HANDOUT No.

2 4 BASIC COMPUTING PERIODS

LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Describe the insight about the 4 basic computing periods of computer.
 Explain how machine changes the worlds intodigital and virtual reality.
 Classify the different discoveries during pre-mechanical, mechanical, elector-mechanical and electronic age.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. N a m e   t h e   d i f f e r e n t   p e r s o n a g e s / i n v e n t o r s   a n d   t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n s in the development of computer.
2. Identify the machine that were developed and made remarkable contribution in the development of the modern computer;
3. Appreciate the major contributions of  some experts-in the improvement of computer; and
4. D e m o n s t r a t e   t h e   v a l u e   o f   t e a m w o r k ,   p a t i e n c e   a n d s h a r i n g in doing the given activity.
INTRODUCTION
 Information technology has been around for a long, longtime. Basically as long as people have been around, information technology has
been around because there were always ways of communicating through technology available at that point in time. There are 4 main ages that divide up the
history of information technology.
 O n l y   t h e   l a t e s t   a g e   ( e l e c t r o n i c )   a n d   s o m e   o f   t h e electromechanical age really affects us today, but it is important to learn
about how we got to the point we are at with technology today.
Computing Periods
Four basic periods, each characterized by a principal technology used to
solve  t h e   i n p u t ,   p r o c e s s i n g ,   o u t p u t   a n d   c o m m u n i c a t i o n   p r o b l e m s   o f   t h e t i m e :
A. Pre mechanical
B. M e c h a n i c a l
C .Electromechanical
D.Electronic
A. The Pre mechanical Age: 3000 B.C. - 1450 A.D.1 .   W r i t i n g   a n d   A l p h a b e t s .
  T h e   f i r s t   h u m a n s   c o m m u n i c a t e d   o n l y   t h r o u g h s p e a k i n g and picture drawings. In 3000 B.C., the Sumerians in Mesopotamia(what is today
southern Iraq) devised a writing system. The system, called"cuniform" used signs corresponding to spoken sounds, instead of
pictures,t o   e x p r e s s   w o r d s .   F r o m   t h i s   f i r s t   i n f o r m a t i o n   s y s t e m   —   w r i t i n g   —   c a m e c i v i l i z a t i o n as we know it today. The
Phoenicians around 2000 B.C. further simplified writing by creating symbols that expressed single syllables and
consonants  ( t h e   f i r s t   t r u e   a l p h a b e t ) .   T h e   G r e e k s   l a t e r   a d o p t e d   t h e P h o e n i c i a n alphabet and added vowels; the
Romans gave the letters Latin names to create the alphabet we use today.
2. Paper and Pens.
  F o r   t h e   S u m e r i a n s ,   i n p u t   t e c h n o l o g y   c o n s i s t e d   o f   p e n like device called a stylus that could scratch marks in wet clay. About2600 B.C.,
the Egyptians discovered that they could write on the papyrus plant, using hollow reeds or rushes to hold the first "ink" - pulverized
carbon o r a s h m i x e d w i t h l a m p o i l a n d g e l a t i n f r o m b o i l e d d o n k e y s k i n . Other societies wrote on bark, leaves, or leather.
The Chinese developed techniques for making paper from rags, on which modern-day paper making is based, around 100 A.D.
3. Books and Libraries: Permanent Storage Devices.
 Religious leaders in Mesopotamia kept the earliest "books" a collection of rectangular clay tablets, inscribed with cuneiform and
packaged in labeled containers — in their personal "libraries." The Egyptians kept scrolls - sheets of papyrus wrapped around a shaft of wood. Around 600
B.C., the Greeks began to fold sheets  o f   p a p y r u s   v e r t i c a l l y   i n t o   l e a v e s   a n d   b i n d   t h e m   t o g e t h e r .   T h e d i c t i o n a r y and
encyclopedia made their appearance about the same time. The Greeks are also credited with developing the first truly public libraries around 500 B.C.
4. The First Numbering Systems.
 The Egyptians struggled with a system that depicted  t h e   n u m b e r s   1 - 9   a s   v e r t i c a l   l i n e s ,   t h e   n u m b e r   1 0   a s   a   U   o r c i r c l e , the
number 100 as a coiled rope, and the number 1,000 as a lotus blossom. The first numbering systems similar to those in use today we
reinvented between 100 and 200 A.D. by Hindus in India who created a nine-
d i g i t   n u m b e r i n g   s y s t e m .   A r o u n d   8 7 5   A . D . ,   t h e   c o n c e p t   o f   z e r o   w a s d e v e l o p e d . It was through the Arab
traders that today's numbering system —9 digits plus a 0 — made its way to Europe sometime in the 12th century.
5. The First Calculators.
  T h e e x i s t e n c e   o f   a   c o u n t i n g   t o o l   c a l l e d t h e a b a c u s , one of the very first information processors, permitted people to"store" numbers
temporarily and to perform calculations using beads strung-on wires. It continued to be an important tool throughout the Middle Ages.
ABACUS

