Computer Fundamental, History and Generatoins

   Computer     Post by - Solanki Sir

What is computer -- A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions on how the data is to be processed.

                  

Full form computer ---

Computer – Commonly Operated Machine Particularly Used for Technology Education and Research.

Classification of computer ----

1.   

Analog computer -  An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically, as their numerical values change. Example  - astrolabe 

                               differential analyzer 

                               Deltar 

                               Kerrison Predictor 

Digital computer -  Describes any system based on discontinuous data or events. Computers are digital machines because at their most basic level they can distinguish between just two values, 0 and 1, or off and on.

Hybrid computer -  Hybrid computers are computers that exhibit features of analog computers and digital computers. For example, the ECG monitor of a patient in a hospital. It takes in an analog signal that is the heartbeat of the patient and converts it into the digital format after processing it. The lines on the screen are a digital approximation of the analog pulse.

Types of Digital computer –

1.    Super computer

2.    Mainframe computer

3.    Mini computer

4.    Micro computer.

Super computer -  A supercomputer is a computer that performs at or near the currently highest operational rate for computers. A supercomputer is typically used for scientific and engineering applications that must handle very large databases or do a great amount of computation (or both). 

·        Cray 1 in 1976, and it became one of the most successful supercomputers in history.

·         PARAM is a series of supercomputers designed and assembled by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune, India. The latest machine in the series is the PARAM Yuva II.

·         Prithvi  Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, has a machine with a theoretical peak of 790.7 teraflop/s, called Prithvi, which is used for climate research and operational forecasting. It ranked 36th among the world's top 500 supercomputers June 2013 list.

·       As of November 2014, China's Tianhe-2supercomputer is the fastest in the world at 33.86 petaFLOPS (PFLOPS), or 33.86 quadrillion floating point operations per second.

Mainframe computer -  

                                                    Mainframe computers (colloquially referred to as "big iron") are computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning and transaction processing.

Mini computer -  Minicomputers emerged in the mid-1960s and were first developed by IBM Corporation. They were primarily designed for business applications and services that require the performance and efficiency of mainframe computers. Minicomputers are generally used as mid-range servers, where they can operate mid-sized software applications and support numerous users simultaneously.

Mincro computer - A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit (CPU).^[2] It includes a microprocessor, memory, and input/output (I/O) facilities

                                   History of computer

Abacus -  An abacus is a manual aid to calculating that consists of beads or disks that can ... control of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) or does not directly in.

Pascal calculator - Blaise Pascal along with Wilhelm Schickard was one of two inventors of the mechanical calculator in the early 17th century. Pascal made his invention in 1642.

Charles Babbage - Charles Babbage was considered to be the father of computing after his invention and concept of Differnce engine in 1822 and the Analytical Engine in 1837. The Analytical Engine contained an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), basic flow control, and integrated memory.

      

Henry Edward Roberts coined the term "personal computer" and was considered to be their father after he released of theAltair 8800 on December 19, 1974.

·       The IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), called Mark I by Harvard University’s staff.

·       Howard Aiken (1900-73) a Harvard professor with the backing of IBM built the Harvard Mark I computer (51ft long) in 1944.

·       The Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) was the first automatic electronic digital computer but not programmable.

·       ENIAC(Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer)  was conceived and designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania.

        EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was one of the earliest electronic computers. Unlike its predecessor the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal, and was a stored program machine. 

·       Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. The machine, having been inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England.

·       EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was one of the earliest electronic computers. Unlike its predecessor the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal, and           was a stored program computer.

•  The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was the second  commercial computer produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC.

·       The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications.

·       Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), born Augusta Ada Byronand now commonly known as Ada Lovelace,  the world's first computer programmer.

·         Christopher Latham Sholes^[2] (February 14, 1819 – February 17, 1890) was an American inventor who invented the first practical typewriter and the QWERTY keyboard still in use today. (1873)

·         Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor mouse. 1964

·         The earliest version of the CRT was invented by the German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1897 and is also known as the Braun tube.

