Download History of Computers

A History of Computer
Technology
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The First Computers
Foundations of Modern Computing
The First Generation
The Second Generation
The Third Generation
The Fourth Generation
A Fifth Generation
Lessons Learned
The First Computers
The abacus, known to
have existed in ancient
Babylonia and Egypt,
remained in widespread
use in the Far East until
recently.
The First Computers
Jacquard’s Loom: programmed a
loom
 “Babbage’s Folly”: first fully
modern computer design
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Difference Engine
Analytical Engine
The First Computers
Augusta Ada Byron, the
world’s first computer
programmer, played a key
role in formulating the
notion of programming the
Analytical Engine.
The First Computers
In 1991, the London
Science Museum built
the Difference Engine
using Babbage's plans,
as shown in this
woodcut. It worked
perfectly.
The First Computers
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Hollerith & the
Automated Census
Bureau
invented an electronic
punching device
founded Tabulating
Machine Co. which
became IBM
Hollerith’s punched-card
tabulating machines are the
predecessors of today’s
business machines.
Foundations of Modern
Computing
ENIAC, created by Dr. John Mauchly & J. Presper Eckert,
for use in the war but was not completed in time. It was
mainly used to solve math problems
The Stored Program
Concept
The computer program, as well
as the data, is stored in the
computer’s memory.
The First Generation
1950s
The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes.
Vacuum tubes failed frequently so first generation
computers did not work most of the time.
Eckert and Mauchly delivered the first UNIVAC to the
U.S. Census Bureau in 1951. UNIVAC gained fame
when it predicted Eisenhower as the winner of the
1952 U.S. presidential election.
The First Generation
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Features of UNIVAC
easier to use (than ENIAC)
fewer vacuum tubes (more reliable)
stored program
general-purpose
used machine language
IBM 701
 IBM 650
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The Second Generation
Early1960s
The transistor
heralded the
second generation
of computers
The Second Generation
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Features and Advancements
still use punch cards
used printers, tape storage, & disk storage
used high-level programming languages
COBOL & FORTRAN introduced
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IBM 1401
The Second Generation
Electronic Recording Machine -Accounting (ERMA)
 American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII)
 IBM System/360
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line of compatible computers
instruction set enabled to be used for both
business and science
The Third Generation
(Mid 1960s to Mid 1970s)
 Advancements and Milestones
used timesharing
accessed remotely by terminals
used integrated circuits (small, medium, to largescale integration) resulting in lower cost
Integrated chips
The Third Generation
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More Advancements and Milestones
DEC’s minicomputer, the PDP-8
many different programming languages
IBM “unbundled” its systems
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Still More Advancements and Milestones
Wide-area networks (WAN) developed
ARPANET implemented Internet protocols (TCPIP)
Local area networks (LAN) developed
Mainframes (proprietary)/minicomputers (open
architecture)
The Fourth Generation
(1975-1991)
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Advancements and Milestones
employed very-large-scale integration (VLSI)
developed Intel 4004, first microprocessor
Apple Computer founded
IBM introduced the Personal Computer (PC)
IBM compatibles or clones introduced
The Fourth Generation
The first IBM PC
was released in
1981. Intel
provided the
microprocessor
chip and
Microsoft
Corporation
provided the
operating system
The Fourth Generation
Interfaces
Motorola
Intel
Macintosh The first GUI was developed at PC
Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto
Research Center (PARC)
Microsoft’s Windows
98 is a popular GUI
designed for IBMcompatible
microcomputers
Macintosh was the first
commercial personal
computer to offer a user
interface
A Fifth Generation?
Experts have forecast
that the hallmark of the
fifth generation will be
artificial intelligence
(AI), in which computers
exhibit characteristics of
human intelligence. AI
has been slow in coming.
A Fifth Generation?
Technologically, we’re still in the fourth
generation, in which engineers are pushing
to see how many transistors they can pack
on chip. This effort alone will bring some of
the trappings of AI.
Lessons Learned
Purposes served by technologies cannot
be foreseen by designers
 Developing faster hardware is easier
than developing good software
 A company is wise to create products
that conform to published, nonproprietary standards
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