History of Computer Technology

By Arman Singh Kooner

Overview The abacus was the first sort of computer that was invented

several thousands of years ago. In 1642, Blaise Pascal invented a numerical wheel calculator

named ‘The Pascaline’ In 1812, Charles Babbage, recognized the harmony between

mathematics and astronomy. In 1820, Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar invented the arithmetic.

First Generation Computer• Modern Computers were introduced during World War II• In England, a device called The Colossus was constructed to decode encrypted

German messages.• In the U.S.A Army Ordnance Department and the University of Pennsylvania worked

together to develop the ENIAC.• The ENIAC weighed 30 tons, contained 19,000 transistor tubes and 1,500 relays,

and consumed 200 kilowatts of power.

Second Generation Computers About in 1956, the second generation of computers came along. Second Generation Computers were large, bulky, failure-prone

vacuum tubes to transistors. Transistors paved the way for much smaller, faster computers. Machine language gave way to assembly language.

Third Generation Computers

The integrated circuit (IC), invented independently by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce in the late 1950s

ICs produced much less heat then transistors More Components in a chip

Fourth Generation Computers

They kept decreasing the size of the microchip but the memory increased. In 1974 the first affordable PC (Personal Computer), the MITS Altairs 8800

came out. In 1981 IBM took out their first computer. By 1990, 65 million PCs were in use. There are many operating systems like UNIX and Windows.

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

Hardware and Input/output Devices

Input Devices allow someone to enter information so the computer can do what its designated to do.

Without output devices, we would have no idea whether the computer was doing the right thing.

Early computers used banks of lights

Processers and Memory The most important part of the computer is the CPU (central processing

unit) The CPU is the brain of the computer Transistor is at the heart of the CPU RAM (Random-access memory) is a storage unit for data going to and

coming from the CPU.

Hard Drives and Removable Storage

For long term storage of data you can store data using hard drives, CD-ROMs, USBs, and floppy disks

Storage capacity depends on how many bytes you get A primary source device in a computer is the hard drive

Network Networking is the explosive growth area of computers Media are the physical connections that join all the network’s part

so they can communicate Each node contains a network interface face (NIC)

NETWORK All the work you do on the computer involves software System software is low-level software that interacts with the

computer at a very basic level You use application software like word processing and email Application software cannot run without an operating system.

OPERATION SOFTWARE Operation systems perform important tasks The CPU performs only one operation at a time A user interacts with the computer through an interface OSs fall into several categories that include single user

multitasking and multiuser Some examples for an operation system are UNIX/Linux, Mac ,and

Windows

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS The type of software that you can buy at a nearby computer store

is generally referred to as a desktop software Desktop software usually runs on minimal hardware Desktop software is frequently categorized by the type of function it

gives you.

THE ENDBY ARMAN SINGH KOONER