History of Computer

Abhineet1 and Anita Bisht2

ICFAI University, Dehradun
Abhineet971@gmail.com

Abstract

The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and modern computing
technology and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with
or without the aid of tables.

Introduction

First Generation: Vacuum Tubes (1940-1956) Second Generation: Transistors (1956-

The first computer systems used vacuum tubes
for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory,
and were often enormous, taking up entire
rooms. These computers were very expensive
to operate and in addition to using a great deal
of electricity, the first computers generated a
lot of heat, which was often the cause of
malfunctions.
First generation computers relied on machine
language, the lowest-level programming
language understood by computers, to perform
operations, and they could only solve one
problem at a time. It would take operators days
or even weeks to set-up a new problem. Input
was based on punched cards and paper tape,
and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are
examples of first-generation computing devices.
The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer
delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census
Bureau in 1951.
1963)
The world would see transistors replace
vacuum tubes in the second generation of
computers. The transistor was invented at
Bell Labs in 1947 but did not see
widespread use in computers until the late
1950s.
The transistor was far superior to the
vacuum tube, allowing computers to become
smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-
efficient and more reliable than their first-
generation predecessors. Though the
transistor still generated a great deal of heat
that subjected the computer to damage, it
was a vast improvement over the vacuum
tube. Second-generation computers still
relied on punched cards for input and
printouts for output.
Third Generation: Integrated
Circuits (1964-1971)
The development of the integrated
circuit was the hallmark of the third
generation of computers. Transistors were
miniaturized and placed on silicon chips,
called semiconductors, which drastically the device to run many
increased the speed and efficiency of different applications at one time with a
computers. central program that monitored the memory.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, Computers for the first time became
users interacted with third generation accessible to a mass audience because they
computers were smaller and cheaper than their
through keyboards and monitors and interfac predecessors.
ed with an operating system, which allowed
References

1. Jump up^ "computer, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989.
Retrieved 10 April 2009.
2. Jump up^ "computer (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary.
3. Jump up^ According to Schmandt-Besserat 1981, these clay containers contained tokens, the
total of which were the count of objects being transferred. The containers thus served as
something of a bill of lading or an accounts book. In order to avoid breaking open the
containers, first, clay impressions of the tokens were placed on the outside of the containers,
for the count; the shapes of the impressions were abstracted into stylized marks; finally, the
abstract marks were systematically used as numerals; these numerals were finally formalized as
numbers. Eventually (Schmandt-Besserat estimates it took 4000 years Archived 30 January 2012
at the Wayback Machine. ) the marks on the outside of the containers were all that were
needed to convey the count, and the clay containers evolved into clay tablets with marks for
the count.
4. Jump up^ Robson, Eleanor (2008), Mathematics in Ancient Iraq, ISBN 978-0-691-09182-2. p. 5:
calculi were in use in Iraq for primitive accounting systems as early as 3200–3000 BCE, with
commodity-specific counting representation systems. Balanced accounting was in use by 3000–
2350 BCE, and a sexagesimal number system was in use 2350–2000 BCE.
5. Jump up^ The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, The Antikythera Mechanism Research
Project. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
6. Jump up^ G. Wiet, V. Elisseeff, P. Wolff, J. Naudu (1975). History of Mankind, Vol 3: The Great
medieval Civilisations, p. 649. George Allen & Unwin Ltd, UNESCO.
7. Jump up^ Fuat Sezgin "Catalogue of the Exhibition of the Institute for the History of Arabic-
Islamic Science (at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University", Frankfurt, Germany) Frankfurt
Book Fair 2004, pp. 35 & 38.
8. Jump up^ Charette, François (2006). "Archaeology: High tech from Ancient
Greece". Nature. 444(7119): 551–552. doi:10.1038/444551a.
9. Jump up^ Bedini, Silvio A.; Maddison, Francis R. (1966). "Mechanical Universe: The Astrarium of
Giovanni de' Dondi". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 56 (5): 1–
69. doi:10.2307/1006002. JSTOR 1006002.
10. Jump up^ Price, Derek de S. (1984). "A History of Calculating Machines". IEEE Micro. 4 (1): 22–
52. doi:10.1109/MM.1984.291305.