COMPUTER GENERATIONS
Each generation of computers is characterized by major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate.
- Smaller
- Cheaper
- Powerful
- Efficient
- Reliable devices.
Read about each generation and the developments that led to the current devices that we use today.
The term generation indicates the type of technology used in the computer construction.
As new technology was emerging, it was being used in the making of computer.
The new technology improved the speed, accuracy and storage capacity of the computers.
Different technologies have been used for computers in different times.
Therefore, computers can be divided into five generations depending upon the technologies used.
1.First Generation (1946 – 1959)
2.Second Generation (1959 – 1965)
3.Third Generation (1965 – 1971)
4.Fourth Generation (1971- 1985)
5.Fifth Generation (1985 onwards)
First Generation (1946-1959)
All subsequent computers after Mark I were all electronic. The early first-generation computers were powered by thousands of vacuum tubes.
The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms.
A magnetic drum, also referred to as drum, is a metal cylinder coated with magnetic iron-oxide material on which data and programs can be stored.
Magnetic drums were once use as a primary storage device but have since been implemented as auxiliary storage devices.
Examples
1. Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. (ENIAC)
2. Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer. (EDVAC)
3. Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer. (EDSAC)
4. UNIVAC I
Second Generation (1959 – 1965)
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes in the second generation computer.
Transistor is a device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit.
Invented in 1947 at bell labs, transistors have become the key ingredient of all digital circuits.
Third Generation (1965 – 1971)
During this time integrated circuits with transistors, resistors, and capacitors were etched onto a piece of silicon.
This reduced the price and size of computers, adding to a general trend in the computer industry of miniaturization.
Fourth Generation (1971- 1985)
The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits we rebuilt onto a single silicon chip. A silicon chip contained a CPU.
Fifth Generation (1985 onwards)
The changes that have occurred since 1985 are plentiful. Computers have got tinier, more reliable, and many times faster.
Computers have become more and more online orientated in modern times, especially with the development of the World Wide Web.
Popular companies like Google and Yahoo! were started because of the internet.
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