Period of ICT

Development
 Information and Communications
Technology - ICT

 Collectively refers to the technologies, both hardware and

software, that enable humans to communicate with one
another.
 Evolution of ICT
The beginning of ICT can be traced back when humans started to used objects to
communicate with one another.

There are four main periods in history that divided the era of ICT, namely:
1. Premechanical;
2. Mechanical;
3. Electromechanical; and
4. Electronic period.
 THE PREMECHANICAL
PERIOD
• During this time, humans started communicating with one
another using words and pictograms curved in rocks.

 Sumerian Pictogram – dating back 3100 BCE that shows

the earliest form of communication among humans.
The Premechanical Period
• It happened around 1450 BCE to 1450 CE.
• Humans started communicating with one another using words and pictograms curved in
rocks.
• Paper from papyrus plant was invented; storing of information was revolutionalized.
• Paper were complied and bound together, eventually giving birth to books.
• They needed to be complied and stored in areas; hence libraries were created.
• “Libraries” were considered as the first data centers in history.
• Humans started using numerical system during the late stage of this period.
• The most popular device created in this period is said to have come from China- the
abacus. The first device to process information.
The Mechanical Period
• Served as the bridge between our current period and the premechanical period
• It started around 1450-1480
• The interest in automating and speeding up numerical calculations grew during this period.
• The machines driven by mechanical means such as steam and gears dominated information
processing and calculations.
• The mechanical calculator, “Pascaline” was the highlight of this period. It was invented by the
famous mathematician inventor Blaise Pascal along with Wilhelm Schickard.
• Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, which is considered as the first programmable
mechanical computer, was also invented during this period.
• Charles Babbage – “Father of Computers”
The Electromechanical Period
• It started around 1840-1940
• The use of electricity for information handling and transfer bloomed.
• This period show the use of telegraph to transmit information over long distances.
• The telephone was later invented, enabling voice transmission over long distances.
• Humans started to control electricity using vacuum tubes in devices that eventually led to
the development of today’s electronic gadgets.
• Telegraph – considered as the first electrical communications device.
• First invented by in 1837 by William Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone, the first working
model used five magnetic needles that could be pointed around set of letters and numbers
by using electric current.
• Samuel Morse, an American inventor introduced the first single – circuit telegraph in
1844, which give rise to the Morse code.
• In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted patent for the telephone.

The Electronic Period
• It started in the 1940’s up to present .
• The highlight of this period is focused on
the advent of solid state
devices/electronic devices.
• There are four main event found in this
period, these are:
1. The late vacuum tubes period;
2. The transistors period;
3. The integrated circuits period; and
4. The computer processors period.
• Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) – the first electronic general
purpose computer.
 it is around 167 square meters
 Its processing speed was slower than those machines used today.

• The transistor was invented in 1947. It is an electronic device with properties and
functions similar to vacuum tubes, but it is lightweight and faster. It is the foundation of
every electronic device today.
• The first full transistor computer was developed in 1957 and was faster than vacuum
computers.
• Jack Kilby was credited for introducing the integrated circuit in 1958. It is a device that
is composed of transistors and circuit elements compressed in a single package.
• ICs are use in processing devices, and processors are constructed in IC forms Personal
Computers then used these processors to deliver user applications.
• Computers are evolving from basic textual interfaces to Graphical User
Interfaces or GUI
• The result of developed methods of connectivity for sharing processed
information stored in computers and processing devices is the internet or the
World Wide Web.
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YOU