Lesson 5: Ages and Generations of Computers PDF

LESSON 5: AGES AND GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER Learning Outcomes: After successful completion of this module, the student can be able to; Learn the history of computers Identify the different types of computers Appreciate the use of old and modern computers  BASIC COMPUTING PERIOD – AG...

LESSON 5: AGES AND GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER Learning Outcomes: After successful completion of this module, the student can be able to; Learn the history of computers Identify the different types of computers Appreciate the use of old and modern computers  BASIC COMPUTING PERIOD – AGES Pre-Mechanical Age  It can be defined as the time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D.  Early alphabets were developed such as the Phoenician alphabet.  It started off as just marks in wet clay, but later paper was created out of papyrus plant.  The most popular kind of paper made was probably by the Chinese who made paper from rags  Egyptian scrolls which were popular ways of writing down information to save. Some groups of people were actually binding paper together into a book-like form.  Around 100A.D. was when the first 1-9 system was created by people from India.  It wasn’t until 875A.D, (775 years later) that  BASIC COMPUTING PERIOD – AGES Mechanical Age  The mechanical age can be defined as the time between 1450 and 1840.  Technologies like the slide rule (an analog computer used for multiplying and dividing) were invented.  Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline which was a very popular mechanical computer.  Charles Babbage developed the difference engine which tabulated polynomial equations using the method of finite differences.  The mechanical age is when we first start to see connections between our current technology and its ancestors.  BASIC COMPUTING PERIOD – AGES Electromechanical Age  The electromechanical age can be defined as the time between 1840 and 1940. These are the beginnings of telecommunication.  The telegraph was created in the early 1800s.  Morse code was created by Samuel Morse in 1835.  The telephone (one of the most popular forms of communication ever) was created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.  The first radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894.  The first large-scale automatic digital computer in the United States was the Mark 1 created by Harvard University  BASIC COMPUTING PERIOD – AGES Electronic Age  The electronic age is what we currently live in. It can be defined as the time between 1940 and right now.  The ENIAC was the first high-speed, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems. This computer was designed to be used by the U.S. Army for artillery firing tables. This machine was even bigger than the Mark 1 taking up 680 square feet and weighing 30 tons - HUGE. It mainly used vacuum tubes to do its calculations.  The different generations of computer started to exist. GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER There are five generations of computer:  First generation – 1946 to 1958  Second generation – 1959 to 1964  Third generation – 1965 to 1970  Fourth generation – 1971 to Today  Fifth generation – Today to future FIRST GENERATION – Vacuum Tubes - 1946 tubes to 1958 ► The first computer systems used vacuum for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. These computers were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, the first computers generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. ► First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. It would take operators days or even weeks to set-up Examples: – ENIACa–new problem. EDSAC Input – UNIVAC was I, UNIVAC II, UNIVAC 1101 based on punched cards and paper tape, SECOND GENERATION – Transistors - 1959 to 1964 ► The world would see transistors replace vacuum tubes in the second generation of computers. The transistor was invented at Bell Labs in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. ► The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient, and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for SECOND GENERATION – Transistors - 1959 to 1964 ► From Binary to Assembly ► Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology. ► The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry. THIRD GENERATION: Integrated Circuits -1965 to 1970 ► The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. It could carry out instructions in billionths of a second. Much smaller and cheaper compare to the second-generation computers. ► Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced w ith an operating system, which 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 THIRD GENERATION: Integrated Circuits -1965 to 1970 DID YOU KNOW? An integrated circuit (IC) is a small electronic device made out of a semiconductor material. The first integrated circuit was developed in the 1950s by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor. FOURTH GENERATION: Microprocessor -1971 to ► The microprocessor ushered in the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of Today integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls on 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. FOURTH GENERATION: Microprocessor -1971 to Today  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. FIFTH GENERATION: Artificial Intelligence-Today to future ► 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.  References https://ftms.edu.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/ 2019/02/csca0201_ch01.pdf https://www.sutori.com/story/history-of-ict- information-and-communicationstechnology-- N7J51bQqSU7vLWcVfdn5M9qa https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer- history.html https://www.explainthatstuff.com/ historyofcomputers.htm