HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
Introduction
A computer is any device with inputs, outputs, processes and stores information
Long, Long Ago
The abacus
It had beads on rods to count and calculate and still widely used in Asia
Way Back Then
Slide Rule 1630
It was based on Napier’s rules for logarithms and was used until 1970s
19th Century
Jacquard Loom
It was hailed to be the first to store a program (punched metal cards) and still in use today.
Difference Engine 1822 (by Charles Babbage - 1792-1871)
It was huge calculator which was never finished which used a series of cogs and wheels.
Analytical Engine 1833
It was a calculating “mill” could store numbers, it used punched metal cards for instructions and powered by steam.
It accurate to six decimal places.
Vacuum Tubes - 1941 - 1956
First Generation Electronic Computers used Vacuum Tubes. Vacuum tubes are glass tubes with circuits inside. Vacuum tubes have no air inside of them, which protects the circuitry.
UNIVAC - 1951
It was the first fully electronic digital computer built in the U.S. It was created at the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC weighed 30 tons, contained 18,000 vacuum tubes and a cost $487,000. It was programed by Grace Hopper.
Third Generation – 1964-1971
They had Integrated Circuits an operating System and were getting smaller and cheaper.
The First Microprocessor – 1971
It was the age of Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit (VLSIC) – Transistors, resistors, and capacitors. An example is the Intel 4004 which had 2,250 transistors, compared to the much recent Pentium IV which has 42 MILLION transistors (Each transistor 0.13 microns (10-6 meters))
Fourth Generation – 1971 to present
Fourth generation of computers have seen extensive use of microchip technology which has led to computers getting smaller, cheaper, faster, and more power efficient. This led to birth of personal computers.
References:
History of computers – The Early Days (2015,...