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The Evolution of Computers: A Comprehensive History in PowerPoint Presentation

The History and Evolution of Computers

Computers have come a long way since their inception, evolving from simple calculating machines to the sophisticated devices we use today. Let’s take a journey through the history of computers to understand how they have evolved over time.

Early Computing Devices

The history of computers can be traced back to ancient times when devices like the abacus were used for basic calculations. In the 19th century, mechanical calculators such as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine laid the foundation for modern computing.

The First Electronic Computers

The mid-20th century saw the development of the first electronic computers, such as ENIAC and UNIVAC, which revolutionized data processing and computation. These early computers were large, expensive, and primarily used by governments and research institutions.

The Personal Computer Revolution

In the 1970s and 1980s, the invention of microprocessors led to the rise of personal computers (PCs). Companies like Apple and IBM introduced affordable desktop computers that brought computing power into people’s homes and offices.

The Internet Age

The advent of the internet in the late 20th century transformed how we use computers. The World Wide Web enabled global communication, e-commerce, social networking, and access to vast amounts of information at our fingertips.

Modern Computing Technologies

Today, we live in an era of smartphones, tablets, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. These technologies continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with computers and shape our digital future.

In Conclusion

The history and evolution of computers is a fascinating journey that highlights human ingenuity, innovation, and progress. As we look towards the future, it is exciting to imagine what new advancements in computing technology will bring.

From Abacus to AI: Tracing the Milestones and Evolution of Computer Technology

Start with a brief overview of the history of computers, highlighting key milestones and inventions., include information about the evolution of computer hardware, from early mechanical devices to modern supercomputers., discuss the impact of major technological advancements on the development of computers over time., incorporate visuals such as images or timelines to enhance understanding and engagement., explore how different generations of computers have influenced each other and shaped today’s technology landscape., conclude with future possibilities and trends in computer evolution to provide a forward-looking perspective..

The history and evolution of computers are marked by significant milestones and groundbreaking inventions that have shaped the modern computing landscape. From the ancient abacus to Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, early computing devices laid the groundwork for the development of electronic computers like ENIAC and UNIVAC in the mid-20th century. The introduction of personal computers in the 1970s and 1980s, followed by the internet age and advancements in modern computing technologies, have propelled us into a digital era defined by innovation and progress. This tip on the history and evolution of computers PowerPoint presentation provides a comprehensive overview of these key historical moments, offering valuable insights into how far we have come in the world of computing.

In a PowerPoint presentation on the history and evolution of computers, it is essential to highlight the remarkable evolution of computer hardware. Starting from early mechanical devices like the abacus and Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, the progression of computer hardware has been monumental. Advancements in technology have led to the development of modern supercomputers that can process vast amounts of data at incredible speeds. By showcasing this evolution in hardware, audiences can appreciate how far computer technology has come and gain a deeper understanding of the impact it has had on various aspects of our lives.

When creating a PowerPoint presentation on the history and evolution of computers, it is essential to discuss the impact of major technological advancements on the development of computers over time. By highlighting key milestones such as the invention of the microprocessor, the introduction of personal computers, and the emergence of the internet, you can demonstrate how these advancements have shaped the evolution of computing technology. Exploring how innovations like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and quantum computing have further propelled the field forward will provide valuable insights into how far computers have come and where they may be headed in the future. Understanding the influence of these technological breakthroughs is crucial for appreciating the continuous growth and transformation of computers throughout history.

To enhance understanding and engagement in a PowerPoint presentation about the history and evolution of computers, it is recommended to incorporate visuals such as images or timelines. Visual aids can help illustrate key points, provide context to historical events, and make complex information more digestible for the audience. By including visuals like photographs of early computing devices, diagrams of technological advancements, or timelines showing the progression of computer development, presenters can create a more immersive and impactful learning experience for viewers. Visuals not only enhance comprehension but also keep the audience engaged and interested throughout the presentation.

By delving into the history and evolution of computers through a PowerPoint presentation, one can uncover how various generations of computers have influenced each other, leading to the shaping of today’s technology landscape. From the early mechanical calculators to the modern era of smartphones and artificial intelligence, each advancement has built upon the innovations of its predecessors, creating a rich tapestry of technological progress. Understanding this interconnected web of influences allows us to appreciate the complexity and interconnectedness of the devices we use daily, providing valuable insights into how far we have come and where future developments may lead us.

