Computer Knowledge. Computer Education. Computer World
Hello, world, this is your mate themidom. In this blog, you are going to know a lot about computers, and various types of computers, and computer's history.
So, fellas let's get started with today's topic. Before going further, I am going to ask you that, do you know the full form of computer? if yes excellent, if no then computer stands for Common Operating Machine Purposely used for Technological and Educational Research. Now comment below, if you knew the full form of computer.
Computer
let's know the basics of computers. It is an electronic device that can perform arithmetical and logical operations, these operations separate computers from other electronic devices. Now you probably have a question like what is an arithmetical and logical operation. Well guys arithmetical operation is nothing but mathematical operation like addition, factorial, etc. Whereas logical operation is about checking the condition like 2 is greater than 1, or 1 is less than 2. You can also call the computer is a device that can store and process raw data into information. Computer mostly relies on the binary system that uses two variables 0 and 1, for doing its operation, such as processing information, mathematical calculation, and many more. You probably know that computer comes in various shapes and sizes from smartphones to the supercomputer or the new concept of computing i.e. quantum computing. You know in earlier times computer meant a person who can perform computation(mathematical calculation). Now it's completely been changed, it is now termed automated electronic machinery.
So, the above info was just a basic intro of the computer, so now let's talk about its history.
You know, when the first electronic computer was invented it was meant for doing mathematical calculations. However any information can be converted/encoded into numbers, soon people realize that computers are capable of general-purpose information processing. And later on, the computer has been developed for doing heavy tasks like large data processing, weather forecasting, and many more.
The computer we know today had its beginning with a 19th-century English mathematician named Charles Babbage, who invented the Analytical Engine (It was to be a general-purpose, fully program-controlled, automatic mechanical digital computer. It would be able to perform any calculation set before it), and difference engine(It was mechanized for a whole series of calculation on a number of variables to solve a complex problem. Like a modern computer, it also had a storage unit, where data could be held temporarily for later processing. It was designed to stamp its output into soft metal, which could later be used to produce a printing plate). Both his invention is the basic framework of today's computer.
Now, let's talk about the generation of computers.
Generally speaking, computers can be classified into 5 generations, Each generation lasted for a certain period of time and each gave us a new and improved version of the existing computer.
| Generations Of computer |
|---|
| First Generation(1940-1956) | Vacuum Tubes based |
| Second Generation(1956-1963) | Transistor Based |
| Third Generation(1964-1971) | Integrated Circuit Based |
| Fourth Generation(1971-present) | Microprocessor-Based |
| Fifth Generation(present-Future) | Artificial Intelligence Based |
Before getting further let's know about some terms:
1) Vacuum Tubes: The vacuum tube is a glass tube with its gas removed, creating a vacuum. Vacuum tubes contain electrodes for controlling electron flow and were used in early computers as a switch or amplifier.
2) Transistors: It is an electronic component or semiconductor device used for amplifying, controlling, and generating electrical signals. Transistors are the active components of integrated circuits, or "microchips," which often contain billions of these minuscule device/tiny devices etched into their shiny surfaces. Deeply embedded in almost everything electronic, transistors have become the nerve cells of the Information Age.
3) Integrated Circuits: An integrated circuit (IC), sometimes called a chip or microchip, is a semiconductor wafer on which thousands or millions of tiny resistors, capacitors, and transistors are fabricated. An Integrated Circuit can function as an amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, microprocessor, etc. In short, you can say Integrated Circuit is a small electronic circuit printed on a chip(made of silicon) that contains its many own circuit elements.
4) Microprocessor: It is an electronic component that is used by a computer to do its work. It is held on an integrated circuit that contains a computer's Central Processing Unit (CPU) and other circuits or can be said as it is a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit chip containing millions of very small components including transistors, resistors, and diodes that work together. A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control are included on a single integrated circuit or a small number of integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to the instruction stored in its memory, and provides results as output in binary and later converted into human-readable form by output unit of CPU.
5) AI (Artificial Intelligence): It is an area of computer science that deals with the simulation and creation of intelligent machines or intelligent behaves in computers (they think, learn, work, and react like humans). It is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. In simple terms, you can say AI is the implementation of some human ability to a computer. In, today's world AI's field is growing like fire, Many tech giants already invested huge time and money in this field. If you love cars, then self-driving tesla cars are the best example of AI.
6) Memory: A physical device in a computer, which is used to store data or information and programs.
7) Magnetic Drum: You can say the early version of today's hard drives. It is normally a cylinder coated with magnetic material, on which data and programs are stored.
8) Magnetic Tape: If you ever used an old tape recorder you can probably identify the magnetic tape. It is a type of physical storage media for different kinds of data. It was a major vehicle for audio and binary data storage for several decades and is still part of data storage for some systems.
So, up to here you probably have known some of the above terms. Thus let us discuss the generation of the computer.
