UNIT 2

Development of Computers
 History of Computing
 The earliest device that qualifies as a digital
computer is the “Abacus”. (Also known as
“Soroban”).
 This device permits users to represent numbers by
the positioning beads on a rack.
 Simple addition and subtraction can be carried out
rapidly and efficiently by positioning the beads.
 Although, the abacus was invented around 600
B.C., it is interesting to note that it is still used in
the Far East and its users can calculate at amazing
speeds.
 PASCAL’s - First Adding Machine
 The French mathematician, physicist, and religious
philosopher Blaise Pascal developed the first adding
machine between 1642 and 1644 to help his father, a civil
servant, in tax calculations.

 VON LEIBUIZ - First Calculator for

Multiplication
 Later in 1971, Barson Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibuiz of
Germany invented the first calculator for multiplication.
 HOLLERITH-Introduced Punched Cards
 Herman Hollerith, a government statistician,

came up with the concept of punched-card

system of collecting and tabulating the data.
 Tabulating equipment was extremely successful

and allowed the 1890 census of U S A to be

completed in less than two years.
 Hollerith continued to develop his card methods

and founded the Tabulating Machine

Company.
 Upon Hollerith’s retirement in 1904, Thomas

Watson, became president and later changed the

name of the company to International Business
Machines Corporation (I B M).
 BABBAGE-Difference Engine
 Charles Babbage, a professor at Cambridge
University is considered to be the father of
modern digital computers.
 During his period, mathematical & statistical
tables were prepared by a group of clerks.
Babbage had to spend several hours to check
these tables. Soon he became dissatisfied and
exasperated with that type of monotonous job.
The result was that he started thinking to build a
machine which could compute tables guaranteed
to be error-free.
 In this process, Babbage designed a “Difference
Engine” in the year 1822.
 In 1842, Babbage came out with new idea of
Analytical Engine that was intended to be completely
automatic.
 It was to be capable of performing the basic arithmetic
problem at an average speed of 60 additions per
minute.
 Unfortunately he was unable to produce a working
model of that machine because of the unavailability of
some technology required to manufacture the machine.
 However his efforts established a number of principles
which have been shown to be the fundamental to the
design of any digital computer.
MAUCHLY AND ECKERT
 In 1945, two scientists, John Mauchly and Presper

Eckert, designed and developed the Electronic

Numerical Integrator And Computer ( ENIAC), an
electronic device often acknowledged to be the first
modern electronic computer.
 Eckert and Mauchly subsequently developed the

Universal Automatic Computer - I (UNIVAC - I) the

first electronic computer offered as a commercial
product.
 VON NEUMANN
 John von Neumann, a mathematics genius, is
called the intellectual father of computers.
 He has been credited with developing highly
significant stored-program theory.
 He was first to point out the advantages of
binary-based circuitry over its decimal
counterpart.
 He also defined and promoted flowcharts as
logic aids for computer programming.
 Some Well Known Early Computers
THE MARK I COMPUTER (1937-1944)
 This was the first fully automatic calculating

machine designed by Howard. A. Aiken of Harvard

University in collaboration with IBM (International
Business Machines) co-operation.
 This entire machine proved to be extremely reliable,

very complex in design, huge in size.

 It was basically an electromechanical device, since both

mechanical and electronic components were used in its

design with 3000 electrical switches to control its
operation.
 It was approximately 50 feet long and 8 feet high.
ABC (ATANASOFF -BERRY COMPUTER)
[1939-1942]
 This electronic machine was developed by Dr.John

Atanasoff to solve certain mathematical equations.

 Clifford Berry , assistant of John Atanasoff also

contributed a lot towards ABC’s development.

 It used 45 vacuum tubes, for internal logic and

capacitors for storage.