·         www introduced by TIM BERNERS LEE.

·         Micrsoft established by bill gates and paul allen.

·           Time‐Line – Development of Computing in India

                              Important Events

·                       India bought its first computer in 1956 for a princely sum of Rs 10 lakh. It was called HEC-2M and was installed at Calcutta's Indian Statistical Institute.

• IBM starts manufacturing key punch machines in India.

• First IBM 1401 installed at the ESSO Standard Oil Co., Mumbai.

• IBM 1401 refurbishing starts at Mumbai in 1962

·         In 1963  IBM 1620 installed at the IIT at Kanpur.  First computer with FORTRAN in India.  Education using FORTRAN begins.

·         Vacuum tube introduced by  John Ambrose Fleming.

·         A transistor developed by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley in 1947.

·         Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce separately invented the IC or integrated circut at the same time.

·         Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor, the Intel invented by Intel engineers Federico Faggin.

1970	Intel 1103 Computer Memory	The world's first available dynamic RAM chip.
1971	Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk	Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
1973	Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking	Networking.
1981	IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer	From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution
1981	Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System	From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century.

·         Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs released the Apple I computer and started Apple Computers in 1976.

1984

Apple Macintosh Computer

The more affordable home computer with a GUI.

·         Also released in 1981, was the Epson HX-20, a battery powered portable computer, with a 20-character by 4 line LCD display and a built-in printer.

·         In February 1984, IBM announced the IBM 5155 Portable Personal Computer.

·         In 1988, Compaq Computer introduces its first laptop PC with VGA graphics - theCompaq SLT/286.

Generations of Computer

First Generation of Computer (1942-1955)

• Major Innovation - Vacuum Tubes
• Main Memory - Punched Cards
• Input Output Devices - Punched cards and papers  
  
• Languages - Low level machine language
• Operating System - No operating system, human operators to set

·         switches

• Size - Main frame for example ENIAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC

Second Generation of Computers (1955-1964)

Main Features

·         Major Innovation - Transistors as main component.

·         Main Memory - RAM and ROM.

·         External Storage - Magnetic tapes and Magnetic Disk.

·         Input Output Devices - Magnetic tapes and Magnetic Disk.

·         Languages - Assembly language, some high level languages for Example BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN.

·         Operating System - Human handles punched card.

·         Size - Main frame for example IBM-1401, NCR-300, IBM-600 etc.

Third Generation of Computers (1964-1971)

Main Features

·         Major Innovation - Integrated circuit (ICs) as basic electronic component.

·         Main Memory - PROM and DRAM.

·         External Storage - Improve disk (Floppy Disk)

·         Input and Output Devices - Keyboard for input, monitor for output.

·         Languages - More high level languages.

·         Operating System - Complete operating systems were introduced.

·         Size - Mini, for example: IBM SYSTEM / 360, ICH-360, HONEY WELL-316 etc.

Fourth Generation of Computers (1971-1989)

Main Features

·         Major Innovation - LSIC and VLSIC (Micro Processor)

·         Main Memory - EPROM and SRAM.

·         External Storage - Floppy Disk and Hard Disk.

·         Input and Output Devices - Monitor for output.

·         Languages - Languages and application softwares.

·         Operating System - MS-DOS and PC-DOS

·         Size - Micro computer e.g. IBM-PC, Apple Macintosh etc.

Fifth Generation (1989 to till now)

Main Features

·         Major Innovations - ULSIC (Ultra large scale integrated circuit)

·         Main Memory - EEPROM, SIMM and DIMM.

·         External Storage - Modified magnetic and Optical disks.

·         Input/output Devices - Keyboard, Pointing Device, Scanner as input and Monitor as main output.

·         Languages - AI (Artificial Intelligence) Expert systems.

·         Operating System - GUI based e.g. Windows 95, Windows NT.

·         Size - Very small in size example: Laptop, Note book, Digital Diary, Palm top and Pocket PC.