The History of Computers
(or “How we’ve come a long way in a short
time.”)
What is a computer?
The modern
definition of a
computer is:
286 Computer
“An electronic machine
that accepts information
(called data); processes
it according to specific
instructions, and
provides the results as
Alienware’s
new information” 4GHz ALX
What a Computer Was
The term “computer” has been in
used since 1646.
It was originally defined as a “person
who performs calculations.
Before 1940 machines that did
calculations were called:
Calculators
Tabulators
NOT computers
The modern definition started in the
40s.
The Origins of Computers
The Abacus It ruled in the world of
Dates back to the ancient calculations until the
Orient 1500s and is still
Beads represent different considered useful today.
values
In used by the Greeks
and Romans in 500
B.C.E.
In this example the top
frame beads are valued
at 5 and the bottom
frame beads represent 1
The Pascaline
Invented in 1642 by the French
mathematician Blaise Pascal
Mechanical
Calculators
It used sets of gears to perform calculations
It could only perform addition
It could not perform: multiplication or division
Only 50 ever built
Built to help his father, a tax collector
Numbers are displayed
in these windows
Dials are used to
input values
Notes
The Stepped Reckoner
Built in the late 1600s by Gottfried Wilhelm
Mechanical
von Leibniz, another famous
Calculators
mathematician
It was supposed to be able to add AND
subtract, multiply, divide and calculate square
roots. (There is some debate on this.)
Numbers are displayed
in these windows
Dials are used to
input values
Notes
An Aside
In 1801 Joseph Jacquard decides to
make a better “mouse trap.”
He creates a loom that can follow
“pattern instructions” using a punch
card.
The significance is:
Programming!
The Difference Engine
Designed in 1822 by Charles Babbage, an
Mechanical
English Mathematics Professor.
Calculators
He felt that machines should be used for and
were best at doing repetitive tasks, and that
they could do this WITH OUT mistakes.
The Difference Engine was supposed to be
able to calculate Differential equations
It was never built and it would be 10 years
before he could build something that
worked…
The Analytical Engine
Designed by Charles Babbage:
Mechanical
The Analytical Engine was powered by STEAM!
Calculators
It used punch cards to enter instructions
It had MEMORY!
It could store up to 1,000 numbers 50 decimals long
It could make DECISIONS!
It could provide OUTPUT!
He could not have done this with out the help of
Ada Lovelace, considered by many to be the
FIRST programmer.
Notes
Mechanical
Calculators
The Analytical Engine
Numbers are
displayed on
these dials
The Electronic Tabulation
Machine
Built by Herman Hollerith for the 1890 U.S.
census
Calculators
Electronic
Used punch card idea of Jacquard to great
success
The 1890 U.S. census data took only 6 months
to compile.
The 1880 census took 10 years to compile!
Notes
The Modern Computer
5 generations long and still growing
“Take the Money and Run.”
In the 1969 movie spoofing prison
movies Woody Allen’s character, Virgil
Starkwell is asked if he has ever used
a high speed digital computer. He
replies:
“Yes, my aunt has one at home.”
In 1969, that was hilarious, 30+ years
later, it’s very true.
This joke was stolen from Dr. Cecil E. Greek
of the FSU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
The 5 Generations of Computers
1st Gen => 1940-1956: Vacuum Tubes
2nd Gen => 1956 – 1963: Transistors
3rd Gen => 1964 – 1971: Integrated
Circuits
4th Gen => 1971 – Present:
Microprocessors
5th Gen => Present & Beyond: AI
1st Generation
1st Generation: Vacuum Tubes
Very expensive
1940 - 1956
Very big
Very hot
Used a lot of electricity
Broke down a lot
But boy…were they cool at the time
1st Generation
The Mark I
Built in the 1930s by a joint team
1940 - 1956
from IBM and Harvard University
Project leader: Howard Aiken
It is not considered to be a real
computer
Length: 51 feet (15.5 meters)
Weight: 5 tons
Note
1st Generation
The ENIAC
Built: 1943
1940 - 1956
Project Leaders: John Mauchly & J.