1) First Generation(1940-1956): This generation was started during the second world war. In 1937 the first electronic digital computer was built by Dr. John V. Atansasoff and Clifford Berry, it was also called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes as a major piece of technology. Vacuum tubes were widely used in computers from 1940 to 1956. Due to Vaccum tubes, the first-generation computers were quite large in size, taking up a lot of space in a room. Some used to take an entire room. It is said that computers weighed about 30 tons. and had more than 18,000 vacuum tubes, 10,000 capacitors, and 70,000 resistors which were used for processing data. Computers of this generation could only perform a single task and had no operating system. It used to take input in binary and also provide output in binary. Some said that it would take more than 12 minutes to perform a single calculation. Some of the great examples of first-generation computers are ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), EDSAC, IBM 701, and Manchester Mark 1.
So, from the above paragraph, you can conclude the following characteristics:
a) Main memory - magnetic drum and a magnetic tube
b) Input type - In binary or in machine language
c) Power - consumes a lot of electricity and generates a lot of heat.
d) Speed - very slow speed, only 1 task at a time.
e) Size- consumed a lot of space, ends up taking an entire room.
f) input/output devices - punched cards and paper tape
g) main electronic component - vacuum tubes.
Now let's move to the second generation of computers.
2) Second generation(1956-1963): This generation of computers used for transistors instead of vacuum tubes which were more reliable, means required a lot less space than first-generation's computers. Transistors were widely used in computers from 1956 to 1963. Transistors were smaller, faster, and cheaper to build than a vacuum tube. The first computer to use transistors was the TX-0 and was introduced in 1956. Other computers that used transistors include the IBM 7070, Philco Transac S-1000, and RCA 501. During this period more than 100 programming languages were developed, computers had memory and operating systems. Storage media such as tape and disk were in use also were printers for output.
So, from the above paragraph, you can conclude the following characteristics:
a) programming language - Assembly language
b) Power and Size - low power consumption, produced less heat, and smaller in size as compared to the first generation computers.
c) Input/output devices - punched cards and magnetic tape.
d) Memory - magnetic core and magnetic tape.
e) speed - Quite increased speed and reliability as compared to the first generation computer.
f) main eclectic component - transistors.
3) Third generation(1964-1971): The invention of integrated circuits brought us the third generation of computers. With this invention, the computer became smaller, more powerful, more reliable and they are able to run many different programs at the same time, in simple words the computer became multi-functional. Using Integrated circuits size of computers were reduced, and also made them faster than the second-generation computer, but still bigger than today's personal computers.
Nearly every computer utilized IC since the mid to late 1960s.
So, from the above two-paragraph, we draw the following characteristics:
a) Size was smaller and cheaper, and more efficient than the second generation of computers(they are also called minicomputers).
b) speed -improvement of speed and reliability (in comparison to the second generation computers).
c) Input/output devices - magnetic tape, keyboard, monitor, printer, etc.
d) programming language - High-level languages (FORTRAN, BASIC, Pascal, COBOL, C, etc.)
e) Examples are - IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP-11, UNIVAC 1108, etc.
4) Fourth generation (1972-present): The fourth generation of computers introduced with the invention of the microprocessor, more commonly today known as a CPU(central processing Unit). Microprocessor, with integrated circuits, helped make computers fit easily on a desk and for the introduction of the laptop. And the speed, accuracy, reliability was improved. Keyboard, mouse, and other input devices were invented in this generation. In this generation, GUI (Graphical User Interface) was introduced.
So, let's know the characteristics of this generation:
a) Main electronic component - very large scale integration (VLSI) and microprocessor. If you don't know about VLSI then the VLSI is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining millions of MOS(Metal oxide semiconductor) transistors into a single chip.
b) Memory - Semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, etc. RAM(Random Access Memory) a type of data storage used in a computer that stores data for a temporary period, which means when you boot your computer, storage becomes empty. ROM (Read-Only memory)- a type of data storage used in computers that permanently store data and programs.
c) programming language - high-level language (Python, c#, java, c++, javascript, etc.)
d) components - Its components were small in size, and cheaper compared to the third generation of computers.
e) speed - speed and accuracy are much more than the third generation of computers.
f) Input/output devices - Keyboard, mouse, pointing devices, monitors, etc.
g) Examples - IBM PC, STAR 1000, APPLE II, APPLE Macintosh, etc.
5) Fifth Generation (present-future): This is the current period, or you can say the beginning to use AI(Artificial Intelligence), an exciting technology with many potential applications around the world. One of the well-known examples of AI in computers is IBM's Watson. Other well-known examples are Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft's Cortana, Amazon's Polly. Now, AI in the development stage, which means it is not still advanced. One fun fact is that Google Search Engine also utilizes AI to process user searches. Now one new concept of computing is developed which is called quantum computing, that quantum computer is much faster supercomputers.
So, now let's draw the characteristics of the 5th generation.
a) Main electronic component: As this generation is fully based on artificial intelligence technology, so it needs huge computing power thus it uses ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology and parallel processing method. ULSI means millions of transistors on a single microchip. The parallel processing method means using two or more microprocessors to run tasks simultaneously.
b) Language - Understand natural language (human language)
c) power - consumes less power
d) speed - 3 million times faster than the classical computers, having huge accuracy and reliability.
e) Input/Output - Same as the fourth generation.
So, mates, we discussed the history and generation of computers. If you want to know more about history or if you want to know about types of computer, just comment "yes" below. probably this is the time to take leave from you. see ya in another post. Thank you for your time.
--Team Themidom😇😇
