History of Computers

Birth of computers

As I promised, here is an article on the history of computers. Now, in my previous article related to computers, I mentioned of the various computers that are present in today’s modern world.

Suprisingly, things were much different 20 years ago if you had wanted to use a computer. Computers these days are more advanced and operating systems are much better and what they do best: “Multi-tasking”.

Well, computers were actually present long before the 20^th century. It began in the 17^th century and followed through a number of generations before stopping in the fifth generation as it currently is.

There is six generations altogether and I will outline them as below:

• · Generation 0 – Mechanical Calculating Machines
• · Generation 1 – Vaacum tube Computers
• · Generation 2 - Transistors
• · Generation 3 – Integrated Circuits
• · Generation 4 – Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits (VLSI)
• · Generation 5 – the Future

Generation 0 (zero)

Generation zero was from 1600 to 1936. This entire generation consisted of mechanical machines that could do various functions.

This generation began in the early 17^th Century where John Napier mechanized the multiplication tables/logarithmic.

The calculating clock was then invented around 1617 by Wilhelm Schikard which marked the beginning of mechanical calculators.

In 1642, Blaise Pascal invented the ‘Pascaline’ an adding machine.

The major breakthrough came from Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz who invented the ‘Leibniz Step Reckoner’ which could add, subtract, multiply, divide and square root functions.

von Leibniz was the man who came up with differential calculus, first to study binary arithmetic at any length and developed the more complicated adding machine, the ‘Leibniz Step Reckoner’.

Then in 1804, Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented the Jacquard’s Punch Card Loom which used punch cards to operate the looms.

Now, let me remind you that in the 80’s and predominantly in the 70’s punch cards were very common with computers, even during programming.

Charles Babbage is probably the most common inventors in the late 1800 developing a number of interesting machines:

· Difference Engine

· Analytical Engine

Now the difference engine was developed in 1822 and was used to calculate tables of values of polynomials using the “finite differences” method.

The analytical engine, the more famous of the two machines invented was created in the year 1833. Now this engine was perhaps the core of what is in today’s modern computers.

This engine had three main components

· The mill

An arithmetic processing unit

· Store

A type of memory (like the cache memory or main memory)

· Input & Output devices (I/O)

Input via punch cards

I may not have mentioned this, but the primary functions of a computer is to fetch, decode and execute instructions.

Now, this engine is similar to the functions of a modern day computer.

To all women out there, I have to admit that it is a great honour to let you all know that a lady was the first programmer and her name was Ada Lovelace.

Therefore - a round of applause to all women out there for a great achievement in history and in the 1800s.

In the 1890s, Herman Hollerith invented the tabulating machine which was developed for the United States census.

It used punch cards as its main mechanism, and the machine was used to analyse the United States census data.

An interesting milestone here is that Hollerith then founded the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896 and this company merged with others to form IBM in the year 1924.

Generation 1 (One)

The first generation computers were based on vacuum tubes. I have a picture of it here:

In 1936, Alan Turing developed the Turing machine which worked on the principles of moving from one state to another state using a set of rules depending on a symbol it read from the tape. This allowed it to write a symbol on a tape or delete a symbol from a tape.

From 1936-1941, Konrad Zuse developed the Z1-Z3 machines. These were the first general purpose program controlled computer.

The machines were built with mechanical relays for control and memory. The programs were punched into old movie film.

1937 was the launch of ABC (Atanasoff Berry Computer). This was the first completely electronic computer that were built to solve systems of linear equations.

These computers were constructed using vacuum tubes.

Harvard Mark 1 was built in 1943 which was the first electro-mechanical digital computer in the United States.

It was built consisting of electromagnetic relays – magnets which open and close and act as metal switches.

Programming was done on punched paper tape and consisted of 1 million parts taking up 50ft of space in length and 8ft in height.

This machine was capable of 323 decimal-digit additions per second and could store 7323 digit numbers.

ENIAC was built in 1946 and the EDVAC in 1951. These two inventions were implemented by Eckert, Mauchly and Von Neumann.

The ENIAC had 18000 vacuum tubes and took up 1800 square feet, could do 5000 additions per second and had a memory capacity of 1000bits in what is 125 bytes.

The ENIAC was programmed by wire plugs into panels and was fully electronic and programmable. However, it required many wires to get the job done.

The EDVAC instead was an Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer which was fully programmable.

The difference between the ENIAC and EDVAC is that the EDVAC was programmed on binary (base 2) representations whereas the ENIAC used decimals (base 10).

It was also equipped with a CRT display monitor and had programs stored within its memory.

