The development of personal computer has taken a long period of time to extend the use of computer at present days. There were not the advanced technologies in the ancient days. So it passed through a several phases to become this phase at present days.
The development of computer from ancient days to present days can be classified into 3 Era which are as follows.
1. Abacus
Ø
Abacus is the
first calculating device.
Ø
An abacus
consists of rectangular frame containing a number of rods or beads which is divided
into two unequal parts called heaven and earth.
Ø
The lower part
called, an earth consist 5 beads and the upper part called, a heaven consists
of 2 beads.
Ø
By moving the
beads, it is used for counting as well as to find addition and subtraction.
Ø
A skilled abacus
operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person
equipped with a hand calculator.
2. Napier’s Bone
Ø
John Napier, a
great Scottish mathematician invented “Principle of logarithm” i.e. log in 1614
AD.
Ø
Then, based on
his own principle, he invented a simple device containing 10 rods made by ivory
sticks marked with numbers in 1617 AD, called Napier’s Bone. =
Ø
People could use
it for faster multiplication and division.
3. Slide Rule
Ø
Based on the
principle of John Napier, William Oughtred, an English mathematician, made a
simple device called slide rule in 1624 AD.
Ø
It had multiple
rulers marked with numbers in one pack.
Ø
People could use
it for faster multiplication and division also.
Ø
It was still in
use in the 1960’s by the NASA engineers of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo
programs which landed men on moon.
4. Pascaline
Ø
Pascaline was
invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642 AD, when he was just 19 years old.
Ø
He invented that
device to help his father who was a tax collector.
Ø
It had some cogs
and gears rotating in complement to each other and it could do addition and
subtraction up to 8 digits only.
Ø
Multiplication
and division were done by repeated addition and subtraction respectively.
Ø
Later a computer
programming language was called “Pascal” to honor him for his contribution in
the development of computer.
5. Stepped Reckoner
Ø
Gottfried Wilhelm
Von Leibniz was a great mathematician managed to build a four function
(addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) calculator in 1671 AD on
the basis of Pascaline.
Ø
It could find
square root too.
Ø
Although the
Stepped Reckoner employed the decimal number system, Leibniz was the first to
advocate use of the binary number system which is fundamental to the operation
of modern computers.
6.
Jacquard’s
Loom
Ø
Joseph Marie
Jacquard invented Jacquard’s Loom in 1801 AD.
Ø
This Loom was the
first to use Punch Card.
Ø
Later the same
Punch Card technology was used for Computer Programming.
7. Difference and Analytical Engine
Ø
Difference Engine
was developed by Charles Babbage in 1822 AD, which was equal to the size of a
room.
Ø
Difference Engine
was his first invention and it was powered by stem.
Ø
Difference Engine
was fully automatic for mathematical calculation.
Ø
He obtained
government funding for the development of Difference Engine due to the
importance of numeric tables in ocean navigation.
Ø
By promoting
their commercial and military navies, the British Government had managed to
become the earth’s greatest empire.
Analytical
Engine
Ø
Charles Babbage
also designed another engine in 1833 AD, but unfortunately, he was unable to
complete it.
Ø
The analytical
Engine contained all components as follows.
v
The store
equivalent to memory.
v
The mill
equivalent to CPU.
v
The input section
using punched card.
v
The output
section using punched card.
And
modern computers are based on it. That’s why, for all his contribution, he is
known as “father of Computer”.
8. Lady Augusta Ada
Ø
Lady Augusta Ada
was the admirer and follower of Charles Babbage.
Ø
She was
fascinated by Babbage idea.
Ø
She suggested
Babbage to use binary number system for computer program and data to be fed
into Analytical Engine on Punch Card.
Ø
She gave the
concept of computer programming for the first time.
Ø
She invented
subroutine and important of looping.
Ø
She found that
the same set of Punch Card could be reused to repeat certain instructions.
Ø
One programming
language “ADA” was named to honor her for her great contribution in computer
programming.
9. Tabulating Machine
Ø
The very first
census of 1790 had only required 9 months, by 1880 the U.S. population had
grown so much that the count for the 1880 census took 7.5 years. Automation was
clearly needed for the next census. The census bureau offered a prize for an
inventor to help with the 1890 census and this prize was won by Dr. Herman
Hollerith for the development of Tabulating Machine.
Ø
By using the
similar ideas of Jacquard’s Loom he made Tabulating Machine in 1886.
