
computer is put.

 Special purpose computers are used for a

certain specific function e.g. in medicine,
engineering, manufacturing.

 General-purpose computers can be used

for a wide variety of tasks e.g. accounting,
word processing

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 Computer Classification:

Classification by generation
 This is a time-based classification coinciding with technological

advances.
 The computers are categorized as First generation through to Fifth

generation.
 First generation. Computers of the early 1940s. Used a circuitry of

wires and vacuum tubes. Produced a lot of heat, took a lot of space,
were very slow and expensive. Examples are LEO 1 and UNIVAC 1.
 Second generation. Computers of the early 1950s. Made use of
transistors and thus were smaller and faster. (200KHz). Examples
include the IBM system 1000.


 .

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 Computer Classification:

 Third generation. Computers of the 1960s. Made use of

Integrated Circuits. Speeds of up to 1MHz. Examples
include the IBM system 360.

 Fourth generation. Computers of the 1970s and

1980s. Used Large Scale Integration (LSI) technology.
Speeds of up to 10MHz. Examples include the IBM 4000
series.

 Fifth generation. Computers of the 1990s. Use Very

Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology and have
speeds up to 400MHz and above

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 Computer Classification:

Classification by power and size/ configuration

 Supercomputers. the largest and most powerful. Used

to process large amounts of data very quickly. Useful for

meteorological or astronomical applications. Examples
include Cray and Fujitsu.

 Mainframe computers. Large computers in terms of

price, power and size. Require a carefully controlled
environment and specialist staff to operate them used for
centralized processing for large commercial organizations.
Manufacturers include International Business Machine
(IBM).

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 Computer Classification:

 Minicomputers. Their size, speed and capabilities

lie somewhere between mainframes and
microcomputers. Used as departmental computers
in large organizations or as the main computer in
medium-sized organizations. Manufacturers of
minicomputers include IBM and International
Computer Limited (ICL).

 Microcomputers. These are the personal

computers commonly used for office and leisure
activities. Examples include Hewlett Packard (HP),
Acer and Dell. They include desktops, laptops and
palmtops.

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 Ergonomicss
Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific
discipline concerned with the understanding of the
interactions among human and other elements of a
system, and the profession that applies theory,
principles, data and methods to design in order to
optimize human well-being and overall system
performance.
There are three types of ergonomics: physical,
cognitive, and organizational. Each of these
differently affects how people interact with their
environment

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 Ergonomics and computing
 Computer ergonomics addresses ways to
optimise your computer workstation to reduce
the specific risks of computer vision syndrome,
neck and back pain, and carpal tunnel
syndrome. It also reduces the risk of other
disorders affecting the muscles, spine, and
joints.
 Health risks: repetitive stress injury (RSI);
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS); computer vision
syndrome (CVS); technostress; radiation from
display screens

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 What are the 6 computer ergonomic
guidelines?
1. Top of screen at eye level; lower for bifocal
wearers Screen distance at arm’s length (18”-
36”)

2 Document holder next to screen or centered

between monitor and keyboard

3 Chair backrest provides firm lower back

support
Chair back and seat easily adjustable for height
and tilt by user

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 What are the 6 computer ergonomic
guidelines?
4 Keyboard height promotes relaxed arms with
forearms parallel to floor Mouse/pointing device next
to keyboard

5 Wrists straight (neutral) Padded, movable wrist

rest, same height as key board (Do not use wrist rest
while keying.)

6 Knees at or below hip level Ample legroom under

work surface

7 Feet rest firmly on floor or foot rest

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 Next

⟹ Computer Parts and peripherals

April 28, 2025 ABMI 1121: ICT Concepts 30