Generation 2 (Two)

The start of Generation 2 was marked with the invention of transistors by William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain.

The early DEC computers were equipped with transistors instead of vacuum tubes. Transistors acted as a gate switch which consisted of the on and off methodology, where on represented ‘1’ and off represented ‘0’.

During the second generation, programming moved from machine language to assembly language. It also marked the development of high level languages such as COBOL (1959) and FORTRAN (1954).

Third Generation (Generation 3)

The third generation began with the development of ICs (Integrated Chips) which were electronic circuits on a silicon based chip.

The IBM 360 was one of the first to run on ICs and was the first multi-programmable machines.

This was followed by the DEC PDP 8 in 1965 which sparked the minicomputer revolution.

In 1976 however, Cray-1 was launched bearing the heavy weight title: “Supercomputer”.

The Fourth Generation

The fourth generation marked more advances in the computer industry with the development of Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits (VLSI).

These circuits consisted of more than 10000 components per chip and led to the development of the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004 in 1971.

From then on, manufacturers such as Altair, IBM, Macintosh started developing processors for their range of computers.

That has not stopped until now, of course some of the manufacturers are now gone replaced by much bigger companies such as Intel and AMD.

IBM and Apple continue to have their own brand of computers but not necessarily running on their own processors.

Fifth Generation

The future is the fifth generation and though we are already in the fifth generation, it is a long way to go.

The fifth generation consists of

• Artificial intelligence
• Quantum computing
• Nanotechnology
• Natural language

Most of the things above are already in research for a long time. However, they are still in their primary stages and it would take great many years to successfully accomplish those things.

It has been a long journey since the 17^th century up to the 21^st century. 400 years of computation and no wonder it is so important in our lives today.

This is where my article ends for today, and I look forward to post more articles over the next few days! Hopefully you all enjoyed it.

Have a nice day then! :-)

Links

If you are really interested to know more about computers, maybe you should read the following books:

1. Computer Concepts 2010
2. Discovering Computers

Different types of computers

Different type of computers

Hi everyone, I had been busy the past couple of days and did not have the time to write articles. However, with the weekend approaching, I will be taking this opportunity to write a good many articles. Something over the past few days inspired me to write about computers.

Now computers are a passion of mine and I thought it would be a good idea to write about them. Also, being in the I.T. industry for a great many years, I feel obliged to write to my best extent on computers.

Now, I am beginning a series of articles here similar to the financial series of articles that I would be posting up soon.

Now, let us define computers: A computer is the most basic understanding is an electronic device that processes data, converting it into information that is useful to people.

Even at this very moment, you are using a computer to read this article, and the history of computers dates way back to the 17^th century in what was known as Generation zero. If you are wondering, we are currently in the fifth generation with artificial intelligence, quantum computation, nanotechnology, etc;

Now, I will write on the history of computing which would be interesting to some people, and fascinating to others in another article.

In this article, I am going to talk more about the different computers that are present in the current world:

• · Desktop computers
• · Workstations
• · Notebook computers
• · Tablet computers
• · Handheld computers
• · Smart phones
• · Supercomputers
• · Mainframe computers
• · Minicomputers

Desktop computers

Different type of computers

The most common computer used in today’s world are the desktop computers which were specially built for personal use be it at home or work. These computers are everywhere, from your office, to your house, schools, laboratories and even public places like a public library, universities and so on. There is a great chance that you have accessed this website using a desktop computer.

Today’s computers are brilliant at task management than many years ago. Today’s desktop computers can be used to communicate, produce music, edit photographs and videos, play sophisticated games, and much more.

As the name implies, a desktop computer is a full size computer that is too big to be carried around. Nowadays, most desktop computers are equipped with two primary hardware solutions – the monitor and a casing inside which is stored the central processing unit (CPU), the motherboard, the graphic card, storage devices, buses, power supply and so on.

A desktop computer is also equipped with a keyboard and mouse which are connected to their appropriate ports at the back of the casing.

Workstations

A workstation is a specialized, single user computer that typically has more power and features than a standard desktop computer. These machines are more popular in the lab of scientists, engineers or even animators who require a system with greater than average speed and power to perform sophisticated calculations, rendering, or high level tasks.

Workstations often have larger and higher resolution monitors, and accelerated graphics. In relation to this, I would give you an example : - such as the Quadro series of graphic cards. They are commonly used in workstations.

This higher specifications allow for advanced architectural engineering design, modeling ,animation and even video editing.

