IT Concepts Chapter: 03

Muhammad Babar

History of Computer

GENERATION OF COMPUTERS
There are total five generations of the computers. Which depend upon the period of developments in this field? First Generation (1942-1959) (1942 Second Generation (1959-1965) (1959 Third Generation (1965-1971) (1965 Fourth Generation (1971-Present) (1971 Fifth Generation (Future)

First Generation (1942(1942-1959)

In first generation of computers vacuum tube was used. In 1946 Professor J.Presper and John Mauchly developed the first vacuum computer ENIAC (Electronic Numeric Integrated and Calculator) EINAC has no idea of stored program concept In 1946 Br. John Von Neumann started work on EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) which used the concept of storing the program.

Vacuum Tube

 Its development was completed in 1952 Before the EDVAC in 1949 the EDSAC (Electronic delay Storage automatic Computer) was developed by Maurice an Englishman In 1951 Eckert and John developed UNIVAC (Universal Variable Automatic Computer) which was the first digital computer.

 The first Business Oriented computer UNIVACUNIVAC-1 was developed by General Electronic Corporation in 1954 In the first generation of computers the punch card were used for getting and feeding information The use of the vacuum tube in computer is usually regarded as the beginning of the computer age.

Punch Card

Punch Card

FGC

FGC

Second Generation (1959(1959-1965)

In 1948 the transistors were developed in the Bell Labs which formed the basis for the second generation of the computers Through the use of transistors the second generation these computers were much faster, more reliable and more versatile than the first generation of computers

Like the first generation of computers punch cards and magnetic tape used for input of the data

Transistor

Transistor

 In the second Generation high level languages were developed like FORTRAN, COBOL and BASIC etc The typical computers are IBM 650, BURROUGHS 220 etc.

IBM 650

IBM 650

Third Generation (1965(1965-1970)

The use of ICs (Integrated Circuits) signified the beginning of third generation of computers Again the third generation computers were smaller, more efficient and more reliable than their predecessor were In 1958 the ICs were developed by Jack St. Clair and Robert Noyce.

IC (Integrated Circuit)

IC (Integrated Circuit)

IC (Integrated Circuit)

 The earliest ICs using a technology now called SSI (Small Scale Integration) could pick up 10 or 20 Circuits By the late 1960 the engineers had achieved MSI (Medium Scale Integration) which placed up to between 20 and 200 transistors on a chip By 1969 as many as 1000 transistors could be build on one chip of silicon.

TGC

Fourth Generation (1970(1970-Present)

The significant distinction of the 4th generation of the computers is the development of LSI (Large Scale Integration) With VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), they could place the equivalent of more than 5,000 transistors on a single chip. Similarly in the MID 70s the first microprocessor the Intel 4004 was developed.

 In MID 1970s it was followed by VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), the incorporation of several thousand transistors on a single chip This creation was followed by the creation of faster, more powerful microprocessors, such as the Intel 80386.

Fifth Generation (Future)

Some say that the creation and use of a computer with AI (Artificial Intelligence) will present the next step Although expert systems are already being used for the specialized applications, true AI, or computers that can think and behave like human mind

TYPES OF COMPUTERS ACCORDING TO WORKING

There are three basic types of computer according to working: Analog Computer Digital Computer Hybrid Computer

ANALOG COMPUTER
Analog computer is used to process analog data Analog data is of continuous nature which is not discrete or separate Such type of data include
temperature, pressure, speed, weight, depth etc.

these quantities are continuous and having an infinite variety of values.

 It measures the change in some physical quantity. E.g.

speedometer of a car measures speed, the change of the temperature is measured by a thermometer, the weight is measured by weight machine These are such computers where data can be accepted directly from measuring instrument without having to convert it into numbers or codes

DIGITAL COMPUTER
A digital computer, as its name implies, works with digits to represent
numeric, letters, and digits or other special symbols Digital computers operate on inputs which are ON-OFF ONtype.

A digital computer can be used to process numeric as well as nonnonnumeric data It can perform arithmetic operations like Addition, Subtraction, multiplication, division) and also logical operations.

 Most of the computers in use today are digital computers The most examples of the digital computers are accounting machines and calculators. The results of digital computers are more accurate than the results of analog computers.