Ø
It could process
on the Punch Cards and perform the census calculation faster and accurately.
Ø
Hollerith’s
technique was successful and the 1890 census was completed in only 3 years at a
savings of 5 million dollars.
Ø
He established
his own company called Tabulating Machine Company (TMC).
Ø
Later, TMC was
joined with other company and established IBM company in 1923 AD.
Ø
IBM is the
largest computer manufacturing company in the world even today.
B) Electro- Mechanical Era
10. Mark-I
Ø
It was designed
by Howard Aiken.
Ø
Completed in 1944
Ø
This was the
first programmable digital computer.
Ø
This machine
works on decimal not in binary format.
Ø
Its dimension was
51 feet long, 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
Ø
It had a 50 feet
rotating shaft running its length, turned by a 5 horse power electric motor.
Ø
It consumed a lot
of electricity and emitted a lot of heat.
Ø
It was also
called IBMASCC (International Business Machine Automatic Sequence Control
Calculator).
Ø
This project was
a joint partnership between IBM and Harvard University.
Ø
It can
automatically perform sequence of arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction,
multiplications, division and table reference.
Ø
It could add or
subtract two of numbers in three – tenth of a second, multiply them in four
seconds.
11. ABC (Atanasoff Berry
Computer)
Ø
J. V. Atanasoff
was a Professor of Physics and mathematics, with the help of his graduate
student Clifford Berry; he built a machine that could solve different types of
mathematical problems successfully tested in 1942.
Ø
This machine was
the first to store as a charge on a capacitor, which is how today computers
store information is in their main memory (RAM).
Ø
It used 45 vacuum
tubes for internal logic and capacitors for storage.
C. Electronic Computer Era:
12. ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
[1943-1946)
Ø
Dr. John W.
Mauchly and John Presper Eckert developed ENIAC at the Moore School of
Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania in 1946, USA.
Ø
It was the first
electronic computer.
Ø
This had no
moving parts except the input and output.
Ø
ENIAC was
developed for military need and was used for many years to solve ballistics
(fire weapons) achieved problems.
Ø
The addition of
two numbers was achieved in 200 microseconds and multiplication in 2000
microseconds.
Ø
It occupied a
room measuring 9m*15 m and contained 18,000 vacuum tubes, more than 70,000
resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 60,000 switches and weighed 30 tons.
13. EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer) [1944-1951]
Ø
It was invented
by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert.
Ø
He was the first
to introduce the stored program concept in a computer.
Ø
It used binary
number system rather than decimal numbers for its operation.
Ø
It had almost
6,000 vacuum tubes and 12, 000 diodes and consumed 56 KW of power.
Ø
It covered 490
square foot of floor space and weight nearly 7 tons.
Ø
The machine
requires 30 personals to operate.
Ø
This machine ran
till 1961 at research laboratory.
14. EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer) [1947-1949]
Ø
It was invented
by Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge University, England. In 1949AD.
Ø
It also used
vacuum tubes.
Ø
Although, started
after EDVAC, it was completed before EDVAC.
Ø
It used binary
number system.
Ø
Both input and
output used paper type.
Ø
This machine was
used to calculate a table of squares and a list of prime numbers.
15. UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) [1951]
Ø
It was invented
by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert.
Ø
This computer was
the first commercial computer and general purpose computer produced in large
quantity.
Ø
Before this, all
the computers were either used for defense or census.
Ø
The UNIVAC was
also the first computer to come equipped with magnetic tape unit and was the
first computer to use buffer memory.
Generation of Computer
Generation of Computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is/was being used. Initially generation of computer was used to distinguish between varying hardware technology.
There are 5 generation of computers which are as follows:
|
Name of Generation |
Main components |
Time Duration |
|
First Generation of Computer |
Vacuum Tube |
1941-1955 AD |
|
Second Generation of Computer |
Transistor |
1955-1964 AD |
|
Third Generation of Computer |
Integrated Circuit |
1964-1975 AD |
|
Fourth Generation of Computer |
Microprocessor |
1975- till now |
|
Fifth Generation of Computer |
Artificial Intelligence and |
Present and Beyond |
|
Biochips |
1)
First Generation Computer
Ø
The computers which were made approximately between 1941 and 1955 AD are classified as
the first generation computer.
Ø
These computers had used vacuum tube as their memory and processing devices.
