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Chapter 1

Evolution of Computing
Last Meeting…
• We learnt about the major content and subject
requirements

• We discussed the term “computer” and it’s


components.

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Today’s Goal
1. To develop an appreciation about the
capabilities of computing
2. To learn about the evolution of computing

3. To recount the important and key events

4. To learn about some of the milestones or


key inventions and developments that
lead to the shape of the current field of
computing
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What is the first computing
device?
• Abacus

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

• Creator of the Analytical Engine - the first


general-purpose digital computer (1833)

• The Analytical Engine was not built until


1943 (in the form of the Harvard Mark I)

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
The Analytical Engine

• A programmable, mechanical, digital machine

• Could carryout any calculation

• Could make decisions based upon the results


of the previous calculation

• Components: input; memory; processor; output


Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Ada, Countess of Lovelace(1815-52)
• Babbage: the father of computing
Wrote a program for computing the Bernoulli’s
sequence on the Analytical Engine - world’s 1st
computer program
• AAda?
programming language specifically designed by
the US Dept of Defense for developing military
applications was named Ada to honor her
contributions towards computing

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
A lesson that we all can learn
from Babbage’s Life
• Charles Babbage had huge difficulties raising money
to fund his research

• As a last resort, he designed a clever mathematical


scheme along with Ada, the Countess of Lovelace

• It was designed to increase their odds while gambling.


They bet money on horse races to raise enough
money to support their research experiments

• Guess what happened at the end? The lost every


penny that they had.ChapterComputing
1 - Evolution of
Why use a computer?

What value do
Computers bring?

What are they good at?


Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
fast
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
bored
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
storage
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What type of
problems are not
suitable for
computers ?
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
It could analyze up to 300 billion
Here is a fact: chess moves in three minutes

In 1997 Deep Blue, a supercomputer


designed by IBM, beat Gary Kasparov, the
World Chess Champion

That computer was exceptionally fast, did


not get tired or bored. It just kept on
analyzing the situation and kept on
searching until it found the perfect move
from its list of possible moves

And now a question


Chapter 1 …
- Evolution of
Computing
can computers

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
embedded
computers
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Quick Recall …
• We learnt about the Analytical Engine - the
first general-purpose, digital computer – and
its inventor Charles Babbage

• We had a discussion about the key strengths


(speed, storage, do not get bored) and
weaknesses (pattern recognition, innovative
ideas) of the modern computer

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
But first, why should we spend time on
recounting the events of the past?

Why not just talk about what is happening in


computing now and what is going to happen in
the future?

Why not?

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• If you do not learn from the history, you are
condemned to repeat it

• Recounting the events of the past provides an


excellent opportunity to:
– learn lessons
– discover patterns of positive evolution, and
– use them in the future

• If we learn from history well, we will:


– neither repeat the mistakes of the past
– nor would we waste time re-inventing what already has been
invented
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Having established the
important of history …
• Let’s start recounting some of the
important milestones in the evolution of
computing

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Babbage’s Analytical Engine - 1833
• Mechanical, digital, general-purpose

• Was crank-driven

• Could store instructions

• Could perform mathematical calculations

• Had the ability to print

• Could punched cards as permanent


Chapter 1 - Evolution of memory
Computing
You can see a picture of a
punched card on your screen

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Punched Cards - 1801
• Initially, had no relationship with computers

• Invented by a Frenchman named Joseph-Marie


Jacquard for storing weaving patterns for
automated textile looms (“khuddian”)

• Their value for storing computer-related


information was later realized by the early
computer builders

• Punched cards were replaced my magnetic


storage only in the early 1950s
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Protests Against Jacquard’s Invention

• Hand weavers saw the automatic loom as a


threat to their livelihood

• They burned several of the new machines

• A few weavers even physically assaulted


Jacquard

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Turing Machine - 1936
• Alan Turing of Cambridge University
presented his idea of a theoretically
simplified but fully capable computer,
now known as the “Turing Machine”

• The concept of this machine, which


could theoretically perform any
mathematical computation, was very
important in the future development of
the computer

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Another interesting contribution by
Alan Turing
• The “Turing test”

• A test proposed to determine if a computer


has the ability to think

• So far no one has built a computer that can


pass that test

• There is cash prize of US$100,000 for the


first computer that passes it
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Terminal