Notebook computers

Notebook computers as the name implies is approximately the size of an 8.5-11 inch notebook and can easily fit inside a briefcase. Since most people including yourself would set this device on your lap and use it conveniently in eateries, cafes, at the work place, in education institutions and so on, hence the name laptop.

Notebook computers can operate on alternating current or special batteries. These special device also weighs less than 8 pounds and some even lesser than three pounds.

Using a laptop is as simple as opening a book. Think of it as opening your notebook. Similarly, when a laptop is opened, the upper lid will present a screen or lcd monitor. At the bottom is the keyboard and beneath the keyboard is the specialty hardware such as the motherboard, cpu, hard-disk and so on.

The portability of laptops is one of the most major reasons for the increased use of laptops nowadays. They are the mobile computers that can be carried anywhere and used conveniently.

Tablet PC

Different type of computers

Tablet PC’s are some of the more newer developments in portable, full featured computers. Tablet PC’s just like a notebook offers the full range of functionalities except that they are lighter and accepts input from pen/pointers known as a stylus.

Most interactions are done directly via the screen of the computer and some tablet PC’s also allow for input via the user’s voice. As you know, even phones these days accept voice commands to get things done.

Tablet PC’s can run specialized versions of standard programs and can be connected to a network or to the internet. Certain and in most new models now – a keyboard and a mouse can be attached as well.

Tablet PC’s are used mainly in the graphic design field where drawing on the tablet PC’s can be translated into digital drawings and be edited by various graphic editing tools.

Handheld PC’s

Different type of computers

Handheld personal computers are computing devices small enough to fit in your hand. A popular type of handheld computer is the personal digital assistant (PDA).

A PDA is no larger than a small appointment book and is normally used for special applications such as taking notes, displaying telephone numbers and addresses and keeping track of dates or agendas.

Many PDA’s can be connected to computers to exchange data. Most PDAs come with a pen (stylus) that allows for handwriting recognition and some even have tiny built-in keyboards or microphones for voice input.

A wireless connection (Wi-Fi) can be used to access the internet with a PDA. PDAs in the later part of this century were converted into phones, cameras, music players and GPS.

The demands for PDA phones have been in the increase and of late have been mostly replaced by smart-phones that are equipped with much functionality similar to a computer.

Smart phones

Different type of computers

Smart phones are handheld devices or mobile phones that have a processing unit attached to act as a handheld computer cum phone.

These phones offer advanced features not typically found in normal cellular phones. These phones come with additional features beyond the traditional SMS and calling features. Smart phones these days allow you to surf the internet using your phone, take pictures, videos, listen to music, conduct presentations, record voice, play games, e-mail, and many other additional features.

Smart phones are also equipped with an operating system just like your desktop or laptop computers are equipped with an operating system, Windows, Linux, etc;

Supercomputers

Different type of computers

Supercomputers are the most fastest, and expensive modern computer systems. They are mostly used for intense processing and forecasting such as forecasting the weather, or super high resolution graphics such as ray traced images.

Government processes such as immigration clearances, and all other high level functionalities are handled by a supercomputer.

Supercomputers are also extensively used in the military to manage and calculate or even analyze full range of information from coordinates to traffic control and even launching systems.

Today, the world’s fastest supercomputer was developed by IBM – the IBM Roadrunner which runs on 1.026 – 1.105 Pflops or petaflops and is placed in the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico USA taking up a space of 6000 square feet.

Mainframe computers

Different type of computers

Mainframe computers are used in large organizations such as insurance companies and banks, where many people frequently need to use the same data. In a traditional mainframe environment, each user accesses the mainframe’s resources through a terminal (network terminal).

There are two kinds of terminal, one is a dumb terminal which does not process or store data, just basic I/O – input output and the intelligent terminal which can perform processing operations but these terminals normally do not have any storage.

Mainframes are large and powerful systems to handle the processing of thousands of users at any one time. Most large organizations implement mainframes due to their flexibilities in which department computers can be allocated a certain functionality that is related to the department in response to all programs.

For instance, an airline company which wishes to sell tickets online through the internet will require to connect their current website interface to a mainframe system.

You as the user would then connect to the website or the mainframe system to key in your ticket purchase.

Minicomputers

Different type of computers

Minicomputers are small sized computers which have their capabilities between the range of a personal desktop computer and a mainframe.

Minicomputers were replaced by the microcomputers which took over the reign of those mighty minicomputers due to their greater processing power.

Today, mini and micro computers are replaced by much more powerful systems as you can see from above.

Well, that’s some bit on the various types of computers. The next time perhaps I will write an article on the history of computers from Generation 0 – Generation 5 (currently).