History of

Computers
THE EVOLUTION OF
COMPUTING
ANGLEE LEVINER – CIS 110
The
Generations of
Computers
What Are Computers?

 The term Computer, originally meant a person

capable of performing numerical calculations with
the help of a mechanical computing device. 
 Abacus discovered in 2400 BC.
 Binary arithmetic is at the core of computer
systems.
 Origins of Computing

 The history of computers dates back to the invention of a mechanical adding machine in 1642.

 ABACUS, an early computing tool, the invention of logarithm by John Napier and the invention of
slide rules by William Oughtred were significant events in the evolution of computers from these
early computing devices.
 Pingala introduced the binary number system, which would later form the core of computing systems.
 Later in 60 AD, Heron of Alexandria invented machines that could follow instructions.  
 The 1600s witnessed the invention of slide rules, the system of movable rods based on logarithms
used to perform basic mathematical calculations, and a mechanical adding machine, which in some
way, laid the foundation of modern-day calculating machines or computers.
 Pre Computing – the 1800s

 A punching card system was devised by Joseph Marie Jacquard

in 1801.
 Charles Babbage designed the first mechanical computer in
1822 and the Analytical Engine in 1834.
 Morse code was invented in 1835 by Samuel Morse.
 George Boole invented the Boolean algebra in 1848, which
would later be at the heart of programming.
 First Generation Attributes

 Vacuum tubes
 Were expensive and bulky
 Used machine language for
computing
 Breakthroughs Through the 1950’s

 It was in 1937 that Alan Turing came up with the concept of a theoretical Turing machine. In the same year, John
V. Atanasoff devised the first digital electronic computer. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry came up with the ABC
prototype in the November of 1939.
 Konrad Zuse's electromechanical 'Z Machines', especially the Z3 of 1941 was a notable achievement in the
evolution of computers. It was the first machine to include binary and floating-point arithmetic and a considerable
amount of programmability.
 In 1943, the Colossus was secretly designed at Bletchley Park, Britain to decode German messages. 
 The U.S. National Bureau of Standards came up with Standards Electronic/Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC)
in 1950. 
 IBM announced the IBM 702 Electronic Data Processing Machine in 1953. It was developed for business use and
could address scientific and engineering applications.
Second Generation Attributes

 Transistors used
 Punched cards for input
 Assembly language for computing
 About Transistors

 Till the 1950s all computers that were used

were vacuum tube based. In the 1960s,
transistor-based computers replaced vacuum
tubes. Transistors made computers smaller and
cheaper. They made computers energy-
efficient. But transistors led to emission of large
amounts of heat from the computer, which
could damage them.
 Third Generation Attributes

 Integrated circuits
 Operating system as user interface to computing
 Increased speed and efficiency
 Periphery and Discoveries

 Operating systems were the human interface to computing operations and keyboards and monitors became the
input-output devices. 
 COBOL, one of the earliest computer languages, was developed in 1959-60. BASIC came out in 1964. It was
designed by John George Kemeny and Thomas Eugene Kurtz.
 Douglas Engelbart invented the first mouse prototype in 1963. Computers used a video display terminal (VDT) in
the early days. The invention of Color Graphics Adapter in 1981 and that of Enhanced Graphics Adapter in 1984,
both by IBM added 'color' to computer displays. 
 All through the 1990s, computer monitors used the CRT technology. LCD replaced it in the 2000s. 
  Computer keyboards evolved from the early typewriters.
 The development of computer storage devices started with the invention of Floppy disks. (IBM)
 Fourth Generation Attributes

 Microprocessor based system that uses Very Large Scale

Integrated (VLSI) circuits
 Microcomputers became the cheapest at this generation
 The size and price of computers drastically reduced
 Increased storage of memory
 Early Microprocessor Products

 Intel produced large-scale integration circuits in 1971. Microprocessors came up

during the 1970s. Ted Hoff, working for Intel introduced 4-bit 4004.
 In 1972, Intel introduced the 8080 microprocessors.
 In 1974, Xerox came up with Alto workstation at PARC. It consisted of a monitor,
a graphical interface, a mouse, and an Ethernet card for networking.
 Apple Computers brought out the Macintosh personal computer on January 24
1984.
Fifth Generation Attributes

 ULSI technology
 True artificial intelligence
 Natural language processing
 Advancement in Parallel Processing
 Advancement in Superconductor technology
 Multimedia features
 Affordability
 The Future of Computers

 Still in development
 They would be capable of massive parallel processing, support voice recognition and
understand natural language. 
 The current advancements in computer technology are likely to transform computing
machines into intelligent ones that possess self organizing skills.
 The evolution of computers will continue, perhaps till the day their processing powers
equal human intelligence.