Ø Vacuum tube was developed by Lee De Forest in 1908
AD.
Characteristics of a First Generation Computer
a) Technology: Vacuum tube was used as its main components.
b) Processing Speed: Processing speed was measured in Milli-second.
c) Input/output Device: Punch Card was used as input / Output devices.
d) Computer Type: Computers were electro-mechanical.
e) Memory: Vacuum tube was used as memory device.
f) Storage Device: First Punch cards used and later magnetic drum were used as storage device.
g) Operation Mode: Computers should be set up manually as there was no operating system invented.
h) Reliability and Accuracy: The computers were not fully reliable and accurate.
i) Programming Language: Machine Level Language was used for computer programming.
j) Size and Cost: The size of computer was very large and its cost was also very expensive.
k) Availability: The Computers were only available to the military purpose and university research.
l) Power Consumption and Heat Emission: Computers consumed a lot of electricity power and emitted a lot of heat.
m) Portability: Computers were not portable because of its huge size.
n) Examples: ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC etc.
Vacuum Tube:
A vacuum tube is a hollow glass cylinder containing a positive electrode and a negative electrode between which is conducted in a full or partial vacuum tube. A grid between these electrodes controls the flow of electricity. The major disadvantages of tubes include the fact that they require bulky power supplies and the high voltages can resent an electric shock hazard.
2) Second Generation Computer
Ø
The computers which were made approximately between 1955 and 1964 AD are classified as the Second generation computer.
Ø
These computers had used transistor and diodes as their memory devices.
Ø
Transistor was invented by three scientists John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain
in 1947 AD and won the Nobel Prize in 1956 D for it.
Characteristics of a Second Generation Computer
a) Technology: Transistor was used as its main components.
b) Processing Speed: Faster processing speed as it was measured in Micro-second.
c) Input/output Device: Punch Card was used as input / Output devices.
d) Computer Type: Computers were electro-mechanical.
e) Memory: Magnetic Core (Ferrite) was used as internal memory.
f) Storage Device: Magnetic Tape was used as secondary storage device.
g) Operation Mode: Computers should be set up manually as there was no operating system invented.
h) Reliability and Accuracy: These were more reliable and accurate than first generation computers.
i) Programming Language: Assembly and High Level Language such as FORTRAN (Formula Translation), COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) etc. were used for computer programming.
j) Size and Cost: The Computers were smaller in size and less expensive than 1st generation computer.
k) Availability: The Computers were available for general purpose.
l) Power Consumption and Heat Emission: Power consumption and Heat emission was less than 1st generation computer.
m) Portability: Computers were not portable.
n)
Examples: IMB 1401, ICL 2950 / 10, IBM 1620 etc.
Transistor:
Transistor is derived from the two words “transfer” and “register” and it is the device which is made of three terminal semi-conductor materials that amplifies the electric signal or opens or closes the electronic circuit.
They were much smaller than vacuum tubes and consumed much less power. Electronic circuits could make more complex, with more transistors switching faster than vacuum tubes.
3)
Third Generation Computer
Ø The computers
which were made approximately between
1964 and 1975 AD
are classified as the third generation computer.
Ø
These computers had used IC (Integrated Circuit)
as memory and processing device.
Ø The first
IC was developed by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce in 1958. Later Robert Noyce established Intel Company.
Characteristics of a Third Generation Computer
a)
Technology: IC was used for the electronic circuit
in computer.
b) Processing Speed: Faster than previous generation computer as processing speed
was increased into Nano-Second.
c)
Input/output
Device: Keyboard and Monitor were introduced as input and output devices
for the first time respectively.
d)
Computer Type: Computers were electronic.
e)
Memory: Semiconductor memory was used as primary
memory.
f)
Storage Device: Magnetic
disk was used as
secondary storage device.
g) Operation Mode: Operating
system was introduced
for the automatic and multiprogramming.
h)
Reliability and Accuracy: Computers became fully reliable and accurate.
i)
Programming
Language: Further development of High Level Language for Computer Programming.
j)
Size and Cost: The computers were smaller and less expensive
than previous generation computers.
k) Availability: The Computers were available for
general purpose as well as personal purpose.
l)
Power Consumption and Heat Emission: Power consumption and Heat emission
was less than previous
generation computer.
m) Portability:
Computers became portable
for the first time because of the personal
or Desktop Computer.
n)
Examples: IBM 360 Series, UNIVAC 9000, ICL 900 Series.