In conclusion, delving into the history and evolution of computers through a PowerPoint presentation offers valuable insights into how far we have come in the realm of technology. By reflecting on past milestones and breakthroughs, we can better appreciate the rapid pace of innovation that has shaped the computing landscape today. Looking ahead, it is intriguing to consider the future possibilities and trends in computer evolution. Advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology hold immense potential to revolutionize how we interact with technology and each other. Embracing these emerging technologies will undoubtedly lead us towards a future where computers play an even more integral role in shaping our lives and society as a whole.

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History of computers: A brief timeline

The history of computers began with primitive designs in the early 19th century and went on to change the world during the 20th century.

• 2000-present day

Additional resources

The history of computers goes back over 200 years. At first theorized by mathematicians and entrepreneurs, during the 19th century mechanical calculating machines were designed and built to solve the increasingly complex number-crunching challenges. The advancement of technology enabled ever more-complex computers by the early 20th century, and computers became larger and more powerful.

Today, computers are almost unrecognizable from designs of the 19th century, such as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine — or even from the huge computers of the 20th century that occupied whole rooms, such as the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.  

Here's a brief history of computers, from their primitive number-crunching origins to the powerful modern-day machines that surf the Internet, run games and stream multimedia. 

19th century

1801: Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French merchant and inventor invents a loom that uses punched wooden cards to automatically weave fabric designs. Early computers would use similar punch cards.

1821: English mathematician Charles Babbage conceives of a steam-driven calculating machine that would be able to compute tables of numbers. Funded by the British government, the project, called the "Difference Engine" fails due to the lack of technology at the time, according to the University of Minnesota . 

1848: Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician and the daughter of poet Lord Byron, writes the world's first computer program. According to Anna Siffert, a professor of theoretical mathematics at the University of Münster in Germany, Lovelace writes the first program while translating a paper on Babbage's Analytical Engine from French into English. "She also provides her own comments on the text. Her annotations, simply called "notes," turn out to be three times as long as the actual transcript," Siffert wrote in an article for The Max Planck Society . "Lovelace also adds a step-by-step description for computation of Bernoulli numbers with Babbage's machine — basically an algorithm — which, in effect, makes her the world's first computer programmer." Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers often used in computation.

1853: Swedish inventor Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard design the world's first printing calculator. The machine is significant for being the first to "compute tabular differences and print the results," according to Uta C. Merzbach's book, " Georg Scheutz and the First Printing Calculator " (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1977).

1890: Herman Hollerith designs a punch-card system to help calculate the 1890 U.S. Census. The machine,  saves the government several years of calculations, and the U.S. taxpayer approximately $5 million, according to Columbia University  Hollerith later establishes a company that will eventually become International Business Machines Corporation ( IBM ).

Early 20th century

1931: At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Vannevar Bush invents and builds the Differential Analyzer, the first large-scale automatic general-purpose mechanical analog computer, according to Stanford University . 

1936: Alan Turing , a British scientist and mathematician, presents the principle of a universal machine, later called the Turing machine, in a paper called "On Computable Numbers…" according to Chris Bernhardt's book " Turing's Vision " (The MIT Press, 2017). Turing machines are capable of computing anything that is computable. The central concept of the modern computer is based on his ideas. Turing is later involved in the development of the Turing-Welchman Bombe, an electro-mechanical device designed to decipher Nazi codes during World War II, according to the UK's National Museum of Computing . 

1937: John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University, submits a grant proposal to build the first electric-only computer, without using gears, cams, belts or shafts.

1939: David Packard and Bill Hewlett found the Hewlett Packard Company in Palo Alto, California. The pair decide the name of their new company by the toss of a coin, and Hewlett-Packard's first headquarters are in Packard's garage, according to MIT . 

1941: German inventor and engineer Konrad Zuse completes his Z3 machine, the world's earliest digital computer, according to Gerard O'Regan's book " A Brief History of Computing " (Springer, 2021). The machine was destroyed during a bombing raid on Berlin during World War II. Zuse fled the German capital after the defeat of Nazi Germany and later released the world's first commercial digital computer, the Z4, in 1950, according to O'Regan. 

