In the 19th century, English mathematician Charles Babbage designed the Analytical

engine which became the basic framework of today’s computer. His brainchild led the way to
various technological advancements in the computer world that we now enjoy. So, to speak,
the history of computer can be broken down into 3 generations. Each of these generations
either resulted into new and improved computer or an improvement to the existing
technology.

The first generation happened from the year 1937 – 1946. The 1 st generation
computers could only perform a single task and had no operating system. Dr. John V.
Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the 1st electronic digital computer in the year 1937. In the
year 1943, Colossus, an electronic computer, was then build for the military. Following in the
year 1946, the first general– purpose digital computer or otherwise known as the Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was built. It contained 18,000 vacuum tubes
which was used for processing and weighted about 30 tons. According to history, when
ENIAC was first turn on, the lights of Philadelphia dimmed.

After the 1st generation, the 2nd generation of computers followed. This happened
between the year 1947 until 1962. During this time, transistors were used instead of vacuum
tubes because they were proven to be more reliable. In 1951, the Universal Automatic
Computer (UNIVAC 1) was introduced to the public. It was the 1 st computer designed for
commercial use. In 1953 the International Business Machine (IBM) 650 and 700 series
computers made their mark in the computer world. During this generation of computers over
100 computer programming languages were developed. It was in this time that computers had
memory and operating systems. Storage media such as tape and disk were in use also as well
as printers for output.

Lastly, the 3rd generation, consists of the year 1963 until the present. With the
invention of the integrated system, 3rd generation computers became smaller, more powerful,
and more reliable. They were able to run many different programs at the same time. In the
year 1980, the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-Dos) was born. In the following year,
1981, the personal computer (PC) was introduced by the IBM for both home and office use. 3
years later Apple devised the Macintosh computer with its icon driven interface and the 90s
gave us Windows operating system.

Due to the various computer improvements and developments, the computer that we
see today are now being used in all areas of life. It is a very useful tool that will continue to
experience new development as time passes.