The ENIAC [1943-1946]
 The Electronic Numerical Integrator And
Calculator (ENIAC) was the first all
electronic computer.
 It was developed at Moore School of
Engineering of the Pennsylvania, USA by a
team led by professors J.Presper Eckert,
and John Mauchly.
 ENIAC was developed as a result of military
need.
 It took up the wall space in a 20x40 square
feet room and used 18000 vacuum tubes.
 The addition of 2 numbers where achieved in
200 microseconds and multiplication in 2000
microseconds.
 All though ENIAC was much faster in speed,
compared to MARC I computer, it had some
drawbacks too.
 It could store and manipulate only a very
limited amount of information.
 It was difficult to detect errors and to change
the programs.
 EDVAC: (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer)
 Some of the problems with ENIAC was later solved
by the concept of “stored programs” developed by
Dr.John Von Neumann.
 The basic idea behind the stored program is that a
sequence of instructions as well as data can be
stored in the memory of the computer for the
purpose of automatically directing the flow of
operations.
 This concept considerably influenced the
development of modern digital computers.
 The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer (EDVAC) was designed on stored
program concept.
The UNIVAC I (1951)
 The Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC)
was the first digital computer.
 Many UNIVAC machines were produced, the
first of which was installed in census bureau in
1951 and was continuously used for 10 years.
 In 1952, the IBM Corporation introduced 701
commercial computers.
 In rapid succession, improved models of
UNIVAC I and 700-series, machines were
introduced.
Generations of Computers
 The major stages, in which computer’s
development has gone through, are known as
generations.
 Each generation has been brought about by
major technological advancements in the
hardware.
 These hardware advances have resulted in:
 Larger storage capacities

 Greater and faster processing abilities

 More reliability

 Reduced hardware costs

 The first commercially available
computers (such as the UNIVAC I and
IBM 650) were referred to as first-
generation computers.

 Subsequent improvements in technology

led to second, third, and fourth
generation computers.
 The major characteristics that distinguish the
various generations are the following
 Dominant type of electronic circuit elements

used.
 Input and Output Media

 Major secondary storage media used.

 Computer languages used.

 Type or characteristic of operating system used.

 Memory access time (time to store or retrieve a

word of data from memory)

 1. FIRST GENERATION (1942-1955)
a) Use Vacuum tube as an electronic circuit to built this
generation.
 Main memory was almost exclusively made up of
hundreds of vacuum tubes (although one computer used a
magnetic drum for main memory. )
 These vacuum tube computers are referred to as first
generation computers.
 Vacuum tubes were used to perform logic operations and
to store data.
 These computers were slow and large and produced a

tremendous amount of heat.

 They could run only one program at a time.
 ENIAC and UNIVAC – I are examples of first generation

computers.
b) Input/Output
Punched cards are used for input and punched cards and

paper are used for output

c) Secondary Storage Media
Punched cards are used but magnetic tapes are also

introduced at the late fifties.

d) Memory Access Time
The memory access time is in mil seconds (1/10^3) sec.

e) Programming Language
Machine language is used as a programming languages.

Actually assembly is introduced.

f) Operating System
There is no operating system developed
 Limitations
 Too bulky in size
 Unreliable
 Large amount of heat emitted (because of 1000’s of
vacuum tubes were used.)
 Burnt out frequently

 Air -conditioning required

 Prone to hardware failure
 Non-portable
 Limited commercial use
 Constant maintenance required.
2. Second Generation(1959-1965): The Transistors
a)Transistors are used instead of vacuum tubes as electronic
circuit
Transistors have a size of 1/200th of size of vacuum tubes

They release less amount of heat

They are much faster than vacuum tubes since electricity had to

travel over a much shorter distance.

b) Input/Output
Punched cards and magnetic tapes are used for input and

punched cards and paper are used for output.

c) Secondary Storage Media
Magnetic tapes are used as a secondary storage media

d) Memory Access Time

The memory access time is in micro seconds(1/10^6).

.
e) Programming Language
Using high-level programming languages are started. Eg.

COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC.

f) Operating System
Operating system like FMS are introduced and human

intervention is decreased
Advantages
Smaller in size compared to first generation computers.
More reliable, less heat generated, Less prone to hardware

failures, Better portability.

Wider commercial use than first generation computers.
These computers were able to reduce computational times from

milliseconds to microseconds.
Disadvantages
Air-conditioning required, frequent maintenance required.
Manual assembly of individual components into functional unit

was required.
3. Third Generation(1965-1971): The Integrated Circuit
a)Electronic Circuits
Uses integrated circuits to replace transistors.
Advances in electronics technology continued and the

advent of “micro electronics” technology made it

possible to integrate large number of circuit elements
into very small surface of silicon known as “chips”.
This new technology was called Integrated Circuits (IC).
The chips were then wired together mounted on circuit

boards and installed in computers

The third generation was based on IC technology and the

computers that were designed with the use of IC were

called 3rd generation computers.
b) Input/Output
Keyboards are used for input and monitors are used for

output.
c) Secondary Storage Media
Magnetic disks are used as a secondary storage media in this

generation of computers.
d) Memory Access Time
The memory access time is in mil seconds(1/9)sec.

e) Programming Language
Programming Language became more structured, such as

PASCAL.
f) Operating System
OS for IBM machines like System/360 have been written

even though it is tiresome. No human intervention at all.

