Evolution of Computer

1. Computer:
Development & Generations

2. Development of Computers

3. Development of Computer
• The brief history of computer, is a timeline of how computers evolved from their
humble beginning to the machines of today that surf the Internet, play games and
stream multimedia in addition to crunching numbers.

4. Development of Computer
• By 1880, the U.S. population had grown so large that it took more than seven years to
tabulate the U.S. Census results.
• The government sought a faster way to get the job done, giving rise to punch-card
based computers but that took up entire rooms.

5. • Before the 1500s, in Europe, calculations were made with an abacus
Invented around 500BC, available in many cultures (China, Japan,
Greece, Rome, etc.
• In 1642, Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist, philosopher)
invented a mechanical calculator called the Pascaline
Evolution of Computer

6. • In 1671, Gottfried von Leibniz (German mathematician, philosopher)
extended the Pascaline to do multiplications, divisions, square roots: the
Stepped Reckoner
• None of these machines had memory, and they required human
intervention at each step
Evolution of Computer

7. • In 1822 Charles Babbage (English mathematician, philosopher), sometimes called the “father
of computing” built the Difference Engine
• Machine designed to automate the computation (tabulation) of polynomial functions (which
are known to be good approximations of many useful functions)
– Based on the “method of finite difference”
– Implemented some storage
Evolution of Computer

8. • In 1833 Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, but he died
before he could build it
– It was built after his death,
– powered by steam
– Enhanced storage capability
Evolution of Computer

9. Generations of Computers
• A generation refers to the state of improvement in the development of a product.
• This term is also used in the different advancements of computer technology.
• With each new generation, the circuitry has gotten smaller and more advanced than
the previous generation before it.

10. Generations of Computers
• As a result of the miniaturization, speed, power, and memory of computers has proportionally
increased.
• The computer has evolved from a large-sized simple calculating machine to a smaller but much
more powerful machine.
• The evolution of computer to the current state is defined in terms of the generations of
computer.

11. Generations of Computer
• Each generation of computer is designed based on a new technological development, resulting in
better, cheaper and smaller computers that are more powerful, faster and efficient than their
predecessors.
• Currently, there are five generations of computer.
• The main difference between one generations to the next is in terms of the technology used by
them, computing characteristics, physical appearance, and their applications.

12. Generations of Computer

13. First Generation Computers
(1940-1956)
• The first computers used vacuum tubes (a sealed glass tube containing a near-vacuum
which allows the free passage of electric current) for circuitry and magnetic
drums for memory.
• They were often enormous in size and taking up entire room.
• First generation computers relied on machine language.

14. First Generation Computers
(1940-1956)
• They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of
electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions
(defect or breakdown).
• The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing
devices.

15. First Generation
Computers
Advantages :
• It was only electronic device
• First device to hold memory
Limitations :
• Too bulky i.e large in size
• Vacuum tubes burn frequently
• They were producing heat
• Maintenance problems

16. Second Generation Computers
(1956-1963)
• Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers.
• Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to
symbolic.
• 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.

17. Second Generation Computers
Advantages :
• Size reduced considerably
• The very fast
• Very much reliable
Limitations :
• They over heated quickly
• Maintenance problems

18. Third Generation Computers
(1964-1971)
• The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of
computers.
• Transistors were miniaturized and placed on siliconchips, called semiconductors.
• Instead of punched cards and printouts, 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.

19. Third generation
computers
Advantages :
• ICs are very small in size
• Improved performance
• Production cost cheap
Limitations:
• ICs are congested

20. Fourth Generation Computers
(1971-present)
• The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip.
• 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.
• Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and
handheld devices.

21. Fourth Generation
Computers

22. Fifth Generation Computers
(present and beyond)
• Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence.
• Are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition.
• The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial
intelligence a reality.
• The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural
language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

23. Future of Computers