Presper Eckert
Electronic Numerical Integration and
Calculator
It was considered to be a computer
Note
1st Generation
The ENIAC
Specs:
1940 - 1956
18,000 vacuum tubes
70,000 resistors
10,000 capacitors
1,500 relays
6,000 manual switches
5 million soldered joints
1800 sq. Feet (167 sq. meters.)
30 tons
Used 160 kilowatts of electricity
1,000 times faster than the Mark I
Note
Important Historical Point
John von Neumann and the CPU
von Neumann, Mauchly & Eckert build
the EDVAC & the EDSAC
EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable
Automatic Computer
EDSAC: Electronic Delay Storage
Automatic Computer
2nd Generation
The Transistor
Cheaper than vacuum tubes
One transistor could replace many
1956 - 1963
tubes. 3 different transistors
They made showing how they
computers
kept getting smaller
and smaller
smaller and
cheaper
First appeared
in a computer
in 1956
Size vs. time
2nd Generation
Computers Take Off
At this point in time (late 50s),
computers explode
1956 - 1963
Mainframes are common
Basically, things just keep getting
smaller and faster…
2nd Generation
First Non-binary Languages
COBOL & FORTRAN were developed
to replace punch cards
1956 - 1963
Programmers became a common
term
Programs could be written using
“words,” sentences and mathematical
formula (sort of…)
Another Aside – Computer
Languages
High level programming languages are
developed:
FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator)
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)
LLL – Low Level HLL – High Level
Languages Languages
Based on 0s and 1s Based on English
words
3rd Generation Integrated Circuits, Semiconductors
and Silicon Discs
Starts in the late 60’s
Transistors are
1964 - 1971
miniaturized and
built onto silicon
chips called
semiconductors
Circuit paths
This chip has ~14,000
transistors on it
3rd Generation Integrated Circuits, Semiconductors
and Silicon Discs
A close up of a circuit board.
This is a floppy drive controller
1964 - 1971
3rd Generation
OS & Mass Production
Users could interact with 3rd Generation
computers using keyboards and monitors.
1964 - 1971
OSs allowed multiple
programs to run at the
same time with a
central program
controlling memory
allocations
Computers could be mass produced at
affordable rates. Your Aunt could finally
have a high speed digital computer at her
home!
4th Generation
Birth of the Personal Computer 1
Characterized by single silicon chips
1971 - Present
containing 1000s of integrated circuits
What used to fill an entire room now fit in
the palm of your hand
Intel 4004 chip is developed in 1971
The CPU, memory and all input/output controls
are located on the same chip
4th Generation
Birth of the Personal Computer 2
1981 IBM sells its first computer designed
1971 - Present
for the “home user”
1984 Apple introduces the Macintosh
Microprocessors begin to move away from
the computer into other areas of everyday
products
My Grandfather buys his first desktop
computer. It draws “great circles”
4th Generation
Birth of the Personal Computer 3
Computers start to be networked
1971 - Present
GUIs are developed
Mice become something other than a
household pest
Handheld computer devices are no longer
limited only to Star Trek
Note
5th Generation
Present and Beyond… Tomorrow…
Still in development, computer engineers are
working toward the developing a functional
AI.
Voice activated and controlled computers
Parallel processing
Quantum computing
Natural language processing and response
by computers
Note
Summary
How we HAVE come a long way in a short time
It took approximately 2000 years
before a significant step forward in
computational technology occurred
It took 248 years to go from a
manual calculating machine (Pascal’s
Pascaline, 1642) to an electronic
calculating machine (Hollerith’s
Tabulating Machine, 1890)
Summary
How we HAVE come a long way in a short time
It only took 50 years to advance to
the first real computer
It took approximately 20 years for the
integrated circuit to be developed
And in the last 30 years we’ve
connected the world through
computer technology
The End
Sources
No research is possible without
valuable resources. This presentation
was built using the following:
www.criminology.fsu.edu/book/chapter1.html
Parsons & Oja, Computer Concepts 5th Ed., Course Technology,
Thompson Learning Center
Brookshear, Computer Science, an overview 7th Ed., Addison
Wesley Pub.
Webopedia, www.webopedia.com
