FREE ESSAY ON HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

Early Computational Devices
Somewhere around 3000BC the first mechanical counting device created was the abacus. The
abacus is still used today and, amazingly to me, with great speed and accuracy. 
In 1642 another mechanical device was created called the Pascaline (after Blaise Pascal,
a famous French mathematician). The Pascaline used gears and wheels (counting-wheels) to
perform the calculations. The interesting thing to note is that the counting-wheel design
was used in calculators until the 1960s.
The next major breakthrough in computer history revolves around Charles Babbage and his
Difference Engine and Analytical Engine. The machines that Charles designed in the early
1800s were not electronic computers as we know them now but they were general-purpose
computational devices that were designed to be driven by steam. Charles is credited with
being the Father of Computing due to the fact that his designs were WAY ahead of his
time. He laid the foundation for the modern computer.
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Early Computers
Another computer development spurred by the war was the Electronic Numerical Integrator
and Computer (ENIAC) produced by a partnership between the U.S. government and the
University of Pennsylvania. Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5
million soldered joints, the computer was such a massive piece of machinery that it
consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an entire
section of Philadelphia. Developed by John Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly
(1907-1980), ENIAC, unlike the Colossus and Mark I, was a general-purpose computer that
computed at speeds 1,000 times faster than Mark I.
These first computers were extremely large, slow, and inefficient. Many things happened
between the creation of the ENIAC and now. Among the most interesting and pertinent to us
in this course is the development of the microcomputer. The major development of the
microcomputer took place in the 1970s during a time when most of us were alive to witness
it firsthand. During this time we have seen the creation of huge and very profitable
corporations including Microsoft, Apple, Dell, Compaq, etc. and the growth and prosperity
of pioneering companies like IBM.
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Generations of Computers...
First Generation
The first generation of computers took place during the mid1940s to the late 1950s. The
computers that were created during this time used vacuum tubes and wires for their
circuitry. If you've ever had or been around a vacuum tube television, radio, or
amplifier you know that, when they are left on for any length of time, they get very hot
and, like light bulbs, they burn out. In addition to vacuum tubes, the first-generation
computers used magnetic drums for main memory. The use of magnetic drums and vacuum tubes
required that these computers were HUGE, some up to half a football field in size! They
also were very expensive to operate, generated a lot of heat, used a lot of electricity,
and failed (shut down) often. The programming of these computers (having them perform a
different task) required that wires were disconnected from one place and connected to
another or that one circuit was turned on and another turned off. All programming during
this generation was done in Machine Language - the language of the machine (1s and 0s)!
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Second Generation
The second generation of computers took place during the late 1950s to mid 1960s. Just
like the evolution of televisions, radios, and amplifiers during this time revolved
around the shift from vacuum tube to transistor, so did computers. The use of transistors
allowed radios, TVs, amplifiers, and computers to become much smaller, faster, less
energy-draining, etc. Main memory (RAM) shifted from revolving magnetic drums to tiny
wire-wrapped magnetic donuts called magnetic core memory. This also allowed computers to
become much smaller and more efficient. Programming languages evolved from the 1s and 0s
of machine language to something closer to the language of humans. These languages are
known as assemblers and early high level languages and were easier to use for humans but
required more work by the computer. They are still a long cry from English. Companies
that were purchasing computers during this time were using them mostly for accounting
purposes and interacted with the computer via punched cards for input and reams of
printed paper for output.
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Third Generation
The third generation of computers began during the mid1960s and lasted until the mid
1970s. Computers became much smaller, much faster, and much more affordable due to
creation of the integrated circuit. Main memory for computers during this time was made
out of silicon. The use of silicon chips and integrated circuits brought the creation of
the minicomputer (multi-user desk sized computers). It was during this time period that
humans began to interact with computers directly through the use of terminals with
keyboards and monitors.
Fourth Generation
The fourth generation began in the mid 1970s and, as many would argue, is still going on.
The trend continues during this period as well; faster, smaller, and cheaper! Integrated
circuits continue to get smaller and the circuits continue to get more and more complex.
This integration is known as very large scale integration (VLSI). Microcomputers and
supercomputers were both created during this time period and telecommunications (making
computers communicate with each other) has become the biggest challenge