1941: Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, design the first digital electronic computer in the U.S., called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). This marks the first time a computer is able to store information on its main memory, and is capable of performing one operation every 15 seconds, according to the book " Birthing the Computer " (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016)

1945: Two professors at the University of Pennsylvania, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, design and build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). The machine is the first "automatic, general-purpose, electronic, decimal, digital computer," according to Edwin D. Reilly's book "Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology" (Greenwood Press, 2003). 

1946: Mauchly and Presper leave the University of Pennsylvania and receive funding from the Census Bureau to build the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer for business and government applications.

1947: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories invent the transistor . They discover how to make an electric switch with solid materials and without the need for a vacuum.

1949: A team at the University of Cambridge develops the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), "the first practical stored-program computer," according to O'Regan. "EDSAC ran its first program in May 1949 when it calculated a table of squares and a list of prime numbers ," O'Regan wrote. In November 1949, scientists with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), now called CSIRO, build Australia's first digital computer called the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer (CSIRAC). CSIRAC is the first digital computer in the world to play music, according to O'Regan.

Late 20th century

1953: Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes known as COBOL, which stands for COmmon, Business-Oriented Language according to the National Museum of American History . Hopper is later dubbed the "First Lady of Software" in her posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom citation. Thomas Johnson Watson Jr., son of IBM CEO Thomas Johnson Watson Sr., conceives the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep tabs on Korea during the war.

1954: John Backus and his team of programmers at IBM publish a paper describing their newly created FORTRAN programming language, an acronym for FORmula TRANslation, according to MIT .

1958: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the integrated circuit, known as the computer chip. Kilby is later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work.

1968: Douglas Engelbart reveals a prototype of the modern computer at the Fall Joint Computer Conference, San Francisco. His presentation, called "A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect" includes a live demonstration of his computer, including a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI), according to the Doug Engelbart Institute . This marks the development of the computer from a specialized machine for academics to a technology that is more accessible to the general public.

1969: Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and a group of other developers at Bell Labs produce UNIX, an operating system that made "large-scale networking of diverse computing systems — and the internet — practical," according to Bell Labs .. The team behind UNIX continued to develop the operating system using the C programming language, which they also optimized. 

1970: The newly formed Intel unveils the Intel 1103, the first Dynamic Access Memory (DRAM) chip.

1971: A team of IBM engineers led by Alan Shugart invents the "floppy disk," enabling data to be shared among different computers.

1972: Ralph Baer, a German-American engineer, releases Magnavox Odyssey, the world's first home game console, in September 1972 , according to the Computer Museum of America . Months later, entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell and engineer Al Alcorn with Atari release Pong, the world's first commercially successful video game. 

1973: Robert Metcalfe, a member of the research staff for Xerox, develops Ethernet for connecting multiple computers and other hardware.

1977: The Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (PET), is released onto the home computer market, featuring an MOS Technology 8-bit 6502 microprocessor, which controls the screen, keyboard and cassette player. The PET is especially successful in the education market, according to O'Regan.

1975: The magazine cover of the January issue of "Popular Electronics" highlights the Altair 8080 as the "world's first minicomputer kit to rival commercial models." After seeing the magazine issue, two "computer geeks," Paul Allen and Bill Gates, offer to write software for the Altair, using the new BASIC language. On April 4, after the success of this first endeavor, the two childhood friends form their own software company, Microsoft.

1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-found Apple Computer on April Fool's Day. They unveil Apple I, the first computer with a single-circuit board and ROM (Read Only Memory), according to MIT .

1977: Radio Shack began its initial production run of 3,000 TRS-80 Model 1 computers — disparagingly known as the "Trash 80" — priced at $599, according to the National Museum of American History. Within a year, the company took 250,000 orders for the computer, according to the book " How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution " (The Seeker Books, 2007).

1977: The first West Coast Computer Faire is held in San Francisco. Jobs and Wozniak present the Apple II computer at the Faire, which includes color graphics and features an audio cassette drive for storage.

1978: VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet program is introduced.

1979: MicroPro International, founded by software engineer Seymour Rubenstein, releases WordStar, the world's first commercially successful word processor. WordStar is programmed by Rob Barnaby, and includes 137,000 lines of code, according to Matthew G. Kirschenbaum's book " Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing " (Harvard University Press, 2016).

1981: "Acorn," IBM's first personal computer, is released onto the market at a price point of $1,565, according to IBM. Acorn uses the MS-DOS operating system from Windows. Optional features include a display, printer, two diskette drives, extra memory, a game adapter and more.