Integrated Circuits:
ICs range from simple logic modules
and amplifiers to complete microcomputers containing millions of elements. The impact of ICs on our lives
has been enormous. ICs have become
the principal components of almost all electronic devices. These circuits have demonstrated low cost, high reliability, low power requirements and high processing speeds compared to the
vacuum tubes and transistors which preceded them.
4) Fourth Generation Computer
Ø The computers
which were made approximately between
1975 to till now having
microprocessor as CPU and
VLSI (Very Large
Scale Integration) are classified as fourth
generation computer.
Ø First
commercial microprocessor was Intel 4004 which was made by Intel Corporation in 1971 AD.
Ø It was 4 bit processor because
it could process only 4 bits of data at a time.
Ø
It is one of the most important generations because many achievements in the hardware and software technology took place
during this generation.
Characteristics of a Fourth
Generation Computer
a)
Technology: ICs and microprocessor are used as main components with VLSI and ULSI technology.
o) Processing Speed: Faster than previous
generation computer as processing speed
was increased into Pico -Second.
b)
Input/output Device: Input / Output
devices have been further refined
and invented various devices such as scanner, touch screen, printer
etc.
c)
Computer Type: Computers were electronic.
d) Memory: Semiconductor memory with huge capacity has been used as
primary memory.
e)
Storage Device: Use of magnetic
and optical disk with large
storage capacity for secondary storage
device.
f)
Operation
Mode: Multiprogramming, Multiprocessing, multimedia and
distributed operating system
become possible.
g) Reliability and Accuracy: The computers have become fully reliable and accurate.
h)
Programming Language: Advanced HLL and 4 GL for application and database programming have been used.
i)
Size and Cost: The computers were smaller in size and less expensive
than previous generation computers.
j)
Availability: The Computers were available for general purpose as well as special
purpose.
k)
Power Consumption and Heat Emission: Power consumption and Heat emission
was less than previous generation
computer.
l)
Portability: Computers have become portable
because of the development
of personal or Desktop Computer,
Laptop, Notebook and PDA.
m) Examples: IBM PC, Apple Mac Book, HP 300, Acer, Dell etc.
Microprocessor:
A
microprocessor is a computer processor on a microchip. It is sometimes called a
logic chip. It is the “engine”
that goes into motion when you turn your computer on. A microprocessor is designed to perform
arithmetic and logic operations that make use of small number – holding areas called registers. When the computer
is turned on, the microprocessor is
designed to get the first instruction from the BIOS that comes with the computer as part of its memory. After
that, either the BIOS, or the operating system that BIOS loads into computer memory,
or an application program is “driving” the microprocessor, giving it instructions to perform.
5) Fifth Generation Computer
Ø Although the
computer of this generation have not come yet in reality, but computer scientists are trying since 1990 AD.
Ø It is said
that the computer of this generation will use AI (Artificial Intelligence) and
bio- chips as memory device so that they can think and decide like a human being.
Ø Bio-chips will be made of biological organism and protein
fibers obtained from the living
organism.
Ø So, this computer will have power of sense, logic and decision making capacity.
Advantages of AI
i.
Game
playing: AI in computer has been used in playing different
intellectual games like chess.
Computer can play master
level chess. Other various games
also can play due to AI.
ii.
Speech recognition: Speech recognition is a way of commanding computers to perform work through speech rather than
inputting through input devices. From 1990s,
speech recognition has reached a practical level for limited
purpose.
iii.
Understanding natural
language: Due to the use of AI, computer
can easily understand the
meaning of the text written in natural language.
iv.
Automated planning
and scheduling: NASA‟s remote agent program became
the first on
– board autonomous planning to control the
scheduling of operations for a spacecraft which lies 100 million miles from earth.
Characteristics of a Fifth Generation Computer
Ø They will be capable of fully parallel
processing.
Ø Computers will use super conductor memory like bio-chips
so that the speed will be very fast.
Ø The computers will be intelligent and knowledge base because of AI.
Ø Instead of HLL, natural
language like English,
Nepali, and Hindi
etc will be used for giving instruction and making computer
program.
Ø They will be large scale data processing on the basis of knowledge processing.
Ø The computers
are not available in market.
These are still in development phase or in testing phase or exists somewhere in the world as failed project.
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