 Analog computers are faster than digital Analog computers lack memory whereas digital computers store information We can say that digital computers count and analog computers measure

HYBRID COMPUTER
A hybrid is a combination of digital and analog computers It combines the best features of both types of computers. I.e.
it has the speed of the analog computer and memory and accuracy of the digital computer

Hybrid computers are mainly used in specialized applications where both kind of data need to be processed.

 they help the user to process both continuous and discrete data. For example,
a petrol pump contains a processor that converts fuel flow measurement into quantity and price. In hospitals intensive-care, which measures intensivepatients blood pressure and temperature etc., which are then converted and displayed in the form of digits.

TYPES OF COMPUTER
ACCORDING TO SPEED AND SIZE

SUPER COMPUTER The super computers are the largest, fastest and most
expensive computers in the world

They are used where vast quantity of data must be manipulated The price of the super computer ranges from $5 to $20 million dollars They are designed to process complex scientific applications As it produces enough internal heat therefore, it needs special requirements, It is placed in a special room. These computers are 50,000 times faster then the micro computer

 They are five times faster then the large mainframe computers 60 miles of wiring is used while constructing a super computer. They can calculate 400 million number s per second where as mainframe can 10 millions numbers There accuracy is up to 14 decimal places.

 It can process 1billion instruction in a second 1000 individual PCs can be attached to a super computer They are used in:
oil exploration, weather prediction, generation of the film imagery etc.

Examples of the super computer are CRAYCRAY-1 and CYBER-205. CYBER-

Computers for Organizations

Supercomputers
The most powerful computers made Handle large and complex calculations Process trillions of operations per second Found in research organizations

MAINFRAME COMPUTER
They are less expensive, less powerful and slower then the super computer. Still they are faster then the other types of computer. They can process 10 million numbers per second. The cost of the normal mainframe computer ranges from several hundred dollars to many million dollars. The IBM introduced the families of mainframes (small, medium, large).

 1000 workstation can be attached to a normal mainframe. These computers are mainly used for the networking purposes. The application areas of the mainframe computers are banks, hospitals, universities etc. Examples of mainframe computers are IBMIBM-4381, ICL-2900, and NEC 610 etc. ICL-

MINI COMPUTER
Mini computers are also known as midsize or low-end lowmainframe computers They are less expensive and smaller then the mainframe computers They are designed for the computerization of data for research, industrial process and small business application The size of the mini computer prevents it from being portable but it can be moved more easily than a mainframe.

 Time sharing, batch processing and online processing are available on the mini computers The examples of mini computers are PRIMEPRIME-9755, VAX-8650, and IBM System VAX36 etc.

Minicomputer

MICRO /Personal COMPUTER

A micro computer is the smallest, less expensive of all the computers They generally fall into the price of $100 to $10,000 The word micro refers mainly to the physical size and circuitry It a small computer and originally it had rather limited capabilities as compared to the large mainframe computers Now the microcomputer is more powerful than the early mainframe.

 The micro computers are easily accommodateaccommodate-able on a table and thus had the name desktop. Examples of the micro computers are
IBM, Apple, Compaq, Radio Shack, Commodore, Atari HP DELL

 IBM compatibilities: 286,386,486,586 and now Pentium IV as the latest The desktop, laptop, and hand held computers fall into this category

Microcomputers

TYPES OF COMPUTER ACCORDING TO PURPOSE

There are two types of computer according to the purpose. General Purpose Computer Special Purpose Computer

GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER

Most computers in use today are general purpose computers Those built for a great variety of processing jobs Simply by using a general purpose computer and different software, various tasks can be performed, including
writing and editing, manipulating facts in a database,

 tracking manufacturing inventory, making scientific calculations to even

controlling an organizations security system, electricity consumption etc.

SPECIAL PURPOSE COMPUTER

A special computer as the name implies is designed to perform a specific operation and usually satisfies the needs of a particular type of problem Special purpose computers are also known as dedicated computers, because they are designed to perform a particular job Such a computer would be useful in games, control traffic lights, weather prediction, satellite tracking or programming a video cassette recorder.

 While a special purpose computer may have many of the same features found in a general purpose computer, its applicability to a particular problem is a function of its design rather than to a stored program.

End of the Chapter