1983: The Apple Lisa, standing for "Local Integrated Software Architecture" but also the name of Steve Jobs' daughter, according to the National Museum of American History ( NMAH ), is the first personal computer to feature a GUI. The machine also includes a drop-down menu and icons. Also this year, the Gavilan SC is released and is the first portable computer with a flip-form design and the very first to be sold as a "laptop."

1984: The Apple Macintosh is announced to the world during a Superbowl advertisement. The Macintosh is launched with a retail price of $2,500, according to the NMAH. 

1985 : As a response to the Apple Lisa's GUI, Microsoft releases Windows in November 1985, the Guardian reported . Meanwhile, Commodore announces the Amiga 1000.

1989: Tim Berners-Lee, a British researcher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research ( CERN ), submits his proposal for what would become the World Wide Web. His paper details his ideas for Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), the building blocks of the Web. 

1993: The Pentium microprocessor advances the use of graphics and music on PCs.

1996: Sergey Brin and Larry Page develop the Google search engine at Stanford University.

1997: Microsoft invests $150 million in Apple, which at the time is struggling financially.  This investment ends an ongoing court case in which Apple accused Microsoft of copying its operating system. 

1999: Wi-Fi, the abbreviated term for "wireless fidelity" is developed, initially covering a distance of up to 300 feet (91 meters) Wired reported . 

21st century

2001: Mac OS X, later renamed OS X then simply macOS, is released by Apple as the successor to its standard Mac Operating System. OS X goes through 16 different versions, each with "10" as its title, and the first nine iterations are nicknamed after big cats, with the first being codenamed "Cheetah," TechRadar reported.  

2003: AMD's Athlon 64, the first 64-bit processor for personal computers, is released to customers. 

2004: The Mozilla Corporation launches Mozilla Firefox 1.0. The Web browser is one of the first major challenges to Internet Explorer, owned by Microsoft. During its first five years, Firefox exceeded a billion downloads by users, according to the Web Design Museum . 

2005: Google buys Android, a Linux-based mobile phone operating system

2006: The MacBook Pro from Apple hits the shelves. The Pro is the company's first Intel-based, dual-core mobile computer. 

2009: Microsoft launches Windows 7 on July 22. The new operating system features the ability to pin applications to the taskbar, scatter windows away by shaking another window, easy-to-access jumplists, easier previews of tiles and more, TechRadar reported .  

2010: The iPad, Apple's flagship handheld tablet, is unveiled.

2011: Google releases the Chromebook, which runs on Google Chrome OS.

2015: Apple releases the Apple Watch. Microsoft releases Windows 10.

2016: The first reprogrammable quantum computer was created. "Until now, there hasn't been any quantum-computing platform that had the capability to program new algorithms into their system. They're usually each tailored to attack a particular algorithm," said study lead author Shantanu Debnath, a quantum physicist and optical engineer at the University of Maryland, College Park.

2017: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new "Molecular Informatics" program that uses molecules as computers. "Chemistry offers a rich set of properties that we may be able to harness for rapid, scalable information storage and processing," Anne Fischer, program manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office, said in a statement. "Millions of molecules exist, and each molecule has a unique three-dimensional atomic structure as well as variables such as shape, size, or even color. This richness provides a vast design space for exploring novel and multi-value ways to encode and process data beyond the 0s and 1s of current logic-based, digital architectures."

2019: A team at Google became the first to demonstrate quantum supremacy — creating a quantum computer that could feasibly outperform the most powerful classical computer — albeit for a very specific problem with no practical real-world application. The described the computer, dubbed "Sycamore" in a paper that same year in the journal Nature . Achieving quantum advantage – in which a quantum computer solves a problem with real-world applications faster than the most powerful classical computer —  is still a ways off. 

2022: The first exascale supercomputer, and the world's fastest, Frontier, went online at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) in Tennessee. Built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) at the cost of $600 million, Frontier uses nearly 10,000 AMD EPYC 7453 64-core CPUs alongside nearly 40,000 AMD Radeon Instinct MI250X GPUs. This machine ushered in the era of exascale computing, which refers to systems that can reach more than one exaFLOP of power – used to measure the performance of a system. Only one machine – Frontier – is currently capable of reaching such levels of performance. It is currently being used as a tool to aid scientific discovery.

What is the first computer in history?

Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, designed in the 1820s, is considered the first "mechanical" computer in history, according to the Science Museum in the U.K . Powered by steam with a hand crank, the machine calculated a series of values and printed the results in a table. 

What are the five generations of computing?

The "five generations of computing" is a framework for assessing the entire history of computing and the key technological advancements throughout it. 

The first generation, spanning the 1940s to the 1950s, covered vacuum tube-based machines. The second then progressed to incorporate transistor-based computing between the 50s and the 60s. In the 60s and 70s, the third generation gave rise to integrated circuit-based computing. We are now in between the fourth and fifth generations of computing, which are microprocessor-based and AI-based computing.

What is the most powerful computer in the world?

As of November 2023, the most powerful computer in the world is the Frontier supercomputer . The machine, which can reach a performance level of up to 1.102 exaFLOPS, ushered in the age of exascale computing in 2022 when it went online at Tennessee's  Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) 

There is, however, a potentially more powerful supercomputer waiting in the wings in the form of the Aurora supercomputer, which is housed at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) outside of Chicago.  Aurora went online in November 2023. Right now, it lags far behind Frontier, with performance levels of just 585.34 petaFLOPS (roughly half the performance of Frontier), although it's still not finished. When work is completed, the supercomputer is expected to reach performance levels higher than 2 exaFLOPS.

What was the first killer app?

Killer apps are widely understood to be those so essential that they are core to the technology they run on. There have been so many through the years – from Word for Windows in 1989 to iTunes in 2001 to social media apps like WhatsApp in more recent years

Several pieces of software may stake a claim to be the first killer app, but there is a broad consensus that VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program created by VisiCorp and originally released for the Apple II in 1979, holds that title. Steve Jobs even credits this app for propelling the Apple II to become the success it was, according to co-creator Dan Bricklin .

• Fortune: A Look Back At 40 Years of Apple
• The New Yorker: The First Windows
• " A Brief History of Computing " by Gerard O'Regan (Springer, 2021)

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Timothy is Editor in Chief of print and digital magazines All About History and History of War . He has previously worked on sister magazine All About Space , as well as photography and creative brands including Digital Photographer and 3D Artist . He has also written for How It Works magazine, several history bookazines and has a degree in English Literature from Bath Spa University . 

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The Evolution Of Computer | Generations of Computer

The development of computers has been a wonderful journey that has covered several centuries and is defined by a number of inventions and advancements made by our greatest scientists. Because of these scientists, we are using now the latest technology in the computer system.

Now we have Laptops , Desktop computers , notebooks , etc. which we are using today to make our lives easier, and most importantly we can communicate with the world from anywhere around the world with these things.

So, In today’s blog, I want you to explore the journey of computers with me that has been made by our scientists.

Note: If you haven’t read our History of Computer blog then must read first then come over here

let’s look at the evolution of computers/generations of computers

COMPUTER GENERATIONS

Computer generations are essential to understanding computing technology’s evolution. It divides computer history into periods marked by substantial advancements in hardware, software, and computing capabilities. So the first period of computers started from the year 1940 in the first generation of computers. let us see…

Table of Contents

Generations of computer

The generation of classified into five generations:

• First Generation Computer (1940-1956)
• Second Generation Computer (1956-1963)
• Third Generation Computer(1964-1971)
• Fourth Generation Computer(1971-Present)
• Fifth Generation Computer(Present and Beyond)

1. FIRST GENERATION COMPUTER: Vacuum Tubes (1940-1956)

The first generation of computers is characterized by the use of “Vacuum tubes” It was developed in 1904 by the British engineer “John Ambrose Fleming” . A vacuum tube is an electronic device used to control the flow of electric current in a vacuum. It is used in CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) TV , Radio , etc.

The first general-purpose programmable electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) which was completed in 1945 and introduced on Feb 14, 1946, to the public. It was built by two American engineers “J. Presper Eckert” and “John V Mauchly” at the University of Pennsylvania.

The ENIAC was 30-50 feet long, 30 tons weighted, contained 18000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 registers, and 10,000 capacitors, and it required 150000 watts of electricity, which makes it very expensive.

Later, Eckert and Mauchly developed the first commercially successful computer named UNIVAC(Univeral Automatic Computer) in 1952 .

Examples are ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), UNIVAC-1 (Univeral Automatic Computer-1)

• These computers were designed by using vacuum tubes.
• These generations’ computers were simple architecture.
• These computers calculate data in a millisecond.
• This computer is used for scientific purposes.

