© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ABACUS
4th Century B.C.

The abacus, a simple counting aid, may

have been invented in Babylonia (now Iraq)
in the fourth century B.C.
This device allows users to make
computations using a system of sliding beads
arranged on a rack.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

BLAISE PASCAL
(1623 - 1662)

 In 1642, the French mathematician and

philosopher Blaise Pascal invented a
calculating device that would come to be
called the "Adding Machine".

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 BLAISE PASCAL
(1623 - 1662)
 Originally called a "numerical wheel
calculator" or the "Pascaline", Pascal's invention
utilized a train of 8 moveable dials or cogs to add
sums of up to 8 figures long. As one dial turned 10
notches - or a complete revolution - it mechanically
turned the next dial.
Pascal's mechanical Adding Machine automated
the process of calculation. Although slow by
modern standards, this machine did provide a fair
degree of accuracy and speed.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

CHARLES BABBAGE
(1791 - 1871)

 Born in 1791, Charles Babbage was an

English mathematician and professor.
 In 1822, he persuaded the British
government to finance his design to build a
machine that would calculate tables for
logarithms.
With Charles Babbage's creation of the
"Analytical Engine", (1833) computers took
the form of a general purpose machine.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
HOWARD AIKEN
(1900 - 1973)
 Aiken thought he could create a modern
and functioning model of Babbage's Analytical
Engine.
He succeeded in securing a grant of 1
million dollars for his proposed Automatic
Sequence Calculator; the Mark I for short. From
IBM.
In 1944, the Mark I was "switched" on.
Aiken's colossal machine spanned 51 feet in
length and 8 feet in height. 500 meters of
wiring were required to connect each
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
HOWARD AIKEN
(1900 - 1973)
 The Mark I did transform Babbage's dream
into reality and did succeed in putting IBM's
name on the forefront of the burgeoning
computer industry. From 1944 on, modern
computers would forever be associated with
digital intelligence.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ENIAC
1946
 Electronic Numerical Integrator And
Computer
Under the leadership of J. Presper Eckert
(1919 - 1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907 -
1980) the team produced a machine that
computed at speeds 1,000 times faster than the
Mark I was capable of only 2 years earlier.
Using 18,00-19,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000
resistors and 5 million soldered joints this
massive instrument required the output of a
small power station to operate it. © J Wagner March 20, 2000
ENIAC
1946
 It could do nuclear physics calculations (in
two hours) which it would have taken 100
engineers a year to do by hand.
The system's program could be changed by
rewiring a panel.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ENIAC
1946

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

TRANSISTOR
1948
 In the laboratories of Bell Telephone,
John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William
Shockley discovered the "transfer resistor";
later labelled the transistor.
Advantages:
increased reliability
1/13 size of vacuum tubes
consumed 1/20 of the electricity of vacuum
tubes
were a fraction of the cost © J Wagner March 20, 2000
TRANSISTOR
1948
 This tiny device had a huge impact on and
extensive implications for modern computers. In
1956, the transistor won its creators the Noble
Peace Prize for their invention.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ALTAIR
1975
 The invention of the transistor made
computers smaller, cheaper and more reliable.
Therefore, the stage was set for the entrance of
the computer into the domestic realm. In 1975,
the age of personal computers commenced.
Under the leadership of Ed Roberts the
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Company
(MITS) wanted to design a computer 'kit' for the
home hobbyist.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ALTAIR
1975
 Based on the Intel 8080 processor, capable
of controlling 64 kilobyes of memory, the MITS
Altair - as the invention was later called - was
debuted on the cover of the January edition of
Popular Electronics magazine.
Presenting the Altair as an unassembled kit
kept costs to a minimum. Therefore, the
company was able to offer this model for only
$395. Supply could not keep up with demand.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

ALTAIR
1975
 ALTAIR FACTS:
No Keyboard
No Video Display
No Storage Device

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

IBM (PC)
1981

 On August 12, 1981 IBM announced its

own personal computer.
Using the 16 bit Intel 8088 microprocessor,
allowed for increased speed and huge amounts
of memory.
Unlike the Altair that was sold as
unassembled computer kits, IBM sold its "ready-
made" machine through retailers and by
qualified salespeople.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

IBM (PC)
1981

 To satisfy consumer appetites and to

increase usability, IBM gave prototype IBM PCs
to a number of major software companies.
For the first time, small companies and
individuals who never would have imagined
owning a "personal" computer were now
opened to the computer world.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

MACINTOSH
(1984)

 IBM's major competitor was a company

lead by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs; the
Apple Computer Inc.
The "Lisa" was the result of their competitive
thrust.
This system differed from its predecessors in
its use of a "mouse" - then a quite foreign
computer instrument - in lieu of manually
typing commands.
However, the outrageous price of the Lisa
kept it out of reach for many computer buyers.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
MACINTOSH
(1984)

 Apple's brainchild was the Macintosh. Like

the Lisa, the Macintosh too would make use of a
graphical user interface.
Introduced in January 1984 it was an
immediate success.
The GUI (Graphical User Interface) made
the system easy to use.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

MACINTOSH
(1984)

 The Apple Macintosh debuts in 1984. It

features a simple, graphical interface, uses the
8-MHz, 32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU, and has a
built-in 9-inch B/W screen.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

© J Wagner March 20, 2000
 FIRST GENERATION
(1945-1956)
 First generation computers were characterized
by the fact that operating instructions were made-
to-order for the specific task for which the computer
was to be used. Each computer had a different
binary-coded program called a machine language
that told it how to operate. This made the computer
difficult to program and limited its versatility and
speed. Other distinctive features of first generation
computers were the use of vacuum tubes
(responsible for their breathtaking size) and
magnetic drums for data storage.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Characteristics:

