Empowerment Technology: History of Computers

History of Computers

• The earliest counting devices included sticks, stones, and bones, used by primitive people.
• Over time, various computing devices evolved, starting from the abacus to modern computers.

Abacus

• Considered the first computer, invented in China around 4,000 years ago.
• A wooden rack with metal rods and beads, used for arithmetic calculations.

Napier's Bones

• Invented by John Napier in the early 17th century.
• A manually-operated calculating device using 9 ivory strips to facilitate multiplication and division.
• First machine to incorporate the decimal point.

Pascaline

• Created by Blaise Pascal between 1642 and 1644, known as the first mechanical calculator.
• Designed to assist his tax accountant father, it performed only addition and subtraction.
• Utilized a series of gears and wheels enclosed in a wooden box.

Stepped Reckoner

• Developed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673, improved upon Pascal's design.
• A digital mechanical calculator using fluted drums for calculations rather than gears.

Difference Engine

• Designed by Charles Babbage in the early 1820s, regarded as the Father of Modern Computers.
• A mechanical computer capable of performing simple calculations, originally steam-driven.

Analytical Engine

• Also designed by Babbage in 1830, it featured punch cards for input.
• Could store information and solve any mathematical problem.

Tabulating Machine

• Invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890, utilized punch cards for data tabulation.
• Used in the 1890 U.S. Census, leading to the establishment of IBM in 1924.

Differential Analyzer

• The first electronic computer introduced in the U.S. in 1930 by Vannevar Bush.
• An analog device using vacuum tubes to perform calculations rapidly.

Mark I

• Developed in 1944 through collaboration between IBM and Harvard.
• Recognized as the first programmable digital computer.

Generations of Computers

• Generations represent technological advancements, specifically in circuitry and miniaturization.
• Each generation has resulted in increased speed, memory, and processing power.

First Generation Computers (1946-1959)

• Utilized vacuum tubes; slow, large, and expensive.
• Depended on batch operating systems and punch cards.
• Notable models: ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC I, IBM-701, IBM-650.

Second Generation Computers (1959-1965)

• Introduced transistors, which were cheaper and more efficient than vacuum tubes.
• Employed magnetic cores for primary memory and magnetic disks for storage.
• Programming languages included COBOL and FORTRAN, with multiprogramming capabilities.
• Notable models: IBM 1620, IBM 7094, CDC 1604, CDC 3600, UNIVAC 1108.

Third Generation Computers (1965-1971)

• Used integrated circuits (ICs), allowing for more compact designs and reduced costs.
• Increased reliability and efficiency with the use of high-level programming languages.
• Notable models: IBM-360 series, Honeywell-6000 series, PDP, IBM-370/168, TDC-316.

Fourth Generation Computers (1971-1980)

• Featured very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, containing millions of transistors.
• Enabled compact and powerful systems with real-time and distributed operating systems.
• Notable models: DEC 10, STAR 1000, PDP 11, CRAY-1, CRAY-X-MP.

Fifth Generation Computers (1980-present)

• Evolved with ultra-large scale integration (ULSI) technology, leading to microprocessors with tens of millions of components.

Explore the fascinating evolution of computing devices from primitive counting methods to modern technology in this quiz. Understand key milestones such as the abacus and other landmark inventions that have shaped computing history.