DISADVANTAGES

• The computer was very costly.
• Very large.
• It takes up a lot of space and electricity
• The speed of these computers was very slow
• It is used for commercial purposes.
• It is very expensive.
• These computers heat a lot.
• Cooling is needed to operate these types of computers because they heat up very quickly.

2. SECOND GENERATION COMPUTER: Transistors (1956-1963)

The second generation of computers is characterized by the use of “Transistors” and it was developed in 1947 by three American physicists “John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley” .

A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals or open or close a circuit. It was invented in Bell labs, The transistors became the key ingredient of all digital circuits, including computers.

The invention of transistors replaced the bulky electric tubes from the first generation of computers.

Transistors perform the same functions as a Vacuum tube , except that electrons move through instead of through a vacuum. Transistors are made of semiconducting materials and they control the flow of electricity.

It is smaller than the first generation of computers, it is faster and less expensive compared to the first generation of computers. The second-generation computer has a high level of programming languages, including FORTRAN (1956), ALGOL (1958), and COBOL (1959).

Examples are PDP-8 (Programmed Data Processor-8), IBM1400 (International business machine 1400 series), IBM 7090 (International business machine 7090 series), CDC 3600 ( Control Data Corporation 3600 series)

ADVANTAGES:

• It is smaller in size as compared to the first-generation computer
• It used less electricity
• Not heated as much as the first-generation computer.
• It has better speed

DISADVANTAGES:

• It is also costly and not versatile
• still, it is expensive for commercial purposes
• Cooling is still needed
• Punch cards were used for input
• The computer is used for a particular purpose

3. THIRD GENERATION COMPUTER: Integrated Circuits (1964-1971)

The Third generation of computers is characterized by the use of “Integrated Circuits” It was developed in 1958 by two American engineers “Robert Noyce” & “Jack Kilby” . The integrated circuit is a set of electronic circuits on small flat pieces of semiconductor that is normally known as silicon. The transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips which are called semiconductors, which drastically increased the efficiency and speed of the computers.

These ICs (integrated circuits) are popularly known as chips. A single IC has many transistors, resistors, and capacitors built on a single slice of silicon.

This development made computers smaller in size, low cost, large memory, and processing. The speed of these computers is very high and it is efficient and reliable also.

These generations of computers have a higher level of languages such as Pascal PL/1, FORTON-II to V, COBOL, ALGOL-68, and BASIC(Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was developed during these periods.

Examples are NCR 395 (National Cash Register), IBM 360,370 series, B6500

• These computers are smaller in size as compared to previous generations
• It consumed less energy and was more reliable
• More Versatile
• It produced less heat as compared to previous generations
• These computers are used for commercial and as well as general-purpose
• These computers used a fan for head discharge to prevent damage
• This generation of computers has increased the storage capacity of computers
• Still, a cooling system is needed.
• It is still very costly
• Sophisticated Technology is required to manufacture Integrated Circuits
• It is not easy to maintain the IC chips.
• The performance of these computers is degraded if we execute large applications.

4. FOURTH GENERATION OF COMPUTER: Microprocessor (1971-Present)

The fourth generation of computers is characterized by the use of “Microprocessor”. It was invented in the 1970s and It was developed by four inventors named are “Marcian Hoff, Masatoshi Shima, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor “. The first microprocessor named was the “Intel 4004” CPU, it was the first microprocessor that was invented.

A microprocessor contains all the circuits required to perform arithmetic, logic, and control functions on a single chip. Because of microprocessors, fourth-generation includes more data processing capacity than equivalent-sized third-generation computers. Due to the development of microprocessors, it is possible to place the CPU(central processing unit) on a single chip. These computers are also known as microcomputers. The personal computer is a fourth-generation computer. It is the period when the evolution of computer networks takes place.

Examples are APPLE II, Alter 8800

• These computers are smaller in size and much more reliable as compared to other generations of computers.
• The heating issue on these computers is almost negligible
• No A/C or Air conditioner is required in a fourth-generation computer.
• In these computers, all types of higher languages can be used in this generation
• It is also used for the general purpose
• less expensive
• These computers are cheaper and portable
• Fans are required to operate these kinds of computers
• It required the latest technology for the need to make microprocessors and complex software
• These computers were highly sophisticated
• It also required advanced technology to make the ICs(Integrated circuits)

5. FIFTH GENERATION OF COMPUTERS (Present and beyond)

These generations of computers were based on AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology. Artificial technology is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like humans and allowing the computer to make its own decisions currently, no computers exhibit full artificial intelligence (that is, can simulate human behavior).