B. The Mechanical Age: 1450 – 1840

1. The First Information Explosion.
 Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, invented the movable metal-type printing process in 1450 and sped up the process of
composing pages from weeks to a few minutes. The printing press
made  w r i t t e n   i n f o r m a t i o n   m u c h   m o r e   a c c e s s i b l e   t o   t h e   g e n e r a l   p u b l i c   b
reducing the time and cost that it took to reproduce written material. The development of book indexes (alphabetically sorted lists  of topics and
names)   a n d   t h e   w i d e s p r e a d   u s e   o f   p a g e   n u m b e r s   a l s o   m a d e   i n f o r m a t i o n
r e t r i e v a l   a   m u c h   e a s i e r   t a s k .   T h e s e   n e w   t e c h n i q u e s   o f   o r g a n i z i n g i n f o r m a t i o n would become valuable
later in the development of files and databases .
2. Math by Machine.
 The first general purpose "computers" were actually
people  w h o   h e l d   t h e   j o b   t i t l e   " c o m p u t e r :   o n e   w h o   w o r k s   w i t h   n u m b e r s . " Difficulties in human errors were slowing scientists and
mathematicians in their pursuit of greater knowledge.
5. Slide Rules, the Pascaline and Leibniz's Machine.
A.Slide Rule.
  I n   t h e   e a r l y   1 6 0 0 s ,   W i l l i a m   O u g h t r e d ,   a n   E n g l i s h c l e r g y m a n , invented the slide rule, a device that allowed the user
to multiply and divide by sliding two pieces of precisely machines transcribed wood against each other. The slide rule is an early
example of  a n   a n a l o g   c o m p u t e r - a n   i n s t r u m e n t   t h a t   m e a s u r e s   i n s t e a d   o f c o u n t s .
B.Pascaline.
  B l a i s e   P a s c a l ,   l a t e r   t o   b e c o m e   a   f a m o u s   F r e n c h m a t h e m a t i c i a n , built one of the
first mechanical computing machines as a teenager, around 1642. It was called a Pascaline, and it used a series of wheels and cogs to add and
subtract numbers.
C.Leibniz's Machine.
  G o t t f r i e d   v o n   L e i b n i z ,   a n   i m p o r t a n t   G e r m a n m a t h e m a t i c i a n and philosopher (he independently invented calculus
at the same time as Newton) was able to improve on Pascal's machine in the 1670s by adding additional components that made
multiplication and division easier.
6 . Babbage's Engines
A.The Difference Engine
  A n   e c c e n t r i c   E n g l i s h   m a t h e m a t i c i a n   n a m e d C h a r l e s Babbage, frustrated by mistakes, set his mind to creating a machine that
could both calculate numbers and print the results. In the   1 8 2 0 s ,   h e   w a s   a b l e   t o   p r o d u c e   a   w o r k i n g   m o d e l   o f   h i s   f i r s t
a t t e m p t , which he called the Difference Engine (the name was based on
a   m e t h o d   o f   s o l v i n g   m a t h e m a t i c a l   e q u a t i o n s   c a l l e d   t h e   " m e t h o d   o f d i f f e r e n c e s "). Made of toothed wheels and shafts
turned by a hand crank, the machine could do computations and create charts showing the s q u a r e s a n d c u b e s o f n u m b e r s . H e h a d
p l a n s f o r a m o r e c o m p l e x D i f f e r e n c e Engine but was never able to actually build it because of difficulties in obtaining funds, but he did
create and leave behind detailed plans.
b.The Analytical Engine.
 Designed during the 1830s by Babbage, the Analytical  E n g i n e   h a d   p a r t s   r e m a r k a b l y   s i m i l a r   t o   m o d e r n -
d a y c o m p u t e r s . For instance, the Analytical Engine was to have a part
called the "store," which would hold the numbers that had been
i n p u t t e d   a n d   t h e   q u a n t i t i e s   t h a t   r e s u l t e d   a f t e r   t h e y   h a d   b e e n m a n i p u l a t e d . It was also to have a part called
the "mill" - an area in which the numbers were actually manipulated. Babbage also planned to use punch cards to direct the operations performed by
the machine — an idea he picked up from seeing the results that a French weaver
named  J o s e p h   J a c q u a r d   h a d   a c h i e v e d   u s i n g   p u n c h e d   c a r d s   t o a u t o m a t i c a l l y control the
