Transcript Vacuum tubes

Week 1:
The History of Computing (PART II)
•
READING: Chapter 1
1
First Generation (1951 - 1959):
Vacuum tubes
• Commercial electronic computers in the first generation were built using
vacuum tubes to store information. The vacuum tubes were used as
switches
• Primary storage device was a magnetic drum that rotated under a read/write
head
• The vacuum tubes generate a lot of heat, so heavy-duty air-conditioning was
required
2
2
Second Generation (1959 - 1965):
Transistor
• Replaced vacuum tubes as the main component
• Transistor is a semiconductor device and it
is much smaller, more reliable, faster and
cheaper than the vacuum tubes
• Magnetic disk was also developed in this generation as a new auxiliary
storage device
• Unlike the magnetic tape, the magnetic disk is faster and is organized so
that each piece of data is accessible
3
3
First “pocket radio” in 1954
4
4
Third Generation (1965 - 1971):
Integrated Circuit (ICs)
• Jack Kilby invented Integrated Circuits (ICs) in 1958. ICs are solid
pieces of silicon that contained the transistors and their connections
• Much smaller, cheaper, and more reliable than printed circuit boards
pocket calculator in the 1970s
5
5
Intel 4004 Microprocessor (1972)
• First commercially available microprocessor – first used in a
programmable calculator
• This technology made the personal
computer (PC) possible
• Contained 2300 transistors, max
clock rate at 740 kHz
6
6
Radio Shack TRS-80 (1978)
• The first plug and play personal
computer (PC) available at retail
• Very successful
• Very affordable
7
7
The Apple II (1978)
• The first commercially available
Apple
• Initially sold to Wall St. bankers
who wanted the Spread-sheet
program called Visicalc which ran
on the Apple II
8
8
The Osborne 1 (1981)
• The first “portable” personal computer
• Came with lot’s of software
bundled
• Only weighed about 40 lbs and
sold for $1795
• Note the large 5” screen!
9
9
Apple MacIntosh (1984)
• First PC with GUI interface
• Adopted from the work that was
done at Xerox
• Designed to be a computer
appliance for “Real People”
10
10
Moore’s Law
• In 1965, Gordon Moore (one of the co-founders of Intel) predicted that the
number of transistors that can be integrated on a die would double every 18
to 24 months (i.e., grow exponentially with time).
• Amazing visionary – million transistor/chip barrier was crossed in the
1980’s.
• 2300 transistors, 1 MHz clock (Intel 4004) - 1971
• 42 Million, 2 GHz clock (Intel P4) - 2001
• 140 Million transistor (HP PA-8500)
11
11
Moore’s Law
12
12
Moore’s Law
Lead microprocessors frequency doubles every 2 years
10000
2X every 2 years
Frequency (Mhz)
1000
P6
Pentium ® proc
100
486
10
8085
1
0.1
1970
8086 286
386
8080
8008
4004
1980
1990
Year
Courtesy, Intel
2000
2010
13
13
Today’s Price/Performance
• Over 3 Billion operations per second costs less than $1000
• Memory is measured in Megabytes/Gigabytes….not Kilobytes
• Communications speeds are measured in Megabits per second, not
Kilobits or even lower
14
14
Video
• Video: “The Machine that Changed the world”
Primary Website:
http://waxy.org/2008/06/the_machine_that_changed_the_world/
15
15