Computer
Hardware Question 3: What is a first generation computer?
Answer: The first generation of computers is
represented by the first commercial electronic computers that were based on
the vacuum tube. After the conclusion of the Second World
War, the first commercially successful computer was produced by Mauchly and
Eckert. They formed the Electronic Controls Company, expressly for the purpose
of developing and selling electronic computers. One of their first projects, a
new and more powerful computer named the UNIVAC 1, was delivered to the U.S.
Census Bureau in 1951.
Computers of the first generation
were all very large, room-sized computers that used thousands of vacuum tubes
(the same kind of glowing glass tubes that were used in radios of that era).
Their design was functional for the time, but their role in business was
limited by three factors - their size, the heat they generated, and their
reliability problems. And, during this period, new methods
of programming
evolved along with the hardware developments. The programs for the first
large-scale computers were generally changed via a slow, detailed changing of
the computer's circuits. Later John von Neumann joined Maunchley and Eckert and
his ideas for designing a programmable computer were incorporated into their
design (that method of using stored programs is still used in computers today).
To transfer data and programs, a number of devices were invented that were
based on punched paper tapes or punched cards.
Answer: The second generation of computers began in
1959 with the appearance of the first computers based on the transistor.
The transistor was invented at Bell Labs and resulted in the awarding of
a Nobel prize to its co-inventors, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain.
The transistor was used to replace the thousands of vacuum tubes that were used
in the first generation of computers, resulting in smaller and faster computers
that could be built at a lower cost. Most importantly, this new generation of
computers used less electricity and could be built to operate more reliably.
This made them more useful to a variety of business and government
organizations.
Answer: By the beginning of the 1960s, scientists were
building on what they had learned about transistor technology by designing new
computers based on integrated circuits. These integrated
circuits, tiny circuits on wafers of silicon, could take the place of hundreds,
even thousands, of transistors and their related electronic components.
Computers based on this new technology were known as third generation
computers.
In 1964 IBM changed the way
computers were sold by introducing a "family" of computers known as
the System 360. The family consisted of six different computers, but
programs written for one of them could also be used on the others. IBM planned
to sell an entry-level computer to a company and then later sell them an even
more powerful computer as their business grew. The company could buy more
computing power without rewriting their software. This plan was very successful
and was a key to IBM's growth.
As the market for computers grew, so
did the variety of computing solutions. The Digital Equipment Company
developed a smaller, less costly computer, the PDP-8. Whereas all of the first
generations of computers were huge, room-sized computers known as mainframes,
these new smaller computers became known as minicomputers.
The availability of these lower-cost, smaller-scale computers meant smaller
businesses could computerize. Eventually, computerization became a key to
business success. It also meant that a new group of users began to deal with
computers. Prior computer users had been professionals who learned about
computer design and computer programming in advanced courses. Now, clerical
employees were expected to enter data into the computer. It required a
rethinking of how to design the interface between the computer and the end
user. That analysis of the human-computer interface is still going on today.
No comments:
Post a Comment