Human
providing
answers
Terminal

Interrogator
asking
questions Computer
on its own
Computer
providing
answers
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Turing Test
• An interrogator is connected to one person and
one machine via a terminal, and can't see her
counterparts

• The interrogator’s task is to find out which of the


two candidates is the machine, and which is the
human only by asking them questions. If the
machine can "fool" the interrogator, it passes
the “Turing Test”.
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Enough about Alan Turing and two of his
landmark contributions towards computing

Let’s look at another milestone in the


evolution of computing

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Vacuum Tube - 1904
• John Fleming, an English Physicist, developed the
very first one

• Made electronic computers possible

• The key advantage of tubes was that they made


1000 or more times faster computers possible as
compared with mechanical or electro-mechanical
computers.

• These tubes have now been almost completely


replaced by more reliable and less costly transistors
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
It was a very useful technology for computing,
but it took 35 years before vacuum tubes
appeared in a computer.

And that first electronic computer was the ABC

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
ABC - 1939
• Attanasoff-Berry Computer

• John Attanasoff & Clifford Berry at Iowa State College

• World’s first electronic computer

• The first computer that used binary numbers instead


of decimal

• Was built to help grad students in solving


simultaneous linear equations
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Harvard Mark 1 - 1943
• Howard Aiken of Harvard University

• A large scale, general-purpose computer

• Included all the ideas proposed by Babbage for the


Analytical Engine

• Did not find much use as the electronic-age of


computing had already started. It was just too slow

• It was the last famous electromechanical computer


Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
ENIAC – 1946
• Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer

• World’s first large-scale, general-purpose electronic


computer. 1000 times faster than the Harvard Mark 1

• Built by John Mauchly & John Echert at the University


of Pennsylvania

• Developed for military applications

• 5,000 operations/sec 19,000 tubes 30 ton 9’ x 80’

• 150 kilowatts: Used to dim the lights in the City of


Philadelphia down when
Chapter 1 it ran of
- Evolution
Computing
Transistor - 1947
• Invented by Shockly, Bardeen, and Brattain at the Bell
Labs in the US

• Compared to vacuum tubes, it offered:


– smaller size
– better reliability
– lower power consumption
– lower cost

• All modern computers are made from miniaturized


transistors
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
QUESTION:

• Tubes replaced mechanicals

• Transistors replaced tubes

• What is going to replace the transistors?

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Floppy Disk - 1950
• Invented at the Imperial University in Tokyo
by Yoshiro Nakamats

• Provided faster access to programs and


data as compared with magnetic tape

• Magnetic tape (like audio cassette) allows


sequential access to the things that are
stored; floppy disks allow direct access, just
like CD’s
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
A very important event took place in 1951

Until now, most all computers were designed


for military or government use. And generally
were custom-made for the task

In 1951, the first mass-produced commercial


computer was introduced. It was the …

… UNIVAC 1

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
UNIVAC 1 - 1951
• UNIVersal Automatic Computer

• Echert & Mauchly Computer Company

• First computer that could not only manipulate numbers


but text data as well

• Max speed:1905 ops/sec, Cost: US$1,000,000

• 5000 tubes. 943 cu ft. 8 tons. 100 kilowatts

• Between 1951-57, 48 were sold


Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
IBM 7094 (Early 1960's)

CS 140 Lecture Notes: Slide 40


Introduction
So far, we have spoken about computer
hardware only

Let us now introduce ourselves to one of the


key events in the evolution of computer
programming …

... the invention of the compiler

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Compiler - 1952
• Grace Hopper, US Navy, develops the very first high-
level language compiler

• Before the invention of the compiler, developing a


computer program was tedious & prone to errors as
the native language of digital computers (consisting of
1’s and 0’s) is very different from how human
communicate

• A compiler translates a high-level language (that is


easy to understand for humans) into a low-level
language that the computer can understand

• We’ll have further discussions on the native language


of computers and compilers later in the course
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• Computer hardware is made useful with the
help of programming languages

• What makes computers even more useful is


when they are able to communicate with each
other even if they are located at great
distance from each other

• One of the key milestones in this area was the


formation of ARPANET in 1969

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
ARPANET - 1969
• Developed for the US DoD Advanced
Research Projects Agency