patterns that would be woven into cloth by a loom.
c.Augusta Ada Byron.
 She helped Babbage design the instructions that would be given to the machine on punch cards (for which she has been
called  t h e   " f i r s t   p r o g r a m m e r " )   a n d   t o   d e s c r i b e ,   a n a l y z e ,   a n d p u b l i c i z e his ideas. Babbage eventually was
forced to abandon his hopes  o f   b u i l d i n g   t h e   A n a l y t i c a l   E n g i n e ,   o n c e   a g a i n   b e c a u s e   o f   f a i l u r e to find funding.
C. The Electromagnetically Age: 1840 - 1940
T h e   d i s c o v e r y   o f   w a y s   t o   h a r n e s s   e l e c t r i c i t y   w a s   t h e   k e y   a d v a n c e   m a d e d u r i n g this period.
Knowledge and information could now be converted into electrical impulses.
1. The Beginnings of Telecommunication.
 Technologies that form the basis for modern-day telecommunication systems include:
a.Voltaic Battery.
 The discovery of a reliable method of creating and storing electricity (with a voltaic battery) at the end of the
18thcentury made possible a whole new method of communicating information.
b.Telegraph.
 The telegraph, the first major invention to use electricity for communication purposes, made it possible to transmit information over great distances with
great speed.
C. Morse Code.
 The usefulness of the telegraph was further enhanced by the development of Morse Code in 1835 by Samuel Morse, an American
from Poughkeepsie, New York. Morse devised a system that broke down information (in this case, the alphabet) into bits (dots and
dashes)that could then be transformed into electrical impulses and transmitted over a wire (just as today's digital technologies break down
information into zeros and ones).
d.Telephone and Radio.
 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in1876. This was followed by the discovery that electrical waves travel through space and can
produce an effect far from the point at which they originated. These two events led to the invention of the radio by Marconi in 1894.
1. Electromechanical Computing.
Herman Hollerith and IBM.
 By 1890, Herman Hollerith, a young man with a d e g r e e i n m i n i n g e n g i n e e r i n g w h o w o r k e d i n t h e C e n s u s O f f i c e i n W a s h i n g t o n ,
D.C., had perfected a machine that could automatically
sort  c e n s u s   c a r d s   i n t o   a   n u m b e r   o f   c a t e g o r i e s   u s i n g   e l e c t r i c a l
s e n s i n g d e v i c e s t o " r e a d " t h e p u n c h e d h o l e s i n e a c h c a r d a n d t h u s c o u n t the millions of census cards and categorize the
population into relevant groups. The company that he founded to manufacture and sell
it  e v e n t u a l l y   d e v e l o p e d   i n t o   t h e   I n t e r n a t i o n a l   B u s i n e s s   M a c h i n e s C o r p o r a t i o n (IBM). Howard Aiken, a PhD student at Harvard
University, decided to try to combine Hollerith's punched card technology with Babbage's dreams of a general-purpose, "programmable"
computing machine. With funding from IBM, he built a machine known as the Mark I, which used
paper  t a p e   t o   s u p p l y   i n s t r u c t i o n s ( p r o g r a m s )   t o   t h e   m a c h i n e   t o m a n i p u l a t i n g data (input on paper punch
cards), counters to store numbers, and Electromechanical
relays to help register results.
D. The Electronic Age: 1940 - Present
1. First Tries.
 In the early 1940s, scientists around the world began to realize that electronic vacuum tubes, like the type used to create early
radios, could be used to replace electromechanical parts.
2. Eckert and Mauchly.
a . The First High-Speed, General-Purpose Computer Using Vacuum Tubes, t h e   E N I A C .
  J o h n   M a u c h l y ,   a   p h y s i c i s t ,   a n d J .   P r o s p e r   E c k e r t ,   a n e l e c t r i c a l engineer, at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the
University of Pennsylvania, funded by the U.S. Army, developed the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) in 1946. It
could  a d d ,   s u b t r a c t ,   m u l t i p l y   a n d   d i v i d e   i n   m i l l i s e c o n d s   a n d c a l c u l a t e the trajectory of an artillery round in
about 20 seconds.

