INTRODUCTION

TO ICT
Lecture # 1
A COMPUTER
THE COMPUTER DEFINED
• An Electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according to
instructions given to it in a variable program.
• Electronic device
• Converts data into information
• Modern computers are digital
– Two digits combine to make data (0, 1)
– Low level language
– High level language
GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS
• Based on the improvements in Computer Systems over time, the Computers are divided into
six generations
– The Mechanical Era (1623-1900)
– First Generation Electronic Computers (1937-1953)
– Second-Generation (1954-1962)
– Third-Generation (1963-1972)
– Fourth-Generation (1972-1984)
– Fifth-Generation (1984-1990)
– Sixth-Generation (1990-till date)
THE MECHANICAL ERA
• 1623 to 1900
• Inventions of the time were:
– Telescope
– Steam turbine (thermal to mechanical)
– Micrometer
– Pendulum clock
– Barometer
– Typewriter
FIRST GENERATION COMPUTER
• The era of first generation is from 1937 to 1953.
• Some of the inventions of the time are
– Electron microscope
– Photocopier
– Atomic Bomb
– Microwave oven
– Optic fiber
FIRST-GENERATION COMPUTER
Machine / Year Information
Device
Atanasoff- 1942 Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and his graduate student Cliff Berry designed and build
Berry the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) during 1939-1942. The ABC never functioned fully
Computer but had the credit of a patent dispute which was related to the invention of the
computer.

Harvard 1944 Harvard Mark-1 was conceived by Howard Aiken, a professor in Harvard. It was
Mark-I designed and built by IBM. It was a relay-based calculator which was as big as a room
with a fifty-feet long camshaft. This camshaft was used to synchronize thousands of
component parts of the machine. It was used to create mathematical tables.

ENIAC 1946 Electronic Numerator Integrator and Calculator was developed by John Mauchly and J
Presper Eckert. It was the first large, general purpose computer to be made operational.
It worked on vacuum tubes.
EDVAC `1949 Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer depicted a major improvement when
compared to ENIAC. Mauchly and Eckert started working on EDVAC with the idea of
having a program for a computer which was also stored inside the computer itself. This
was made possible as EDVAC had more internal memory than any other computing
device till date.
SECOND GENERATION COMPUTER
• The era of second generation is from 1954 to 1962.
• Inventions of this era include
– Audio Cassette
– Microchips
– Halogen Lamp
– Video disk.
SECOND GENERATION COMPUTER

Machine/ Year Information

Device
IBM 7030 1961 IBM 7030 computers, also known as Stretch, had the capability of
multiprogramming, flexibility in the input and output, good memory capacity
and also unrivalled speed. Solving Large technical problems became fast and
efficient by using these solid state systems. They are generally designed in
such a way that they are flexible in handling data of variable length with a
high speed performance and also enable commercial data processing by
making use of decimal arithmetic.
THIRD GENERATION COMPUTER

• The era of third generation is from 1963 to 1971.

• Inventions of this time period include
– Calculator
– Computer Mouse
– RAM
– ATM
– Barcode Reader
– LCD
THIRD GENERATION COMPUTER

Machine / Year Information

Device
INTEL 4004 1971 Intel 4004 was one of the world’s first microprocessors with a single chip
introduced by Intel, invented by its own engineers Ted Hoff, Stan Mazor and
Federico Faggin. The integrated circuit was taken one step ahead by using different
parts which brought about the thinking capacity of a computer on a single small
chip.
INTEL 8008 1972 Intel 8008 microprocessor marked a major improvement when compared to
4004, its predecessor. The eight bit words used in it could afford 256
arrangements which were unique and used only zeros and ones. This was the first
microprocessor which had the capability of holding letters of both upper and
lower cases, 10 numerals and symbols with punctuation marks also.
FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTER

• The era of fourth generation is from 1972 to 1984

• Popular inventions of the time include
– Word processor
– Video game
– Cell Phones
– Walkman
– VisiCalc spreadsheet
– Laser printer
– MS-DOS
FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTER

Machine / Device Year Information

APPLE I 1976 A Single board computer, designed by Steve.
IBM PC 1981 The first personal computer introduced in market. It used Microsoft’s MS
DOS operating system which ran on 4.77 MHz Intel 8088.
MACINTOSH 1984 The first mouse driven computer, designed by APPLE. It has graphic user
interface.
FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTER
– The era of fifth generation was from 1983-1990
– Inventions of the time are
• CD-ROM
• Windows Program
• Doppler Radar
• High definition television
• 3-D video game
FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTER

Machine / Year Information

Device
IBM PC-AT 1984 PC-AT was released by IBM. It was several times faster than the original PC and
based on the Intel 80286 chip and thus was able to claim success with its
remarkable increase in performance and storage capacity. It also included more
RAM and accommodated high density 1.2-megabyte 5 1/4 –inch floppy disks.
Intel 80486 1989 The 80486 microprocessor along with RISC coprocessor was introduced by
Intel. Both had more than a million transistors. The RISC processor include a
clock speed of 33MHz, 32 bit integer ALU and a 64 bit floating point unit.
SIXTH-GENERATION COMPUTER

• The era of sixth generation is from 1990 till date.

• Inventions of this era include
– WWW
– HTML
– HTTP
– Java
– DVD
– Youtube
SIXTH GENERATION COMPUTER

Machine / Year Information

Device
Pentium 1993 The Pentium microprocessor introduced faster running programs having the
Microprocessor ability of executing many instructions at the same time.
Power Mac G5 2003 Introduced by Apple, as a fastest personal computer. It was the first 64-bit
computer.