• (not all first generation computers

had all these characteristics)
• -vacuum tube based
• -punched tape input or output
• -about 1,000 circuits per cubic foot

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 Examples:

• -Harvard Mark I (electromechanical)

• -Whirlwind
• -ENIAC
• -EDSAC
• -UNIVAC I, UNIVAC II, UNIVAC 1101
• -RCA BIZMAC
• -NCR CRC 102A, NCR CRC 102D
• -Honeywell Datamatic 1000
• -Burroughs E101, Burroughs 220
• -IBM models 604, 650 (drum memory), 701,
702, 704, 705, 709 © J Wagner March 20, 2000
SECOND GENERATION
(1956-1963)

 Throughout the early 1960's, there were a

number of commercially successful second
generation computers used in business,
universities, and government from companies
such as Burroughs, Control Data, Honeywell,
IBM, Sperry-Rand, and others. These second
generation computers were also of solid state
design, and contained transistors in place of
vacuum tubes.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

SECOND GENERATION
(1956-1963)

They also contained all the components we

associate with the modern day computer: printers,
tape storage, disk storage, memory, operating
systems, and stored programs. One important
example was the IBM 1401, which was universally
accepted throughout industry, and is considered
by many to be the Model T of the computer
industry. By 1965, most large business routinely
processed financial information using second
generation computers.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 Characteristics:

• -used transistors
• -about 100,000 circuits per foot
• Examples:
• -UNIVAC 1107, UNIVAC III
• -RCA 501
• -Philco Transact S-2000
• -NCR 300 series
• -IBM 7030 Stretch
• -IBM 7070, 7080, 7090, 1400 series, 1600 series
• -Honeywell 800, 400 series
• -General Electric GE 635, 645, GE 200
• -Control Data Corp. CDC 1604, 3600, 160A
• -LARC
• -Burroughs B5000, 200 series
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
 THIRD GENERATION
(1965-1971)
Though transistors were clearly an improvement
over the vacuum tube, they still generated a great
deal of heat, which damaged the computer's
sensitive internal parts. The quartz rock eliminated
this problem. Jack Kilby, an engineer with Texas
Instruments, developed the integrated circuit (IC) in
1958. The IC combined three electronic components
onto a small silicon disc, which was made from
quartz. Scientists later managed to fit even more
components on a single chip, called a
semiconductor.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
THIRD GENERATION
(1965-1971)

As a result, computers became ever smaller

as more components were squeezed onto the
chip. Another third-generation development
included the use of an operating system that
allowed machines to run many different
programs at once with a central program that
monitored and coordinated the computer's
memory.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 Characteristics:

• -large scale integrated circuits

• -10 million circuits per square foot
• Examples:
• -Burroughs 6700
• -Control Data 3300, 6600, 7600
• -Honeywell 200
• -IBM System/360, System 3, System 7
• -NCR Century Series
• -RCA Spectra 70 series
• -UNIVAC 9000 series
• -General Electric GE 600 series, GE 235
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FOURTH GENERATION
(1971-Present)

In 1981, IBM introduced its personal

computer (PC) for use in the home, office and
schools. The 1980's saw an expansion in
computer use in all three arenas as clones of the
IBM PC made the personal computer even more
affordable. The number of personal computers
in use more than doubled from 2 million in 1981
to 5.5 million in 1982.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 FOURTH GENERATION
(1971-Present)
Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being
used. Computers continued their trend toward a
smaller size, working their way down from desktop
to laptop computers (which could fit inside a
briefcase) to palmtop (able to fit inside a breast
pocket). In direct competition with IBM's PC was
Apple's Macintosh line, introduced in 1984.
Notable for its user-friendly design, the Macintosh
offered an operating system that allowed users to
move screen icons instead of typing instructions

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

Characteristics:

• -very large scale integration

• -continued miniaturization
• -billions of circuits per cubic foot
• Examples:
• -IBM System 3090, IBM RISC 6000, IBM
RT
• -ILLIAC IV
• -Cray 2 XMP
• -HP 9000 © J Wagner March 20, 2000
 FIFTH GENERATION
(Future)
Many advances in the science of computer
design and technology are coming together to
enable the creation of fifth-generation
computers. Two such engineering advances are
parallel processing, which replaces von
Neumann's single central processing unit design
with a system harnessing the power of many CPUs
to work as one. Another advance is
superconductor technology, which allows the flow
of electricity with little or no resistance, greatly
improving the speed of information flow.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

FIFTH GENERATION
(Future)

Computers today have some attributes of

fifth generation computers. For example,
expert systems assist doctors in making
diagnoses by applying the problem-solving
steps a doctor might use in assessing a patient's
needs. It will take several more years of
development before expert systems are in
widespread use.

© J Wagner March 20, 2000

 Characteristics:

• Combinations of some or all of the following

technologies:
• -extremely large scale integration
• -parallel processing
• -high speed logic and memory chips
• -high performance, micro-miniaturization
• -voice/data integration; knowledge-based
platforms
• -artificial intelligence, expert systems
• -virtual reality generation
• -satellite links © J Wagner March 20, 2000
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Information was gathered from the

following sites:
http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/mic
ro.html (Triumph Of The Nerds)
http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo
/update/comp_hd.html (Digital Century)
http://humlink.humanities.mcmaster.ca/
~dalberto/comweb.htm (History of
Computers)

© J Wagner March 20, 2000