b.The First Stored-Program Computer.

 A problem with the ENIAC was that the  m a c h i n e   h a d   n o   m e a n s   o f   s t o r i n g   p r o g r a m   i n s t r u c t i o n s   i n   i t s m e m o r y -
to change the instructions, the machine would literally have to b e r e w i r e d . M a u c h l y a n d E c k e r t b e g a n t o d e s i g n t h e E D V A C - t h e
E l e c t r o n i c Discreet Variable Computer -to address this problem.
Johnv o n   N e u m a n n   j o i n e d   t h e   t e a m   a s   a   c o n s u l t a n t   a n d   p r o d u c e d   a n i n f l u e n t i a l report in June
1945 synthesizing and expanding on Eckertand Mauchly's ideas, which resulted in von Neumann being credited as
the  o r i g i n a t o r   o f   t h e   s t o r e d   p r o g r a m   c o n c e p t .   M a u r i c e   W i l k e s ,   a
British  s c i e n t i s t   a t   C a m b r i d g e   U n i v e r s i t y ,   c o m p l e t e d   t h e   E D S A C (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculat
o r )   t w o   y e a r s   b e f o r e EDVAC was finished, thereby taking the claim of the first stored- program computer.
c.The First General-Purpose Computer for Commercial Use.
 Eckert andMauchly began the development of a computer called UNIVAC (Universal
Automatic  C o m p u t e r ) ,   w h i c h   t h e y   h o p e d   w o u l d   b e   t h e   w o r l d ' s   f i r s t g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e   c o m p u t e r   f o r   c o m m e r c i a l   u s e ,   b u t  
t h e y   r a n   o u t   o f m o n e y and sold their company to Remington Rand. A machine called LEO(Lyons Electronic Office) went into action a few months
before UNIVAC and became the world's first commercial computer.
3. The Generations of Digital Computing.
 Information technology has traditionally  b e e n   b r o k e n   d o w n   i n t o   f o u r   o r   f i v e   d i s t i n c t   s t a g e s   o r c o m p u t e r
generations, each marked by the technology used to create the main logic element (the  electronic component used to store and
process information) used in computers during the period.
ACTIVITY 2 - LEARNING ACTIVITIES
I. Identify the correct answer and write it on the space provided. .
___________ 1.The discovery of a reliable method of creating and storing electricity (with a voltaic battery) at the end of the
18thcentury made possible a whole new method of communicating information.
_____________2. Invented the movable metal-type printing process in 1450 and sped up the process of composing pages from weeks to a few minutes.
_____________3. one of the very first information processors, permitted people to"store" numbers temporarily and to perform calculations using beads
strung-on wires.
____________4. What does E D V A C s t a n d s f o r ?
____________5 . W h a t d o e s U N IVAC stands for ?
____________6. They developed a computer called UNIVAC (Universal Automatic  C o m p u t e r
____________7 . These two events led to the invention of the radio by Marconi in 1894.
____________8. He independently invented calculus at the same time as Newton
____________9. Invented the slide rule, a device that allowed the user to multiply and divide by sliding two pieces of precisely machines
transcribed wood against each other.
___________10. F o r   t h e   S u m e r i a n s ,   i n p u t   t e c h n o l o g y   c o n s i s t e d   o f   p e n like device called a_____ that could scratch marks in wet clay.
II. ESSAY: Directions: Answer the following questions briefly but substantially.
Which of the 4 main periods of the history of information technology greatly affects us today why? (10 points)

Prepared by:
Riza Rose R. Ayad