In the fifth generation of computers, VLSI technology and ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology are used and the speed of these computers is extremely high. This generation introduced machines with hundreds of processors that could all be working on different parts of a single program. The development of a more powerful computer is still in progress. It has been predicted that such a computer will be able to communicate in natural spoken languages with its user.

In this generation, computers are also required to use a high level of languages like C language, c++, java, etc.

Examples are Desktop computers, laptops, notebooks, MacBooks, etc. These all are the computers which we are using.

• These computers are smaller in size and it is more compatible
• These computers are mighty cheaper
• It is obviously used for the general purpose
• Higher technology is used
• Development of true artificial intelligence
• Advancement in Parallel Processing and Superconductor Technology.
• It tends to be sophisticated and complex tools
• It pushes the limit of transistor density.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many computer generations are there.

Mainly five generations are there:

First Generation Computer (1940-1956) Second Generation Computer (1956-1963) Third Generation Computer(1964-1971) Fourth Generation Computer(1971-Present) Fifth Generation Computer(Present and Beyond)

Which things were invented in the first generation of computers?

Vacuum Tubes

What is the fifth generation of computers?

The Fifth Generation of computers is entirely based on Artificial Intelligence. Where it predicts that the computer will be able to communicate in natural spoken languages with its user.

What is the latest computer generation?

The latest generation of computers is Fifth which is totally based on Artificial Intelligence.

Who is the inventor of the Integrated Circuit?

“Robert Noyce” and “Jack Bily”

What is the full form of ENIAC ?

ENIAC Stands for “Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer” .

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History of the Computer

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Presentation on theme: "History of the Computer"— Presentation transcript:

Based on information taken from Computers Made Friendly

Computer History.

11 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Lecture 1 “History and Evolution of Computers” Informatics.

Computer History Presented by Frank H. Osborne, Ph. D. © 2005 Bio 2900 Computer Applications in Biology.

Appendix The Continuing Story of the Computer Age.

Computers What is it? History, Moore’s Law How to build your own? Sohaib Ahmad Khan CS101 - Topical Lecture

History of IT.

Some of these slides are based on material from the ACM Computing Curricula 2005.

History of Computers Computer Technology Introduction.

Prepared by: Jasper Francisco. The Early Years 1  In the early years, before the computer was invented, there were several inventions of counting machine.

KEYBOARD – an input device used to type data.

THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

The History of the Computer Then & Now Computer Evolution 1642 Blaise Pascal – mechanical adding machine.

Evolution of the Computer Land marks of the Computer History.

Evolution of Computers

Computer history timeline

Computer. Great Inventions written by Bob Barton.

Chapter 1 History of Computing. 2 Early History of Computing Abacus (origin? 2000BC) An early device to represent numeric values with beads. Note that.

The short history of computer

About project

© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Computers

Sumit Singh on September 26, 2023

Table of Contents

Introduction

We all use computers in our daily lives for a variety of reasons. Computers are now portable and affordable, but once, there was a time when a computer used to take up an entire room’s space, and only a few of them existed in this world. In this article, you will learn about the evolution of computers that spans centuries, marked by groundbreaking innovations and the relentless pursuit of technological advancement.

Abacus (c. 2700 BC)

When you were kids, you must have owned an abacus on which you learned basic mathematical skills. Did you know that the abacus originated in ancient Mesopotamia and is one of the earliest known computing devices? It consisted of beads on rods and was used for basic arithmetic calculations.

We all know that computers work through an interaction of hardware and software. The whole transformation and advancement of the computer goes back decades. However, there are five apparent generations of computers.

Each generation is defined by a paramount technological development that changed how computers operate. Let’s start discovering!

First Generation – Vacuum Tubes (1940 – 1956)

Did you know that the 1930s marked the beginning of calculating machines, considered the first programmable computers? Who knew that computers were this old?

Konrad Zuse created what became known as the first programmable computer, the Z1, in 1936 in his parent’s living room in Berlin. You can see in the picture below just how gigantic the computer was.

