Transcript The History of Computers

The History of Computers
Chapter 1
EDUC 320
Multi-Media Instructional Technology
The History of Computers
 The origin of computers can be traced
back to inventors who were
interested in processing information
and developing devices to simply
tedious arithmetic calculations.
Calculation in Early Times
 Abacus
 allowed the user to manipulate data
 Babylon, 3000 BC
 Still in use today
Pioneer Inventors
of Calculation Devices
 Napier’s Rods or Bones
 Users could multiply large numbers by
manipulating rods
 1617, John Napier, Scottish mathematician
 Pascaline
 A calculating machine, could add and subtract
 1642, Blaise Pascal
 Stepped Reckoner
 Could multiply and divide as well as add and
subtract
 1674, Baron Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz,
German mathematician
Pioneer Inventors
of Calculation Devices
 ~ Boolean Algebra
 a system of logic based on the binary
system; the standard internal language
of today’s digital computers
 ~ Jacquard’s Loom
 Punched cards to create patterns on
fabric woven on looms
Beginning of the Computer
 The Analytical Engine
 Babbage’s Folly – Charles Babbage, Cambridge
mathematics professor; wanted to create a
machine that would perform error-proof
calculations
 “Difference Engine” designed to solve differential
equations
 Governmental funding
 “Analytical Engine” provided for printed date, a
control unit, an information storage unit
 Babbage – “Father of Computers” but was
considered a failure in his time
Beginning of the Computer
 The Tabulating Machine
 Herman Hollerith, American inventor, worked at
the Census Bureau & later taught at MIT
 A machine which used punch cards and did the
mechanical work of tabulating the population
 Won the Census Bureau contest and contract;
selling 56 of his Tabulating Machines
 Organized his own company and continued to
produce the machines for the census
 Merged with other companies eventually
becoming known as International Business
Machines – IBM
The Modern Computer
 The First Generation of Computers
 Vacuum Tubes – to conduct electricity
 Classified by the main memory storage
device they used
 Punch card
 Mercury delay line – relied on ultrasonic
pulses
 Magnetic storage – magnetic tape or drums
The Modern Computer
 The First Generation of Computers
 One of the first (Mark I) filled a large
room
 51 feet long; 8 feet high and 2 feet thick
 750,000 parts
 500 miles of wire
 Weighed 5 tons
 Capable of three calculations per second
 Information input by punched cards
The Modern Computer
British Scientists
designed the
Colossus, an
electronic computer
to break the
German codes
William Shockley,
John Bardeen, and
Walter H. Brattain,
a team of physicists
working at Bell
Labs, invented the
transistor
1943
1947
1939
1946
1951
John V. Atanasoft
and Clifford Berry
built the first
electronic digital
computer, the ABS,
the Atanasoff-Berry
Computer
John W. Mauchly
and J. Presper Ecket
Built the first
general purpose
digital computer,
the ENIAC
The Universal
Automatic
Computer
(UNIVAC), the first
commercial
computer, was
created
The Modern Computer
 The Second Generation of Computers
 Transistor replaced the vacuum tube in
the late 1950s
 Transistor – electrically operated switch
 Conducts electricity more efficiently
consumes less energy, needed less space,
and generated less heat
 Magnetic-core Memory
 Data retrieval and storage at one millionth
of a second
The Modern Computer
 The Third Generation of Computers
 Integrated Circuits
 IBM 360s
 Integrated Circuits were used as main
memory and magnetic disks replaced
magnetic tape as auxiliary memory
 LSI – Large-Scale Integration
 Thousands of transistors on a single silicon
chip
The Modern Computer
 The Fourth Generation of Computers
 Microprocessor Chip
 Central Processing Unit
 Altair
 Personal computer
 MBASIC – computer language created by
Paul Allen and Bill Gates
 Apple
 Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs
The Modern Computer
The IBM 650
pioneered the use
of integrated
circuits on a chip
Micro Instrumentation
Technology Systems
(MITS) sold kits for the
first microcomputer,
the Altair
Bill Gates, Microsoft’s
co-founder, was
offered the chance to
develop the operating
system for IBM
computers
1964
1975
1980
1971
1976
1981
Edward “Ted” Hoff,
at Intel Corporation
developed the Intel
4004, a
microprocessor
Steve Wozniak
and Steve Jobs
built the first
Apple
Computer
IBM PC
entered the
personal
computer field
and became
popular in
business
The Modern Computer
 The Fifth Generation of Computers
 Gigahertz speed
 Millions of transistors
 Voice recognition
 Fiber optic networks
 Optical discs
 Increased data storage
 Gigahertz memory
 Touch Screens
 Handwriting Recognition Software
 Electronic Organizers
 AI – Artificial Intelligence
 Internet