A Brief History of Computers

IT Fundamentals

Where Technology Began…

• ABACUS– 2000-500 BC– Babylonians or Chinese

Napier’s Bones

Used for Multiplication and Division.

Schickard’s Calculator

Used in conjunction w/Napier’s bones to performAutomatic calculations. ThisEventually led to the binaryNumber system.

Slide Rule

Used for multiplication and division and scientific functions.

The Pascaline

One of the world’s firstAdding machines.

Early Caluclators

• 1822 Charles Babbage– Mechanical computing machine. – Too complicated to build until 1853

Generations of Computers

• Computers can be classified into 5 types determined by time periods.– First generation– Second generation– Third generation– Fourth generation– Fifth generation

First Generation computers

• Time Period: 1940 – 1956• Inventor: Le de Forest• Main processing device: Vacuum Tubes

Vacuum Tube

• Used to amplify or create an electrical signal by controlling the movement of electrons in a low-pressure space.

• Allowed first computers to perform digital computations.

Vacuum tubes today are mostly

found in TV’s and stereo equipment.

ENIAC• Cost $500,000 in 1946

– Equivalent to 5.1 million today

– Some microchips are sold for $0.39 today

• Weighed 30 tons and took up 2400 cubic feet.

• Took 29 milliseconds for one division.– Today’s Pentium 4 is a

million times faster.

ENIAC

Some processors today!!!

1st Generation

Advantages• It was the only electronic

device• First device to hold memory

Disadvantages• Very large in size, too bulky• Vacuum tubes burned out

frequently• They produced a lot of heat• There were many

maintenance problems

Second Generation Computers

• Time Period: 1956 - 1963 • Inventor: William Shockley• Main Processing Device: Transistor• Storage Media: Magnetic Disc

– Based on transistors and printed circuits– Much smaller and less power consumption

Transistors

• Bell laboratories invent the transistor

• Smaller, cheaper, more reliable, less heat

• A transistor is basically a switch and is the fundamental building block of computer circuitry.

First Transistor

Like a light switch on the wall that lets electricity flow to a

light bulb, the transistor acts as a simple electronic switch,

either preventing or allowing current to flow through.

2nd Generation

Advantages• Size reduced considerably• Very fast• Much more reliable

Disadvantages• Overheated quickly• Maintenance problems

Third Generation Computers

• Time Frame: 1964 – 1971• Inventors: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce• Main Processing Device: Integrated

Circuits (IC’s)• Storage Media: Floppy Disc

Integrated Circuit

• Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.

• Users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system– allowed the device to run many different applications at one time

with a central program that monitored the memory.

• Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

First Integrated Circuit

Integrated Circuits

3rd Generation

Advantages• Much smaller in size• Improved performance• Production cost was cheap

Disadvantages• IC’s are very complicated

Fourth Generation Computers

• Time Period: 1971 – Present• Inventor: Tedd Hoff• Main Processing Device: Microprocessors

– Utilize VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)– Smaller, faster, and more complex than 3rd

Generation• Storage Media: Floppies and CD’s

Microprocessors

• Thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single chip.• In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in

1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh.• Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers

and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors.

• As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet.

• Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.

4th Generation

Advantages• Compact• Less power consumption• Production cost is cheap

Disadvantages• No artificial intelligence

Fifth Generation Computers

• Time Period: Present and Beyond• Main Processing Device: Artificial

Intelligence• Storage Device: Video Disc (DVD)

Fifth Generation Computers

• Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today.

• The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. 

• Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come.

• The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

THE FUTURE

Imagine the Future

• The year is 2050…– How do you think the internet will have

changed?– What changes will have occurred in computer

technology?– What do you think will be the impact of

technology on…• The field of medicine• Cars, Homes, Business and Industry• Retail Stores and fast food restaurants

Living in a Computerized Society

• Converging computer technologies has become the focus of many communication and data networking companies.

• Embedded Computer Chips are increasingly found in common everyday appliances.

• The increasing miniaturization and processing power of microprocessors means that the future of computers holds promise for exciting new products and services.

Did You Know?

• Not all computers sit on a desktop or fit into a briefcase. Hundreds of devices contain tiny circuit boards (chips) that are essential to their operation. These chips are known as embedded computers.

• Can you name some embedded computers that you use daily?

Devices with Embedded Computers

• Automobiles• Microwaves• Watches• Cameras• TV’s• DVD players

• Printers• Fax Machines• PDA’s• Web-enabled Cell

Phones

Cyberspeak

• The ultimate wearable computer– Could be a wireless phone, with a myriad of

features, that you hook to your belt. – It might be a wristwatch for two-way

communication and a global-positioning system.

– Maybe even a digital camera.• But what about actually planted in your

skin?

Nanotechnology

• Nanobots or microscopic robots may be the future of medicine.

• Perhaps the most radical technology in human history is the quest to build tiny machines that are 1000 times smaller than the human hair.

Benefits of Nanotechnology

• Tiny robots could crawl through your arteries.

• Powerful drugs could be delivered to individual cancer cells

• Teeth would be self-repairing

• You could change your hair color through and injection of nanomachines that target hair follicles

• Living space could be transformed with self cleaning dishes

• Windows could lighten and darken at will

• Programmable paint• The walls of your house

could be composed of particle clouds that you could walk through

Future Computers

• Few argue that the next generation of computers will be nearly invisible, meaning that they will blend in with everyday objects.

• Flexible ink-like circuitry will be printed onto plastic or sprayed onto various other substrates, such as clothes.

Wearable Computers-Now

Wearable Computers-future?

Wearable Computers

Wearables

What can you invent?

• Assignment 1:– In Teams, come up with

an idea for new technology

• Use the packet of objects to create a new invention.

• Areas to cover:– Name– Purpose– Design– Present to class

– Class votes on favorite invention

• Assignment 2: – Using the Internet, find

one future invention– You must answer the

following questions in order to present to the class:

• What is it called?• What is its purpose?• When is it predicted to be

available?• Do you think it will be

popular?