Advantages
 Smaller in size, more reliable, lower heat generation, easily
portable.
 Less power requirement than the previous generation
computers.
 Able to reduce computational times from micro seconds to
Nano- seconds.
 Hardware failure is less, so maintenance cost is low.
 Totally general purpose and widely used for various
commercial applications.
 Commercial production was easier and cheaper.
 Manual assembly of individual components was not required,
 Human labor and cost involved at assembly stage reduced
drastically.
Disadvantages
 Air-conditioning required in many cases,
 Highly sophisticated technology required for the manufacture
of IC chips.
4. Fourth generation(1971-present):The Microprocessor
a)Electronic Circuits
Integrated circuits used in this generation are large scale

integration called Large Scale Integration(LSI) and very

LSI.
 The microprocessor, introduced in 1971, combined all

of the circuitry for the central processing unit on a

single chip.
 LSI and the microprocessor enabled the development of

the supercomputer.
 These computers had a much larger capacity to support

main memory.
Microprocessor
b) Input/Output
 Keyboards are used for inputs and monitors are used

for output.
c) Secondary Storage Media
 Magnetic disks are used as a secondary storage media

d) Memory Access Time

 The memory access time is in pico seconds(1/12) sec.

e) Programming Language
 Object Oriented Programming languages are used in

addition of structured languages. Eg. C++

f) Operating System
 MS-DOS and then Windows became popular

operating systems used in this type of generations.

Advantage

 Smaller in size, Very reliable, Heat generated is

negligible, much faster in computation.
 No air-conditioning required in most cases, easily
portable, totally general purpose.
 Hardware failure is negligible, hence minimum
maintenance required.
 Minimal labor and cost involved at assembly stage than
previous generation computers.

Disadvantages

 Highly sophisticated technology required for the

manufacture of LSI chips.
5. Fifth Generation(the future): VLSI (very Large
scale Integration)
 These are also termed as knowledge information

processing systems.
 This generation of computers aim to solve highly

complex problems which require reasoning,

intelligence and expertise when solved by the people.
 These computers will have intelligent processor, i.e;

processor which can draw inferences.

 Scientists have also tried to develop new
superconductors that can conduct electricity with no
resistance, thus generating no heat but great speed.
 Computer Scientists now come with developed ideas of
artificial intelligence.
 Fifth generation computers are characterized mainly by
the programs they use.
 They use artificial intelligence systems that attempt to
achieve human like qualities of intelligence, including
the ability to reason.
 These generations are with new parallel architecture,
new memory organization and new languages.
 These are functionally and conceptually different from
the first four generations.
 Most of these are used in artificial intelligence,
Temperature prediction, Satellite connectivity etc.
 Users will also be able to interact with them in natural
language( e.g. English, Spanish etc).
Artificial Intelligence
 First Second Third Fourth Fifth

Time Frame 1942-1955 1955-1964 1964-1975 1975 - 1985 1985 onwards

Integrated LSI (Large VLSI (very

Circuit Vacuum
Transistor Circuit scale Large scale
Component Tube
(Silicon Chip) Integration ) Integration)

Magnetic
Internal drum, Tape Magnetic Magnetic Integrated Integrated
Storage & Punched Cores Disks Circuits Circuits
cards

Memory
Capacity 4,000 32,000 128,000 100 million >100 million
(Characters)

IBM 360,
Popular IBM 650, IBM-1401, IBM 303X,
Honeywell
computers Univac – I CDC 36000 Univac 6000
200
 Assignment
1. What is meant by “generation” in computer
technology? How many computer generation are
there till now?
2. List out the various computer generation along
with their basic characteristics?
3. What are the advantages of transistors over
vacuum tubes?
4. What invention or innovation do you think that
is most responsible for making the computer a
successful product? Explain
5. Write short not about Cloud Computing. Is cloud
Computing considered as a fifth generation
technology? If yes, give your reasons using
examples. 35