History Of Computers

EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER

A SHORT HISTORY

ABACUS • 1000 BC: The first calculating device ABACUS was invented in Egypt . • The abacus is still in use in some countries.

PASCALINE • 1642: A Frenchman Blaise Pascal introduced the first mechanical calculating device. • It could do both addition and subtraction.

• 1833: Charles Babbage professor of mathematics at the Cambridge University with the assistance of Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace developed a machine that could store information, calculate numbers and solve algebraic expression.

• 1887:A statistician named Herman Hollerith developed a machine called the census machine for the census bureau. It was capable of reading numbers, characters, and also special symbols.

• 1930: Howard Aikens and Grace Hooper developed an electrically operated machine which could calculate , store data, read characters and also special symbols. The machine was gigantic in size. It was named Harvard Mark 1

• 1945 : First electronic general purpose calculator ,ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator ) built in U.S ,weighs 33 tons consumes 150 kw and averages 5000 operations per second

• 1947 : Transistor, essential storage device for computers invented by American engineers William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Bartain .

Manchester Mark 1

• 1948 :First stored program computer, Manchester Mark 1 , built in UK. Using valves , it can perform about 500 operations per second and has the first RAM . It fills a room the size of a small office.

• 1951 : Early computer game , Nim , played by Ferranti Nimrod computer at the Festival of Britain.

Ferranti Nimrod Computer

Jack Kilby

• 1957:FORTRAN ( Formula Translator) Programming language invented at IBM. • 1958:Integrated Circuit (microchip) produced by American engineer Jack Kilby. His circuit is made of a single piece of semiconductor.

• 1964: BASIC (Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is created by professors at Dartmouth College ,US. BASIC later becomes popular among personal computers.

DEC PDP-8

• 1965: First commercially successful microcomputer, DEC PDP-8 is produced in US. It sits on a desktop.

Bill Gates

• 1971: First microprocessor chip , the Intel 4004, produced in US. It performs 60000 operations per second. • 1975: Microsoft founded by American businessmen Bill Gates and Paul Allen . They developed DOS which later becomes the dominant operating system for computers.

• 1976: CRAY-1 supercomputer built . Word processors for personal computers , Electric Pencil, developed. ‘Apple’ computer company formed. Cray-1 Supercomputer

• 1977: Mass produced personal computer, Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor ) appears.

Commodore PET

• 1979: Application software for personal computers , ‘VisiCalc’, appears. A spread sheet program, it sells 100,000 copies the first year. VisiCalc

Osborne 1

• 1981: First portable computer, Osborne 1, produced. At the size and weight of a sewing machine, however, it is much less convenient than current portable computers.

• 1981: IBM launches IBM PC on the personal computer market. IBM makes the first massive sales in the personal computer market. IBM PC

• 1984: Apple Macintosh computer becomes first successful personal computer with a mouse and easy to use Graphic User Interface (GUI). GUI

• 1985: Microsoft launches Windows for PC . Windows is a GUI similar to Mac’s, making personal computer much easier to use.

VLSI Program

• 1990 : IBM Pentium PC produced. It holds up to 4,000 mega bytes of RAM and can perform up to 112 million instructions per seconds. The microprocessor chip at the heart of the computer measures 16mm by 17mm and contains 3.1 million transistors . It is designed using a system called VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration).

Gener Dates Charac ation teristic 1st 1944- Use Valves 59 (Vacuum

Generations Of Computers

2nd

195964 196475

tubes) Use transistors

4th

1975-

Large Scale Integrated Circuits Very

5th

Under develo pment

Intelligenc e” based computers

3rd

Large Scale Integrated Circuits “Artificial

Anatomy Of A Computer • Every computer has four basic parts, or units: an input unit such as the keyboard, that feeds information into the computer; a central processing unit (CPU) that performs the various tasks of the computer; an output unit , such as a monitor , that displays the results; a memory unit that stores information and instructions.