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    The Five Generations of Computers

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    Mohammed Irshad
    The document discusses the five generations of computers from the 1940s to present. The first generation used vacuum tubes, took up entire rooms, and were expensive to operate. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. The third generation used integrated circuits on silicon chips, allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously. The fourth generation used microprocessors on a single chip, making computers small enough to fit in hands. Current and future fifth generation devices are exploring artificial intelligence.

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    The Five Generations of Computers

    Uploaded by

    Mohammed Irshad
    273 views2 pages
    The document discusses the five generations of computers from the 1940s to present. The first generation used vacuum tubes, took up entire rooms, and were expensive to operate. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. The third generation used integrated circuits on silicon chips, allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously. The fourth generation used microprocessors on a single chip, making computers small enough to fit in hands. Current and future fifth generation devices are exploring artificial intelligence.

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    The document discusses the five generations of computers from the 1940s to present. The first generation used vacuum tubes, took up entire rooms, and were expensive to operate. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. The third generation used integrated circuits on silicon chips, allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously. The fourth generation used microprocessors on a single chip, making computers small enough to fit in hands. Current and future fifth generation devices are exploring artificial intelligence.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    273 views2 pages

    The Five Generations of Computers

    Uploaded by

    Mohammed Irshad
    The document discusses the five generations of computers from the 1940s to present. The first generation used vacuum tubes, took up entire rooms, and were expensive to operate. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller, faster, and more reliable. The third generation used integrated circuits on silicon chips, allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously. The fourth generation used microprocessors on a single chip, making computers small enough to fit in hands. Current and future fifth generation devices are exploring artificial intelligence.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    The Five Generations of Computers

    Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that


    fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more
    powerful and more efficient and reliable devices.

    The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing
    devices. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that
    fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful
    and more efficient and reliable devices. Read about each generation and the developments that led to the
    current devices that we use today.

    First Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes

    The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often
    enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of
    electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.

    First generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming language understood by
    computers, to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on
    punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

    The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was
    the first commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951.

    Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors

    Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was
    invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. The transistor was far
    superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and
    more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat
    that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation
    computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.

    Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly,
    languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level programming languages
    were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the
    first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic
    core technology.

    The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.

    Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated Circuits

    The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors
    were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed
    and efficiency of computers.

    Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and
    monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications
    at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible
    to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.
    Fourth Generation (1971-Present) Microprocessors

    The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built
    onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the
    hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer—from the central
    processing unit and memory to input/output controls—on a single chip.

    In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh.
    Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and
    more everyday products began to use microprocessors.

    As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which
    eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of
    GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.

    Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond) Artificial Intelligence

    Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are
    some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and
    superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and
    nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation
    computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-
    organization.

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