The 1940s saw the emergence of electronic computers, including the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer). These machines used vacuum tubes and punched cards for data processing. In the picture attached below, you can see a scientist using ENIAC for computational purposes.

These first-gen computers relied on ‘machine language’ (which is the most fundamental programming language that computers can understand).

These computers were limited to solving one problem at a time. Input was predicated on punched cards and paper tape. Output emerged on printouts.

Second Generation – Transistors (1956 – 1963)

In 1947, the invention of the transistor by Bell Labs revolutionized computing. Transistors replaced bulky vacuum tubes, making computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. 101

Second-gen computers still count on punched cards for input/printouts. In the above image, you can see two computer engineers working on a computer transistor.

The language emerged from a binary language to a symbolic (‘assembly’) language. This meant programmers could discover instructions in words.

Until 1965, computers were only used by mathematicians and engineers in a lab setting. Programma 101 changed everything by offering the general public a desktop computer that anyone could use. The 65-pound machine was the size of a typewriter and had 37 keys and a printer built-in. Can you imagine yourself using this machine?

Some say that this invention solidified the idea of a personal computer!!!

Third Generation – Integrated Circuits (1964 – 1971)

Third-generation computers started using integrated circuits instead of transistors. Do not get overwhelmed by the new vocabulary! Just know that IC is a hardware component of a computer. Technically, the integrated circuit (IC) is a semiconductor material that contains thousands of transistors.

Because of IC, the computer becomes more reliable and fast, requires less maintenance, is small in size, is more affordable, and generates less heat. You can see in the image above how multiple IC racks are used to power a computer.

The third generation computers significantly reduce the computational time. In the second generation, the computational time was microsecond, which was decreased to the nanosecond. In this generation, punch cards were replaced by mouse and keyboard.

The Xerox Alto was created in the ’70s as a personal computer that could print documents and send emails. What was most notable about the computer was its design, which included a mouse, keyboard, and screen.

Did you know that the picture of the Xerorx Alto attached above influenced Apple’s designs in the following decade?

Fourth Generation – Microprocessors (1972 – 2010)

Intel’s 4004 microprocessor marked a pivotal moment in computing history. It was the world’s first commercially available microprocessor and laid the groundwork for the personal computer revolution.

Fun activity: Do you have an Intel processor inside your computer? If yes, then which version?

When Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh computer in 1984 , Consumer Reports called it a “dazzling display of technical wizardry.”

The release of the IBM Personal Computer, powered by Microsoft’s MS-DOS operating system, marked the beginning of the personal computer era. It set industry standards and paved the way for the advancements of PCs.

The iMac G3 was launched in 1998 and quickly became known for its Bondi blue, clear casing. The 38-pound iMac included USB ports, a keyboard, and a mouse. It was meant to be portable and customizable. In the picture below, you can see how cute the iMac G3 looked!!

Fun fact of the day: The iMac was the first time Apple used the “I” to name its products, explaining it stood for “internet,” “innovation,” and “individuality.”

Honorable shout-outs to 2 other major technological advancements that improved the computer world:

• World Wide Web (1991)

Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the World Wide Web revolutionized communication and information access. The web made the internet user-friendly and accessible to the masses.

• Mobile Computing (2000s-Present)

The advent of smartphones and tablets transformed computing into a complete mobile experience, with powerful handheld devices becoming integral to daily life.

Fifth Generation – Artificial Intelligence (2010 Onwards)

This is the computer generation that we use. We know that computer devices with artificial intelligence technology are still in development.

Still, some of these technologies are emerging and being used, such as voice recognition or ChatGPT. AI is an authenticity made possible by adopting parallel processing and superconductors. In the future, computers will be revolutionized again by quantum computation, molecular, and nanotechnology.

Today’s most innovative computers are tablets and iPads, which are simple touchscreens without a keyboard, mouse, or a separate CPU.

Today’s computer market is also filled with other computer models, including the MacBook Pro, iMac, Dell XPS, and iPhones. Which computer model do you have?

You have just witnessed the remarkable journey of the evolution of computers. From ancient counting devices to quantum computers, each era has built upon past innovations, reshaping how we live, work, and communicate.

What have you learned from the history of computers? Is it the technological progress or human commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible?

Together, let’s continue to unlock the wonders of the computer universe and build a digital world brimming with innovation and excitement! Happy Learning!

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