History of Modern Computers
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Transcript History of Modern Computers
Computing in the Modern World
Ms. Stewart
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
The evolution of modern computers is
divided into a few "distinct" generations.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
Each generation is characterized by extreme
improvements over the prior era in the
technology used in the:
manufacturing process,
the internal layout of computer systems, and
programming languages.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1945-1956
Computers were mainly used by the government
for use in war and designing strategies.
Konrad Zuse (1941) used computers to design
airplanes and missiles.
The British designed a computer to decode
secret messages (1943).
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1945-1956
Aiken created an electronic calculator (1944) to
create charts for the Navy. It was half as long as
a football field.
ENIAC computer (1945) was a general purpose
computer used to design the hydrogen bomb.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1945-1956
Neumann designed the EDVAC computer (1945),
which was able to store a program as well as
data. The computer could also be stopped and
re-started – a first for this time period.
Key development was the Central Processing
Unit (CPU).
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1945-1956
Eckert and Mauchly developed the UNIVAC I
(1951). It was the first commercially successful
computer.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
The invention of the
transistor greatly
changed the
computer's
development. The
transistor replaced the
large, cumbersome
vacuum tube in
televisions, radios and
computers.
As a result, the size of
electronic machinery
has been shrinking ever
since.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
Transistors led to second generation
computers that were smaller, faster, more
reliable and more energy-efficient than their
ancestors.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
The Stretch by IBM and LARC by Sperry-Rand were
supercomputers developed for atomic energy
laboratories and could handle an enormous amount of
data.
The machines were costly, however, and tended to be
too powerful for the business sector's computing
needs, thereby limiting their attractiveness.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
Throughout the early 1960's, there were a
number of commercially successful second
generation computers used in businesses,
universities, and government.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
They contained all the components we
associate with the modern day computer:
printers, tape storage, disk storage, memory,
and stored programs.
An example was the IBM 1401.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
It was the stored program and programming
language that gave computers the flexibility
to finally be cost effective and productive for
business use.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
The stored program concept meant that instructions
to run a computer for a specific function (known as a
program) were held inside the computer's memory,
and could quickly be replaced by a different set of
instructions for a different function.
For example, print one minute, then design documents
the next.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
More sophisticated high-level languages such as COBOL
(Common Business-Oriented Language) and FORTRAN
(Formula Translator) came into common use during this
time, and have expanded to the current day.
These languages replaced cryptic binary machine code
with words, sentences, and mathematical formulas,
making it much easier to program a computer.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1956 – 1963
New types of careers (programmer, analyst,
and computer systems expert) and the entire
software industry began with second
generation computers.
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1964 – 1971
Transistors, when first created, generated
massive amounts of heat.
Kilby (1958) developed an
integrated circuit to use
in the place of transistors.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1964 – 1971
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.
As a result, computers became ever smaller as more
components were squeezed onto the chip.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
1964 – 1971
Another development was
Windows
Vista
MAC
the use of an operating
system that allowed
machines to run many
different programs at once
with a central program that
monitored and coordinated
Operating Systems
(examples)
Programs (examples)
Word
Excel
Access
PowerPoint
Windows Media Player
Skype
the computer's memory.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm
Thompson and Ritchie (1969) developed the
UNIX operating system. UNIX was the first
modern operating system that provided a
sound intermediary between software and
hardware.
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1971 – present
The next step in the computer design process
was to reduce the overall size.
Hundreds of thousands of components were
squeezed onto a chip.
http://campus.udayton.edu/~hume/Computers/comp3.htm