• A network of networks

• The grand-daddy of the today’s global Internet

• A network of around 60,000 computers


developed to facilitate communications among
research organizations and
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
universities
Computing
• Two of the key features of modern computers
are their low-cost and very small size

• These are made possible due to the use of a


miniature, inexpensive component called a
microprocessor

• The first microprocessor was the Intel 4004

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Intel 4004 - 1971
• Microprocessor: a computer on a chip

• Invented by Ted Hoff at Intel

• Was 1/6 x 1/8in with 2,250 transistors (modern


microprocessors contain 10s of millions of
transistors)

• As powerful as the ENIAC


Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• Microprocessors led the way towards the
development of micro-computers and PC’s

• The 1st commercial PC is considered to be


the Altair 8800. It was introduced in 1975

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Altair 8800 - 1975
• MITS – Micro Instruments Telemetry Systems

• Based on the Intel 8080 microprocessor

• Cost $397

• Had 256 bytes of memory.


• Input was provided to it through small on-off
switches; it displayed output through a bank of
very small lights
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• PC was a new category of computers and
were introduced in 1975

• The very next year another new category of


computers became commercially available -
supercomputers

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Cray 1 - 1976
• The first commercial supercomputer

• Supercomputers: state-of-the-art machines


designed to perform calculations as fast as the
current technology allows

• Used to solve extremely complex tasks:


weather prediction, simulation of atomic
explosions; aircraft design; movie animation

• Cray 1 could do 167 million ops/sec


– Current state-of the-art: trillions (1012) of ops/sec
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• Five years later, in 1981, the most important
event in the history of computing took place

• Computers finally became popular

• That achievement is credited to the IBM


(International Business Machines) Corp. In
1981 they introduced the IBM PC

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
IBM PC & MS DOS - 1981
• IBM PC: The tremendously popular PC; the
grand-daddy of 95% of the PC’s in use today

• MS DOS: The tremendously popular operating


system that came bundled with the IBM PC

• We’ll have some more to say about operating


systems in future lectures

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• Three years later, Apple computer introduced
a new PC that radically changed the way in
which computers were operated

• Instead of typing commands, now users could


use a computer simply by moving a mouse
and clicking

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Apple Macintosh - 1984
• The 1st popular, user-friendly PC

• Based on the ideas first developed for the Star


computer at Xerox PARC (1981)

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• In 1989, a key event took place that catalyzed
the current, immense popularity of computing

• That event was the invention of the World


Wide Web

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
World Wide Web -1989
• Tim Berners Lee – British physicist at the
European Center for Nuclear Energy Research
(CERN) in Geneva

• The greatest collection of information ever put


together by the humankind

• We’ll discuss this topic in much more detail


during the next lecture
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
• In 1997, computing achieved a goal that
some had though to be impossible,
unachievable

• The best human chess player lost to the


best computer chess playing program

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Mobile Phone-Computer
• A small computer, no bigger than the hand set
of an ordinary desktop or wall mounted phone

• Can do whatever an Internet-capable computer


can (although with a very small display and
keyboard) plus can function as a regular phone

• First consumer device formed by the fusion of


computing and wireless telecommunication
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What is the next major milestone? (1)
1. Mechanical computing

2. Electro-mechanical

3. Vacuum tube

4. Transistor
(the current state-of the-art)
5. Quantum computing ????
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
Quantum Computing is based on
the ideas present in the field of

QUANTUM MECHANICS:

the branch of physics that describes


the activity of subatomic particles,
i.e. the particles that make up atoms

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What is the next major milestone? (2)
• Quantum computers may one day be millions of
times more efficient than the current state-of-
the-art computers

• They take advantage of the laws that govern


the behavior of subatomic particles

Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What is the next major milestone? (3)
• These laws allow quantum computers to
examine all possible answers to a question,
simultaneously

• For example, if you want to find the largest from


a list of four numbers:
– The current, conventional computers require on
average 2 to 3 steps to get to the answer
– Whereas, the quantum computer may be able to do
that in a single step
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing
What have we learnt today?

We have learnt about some of the important


milestones on the journey that started from the
Analytical Engine and so far has taken us to the
tiny, portable computer-telephone of today

We also saw how computing transitioned from


mechanical to electro-mechanical to tube to
transistor technology and now is poised to take
a breathtaking twist towards quantum computing
Chapter 1 - Evolution of
Computing

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