We
really use computers many times in our daily lives, but what do we really know
about its evolution since humans dreamt of innovation and technology? Do we
know how these computers were innovated from being small calculators to
becoming the master intelligent machines that they are today? Imagine if
computers were not there how life would be! Well you are on the true source to
know about the evolution of computers as explained in details below.
picture showing innovation of computers
picture showing apple innovation computers since 1976 to date.
What
is a computer itself? A computer is an electronic machine that accepts
information, stores it, then processes it according to the instructions
provided by a user and then returns the results. Today many have taken computers
for granted but well no one to blame because change is a must generations after
generations, as we know today computers are relatively recent, cheaper and
smaller in size, the concepts and ideas behind computers have quite a bit of
history (time for how we got to the age of email, YouTube, twitter, Facebook
and whatsapp). The history is in generations from the first generation to the
current fifth generation.
Generations
of computers.
First Generation (1939-1954) - vacuum tube.
The
first generation of computers were innovated from 1939 to 1954 and was
extremely large in size which were commonly termed as super computers since one server connected to very many several servers. These machines required magnetic drums for memory and
vacuum tubes that worked as switches and amplifiers. the vacuum tubes were mainly responsible for
the large size of the machines and the massive amounts of heat that they
released since they consumed alot of power, they produced so much heat that
they often overheated despite large cooling units. They also used a very basic programming
language known as machine language.
The first electronic computer ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer.
Second Generation Computers (1954 -1959) - transistor.
Hear
computers managed to do away with vacuum tubes in relay of transistors, this
helped them to consume less electricity and produce less heat. They were
significantly faster than the first generation computers in terms of speed and use. They were also
smaller in size. Transistor computers also developed core memory that they used
with magnetic storage.
The
transistor that replaced the vacuum tubes
Transistor computers of second generation
Third Generation Computers (1959 -1971) - integrated circuit.
Third
generation computers were significantly changed in terms of speed, courtesy of
integrated circuits or semiconductor chips, which had large numbers of
miniature transistors packed on silicon chips. This increased the speed of
computers and also became smaller, more powerful, and less expensive. In
addition, instead of the punch cards and the printouts of previous generations,
keyboards and monitors allowed people to interact with the computers themselves.
Integrated circuit computers
Fourth Generation (1971-Present) - microprocessor.
During
this time of error technology developed to a point where manufacturers placed
millions of transistors on a single circuit chip which was referred to as
monolithic integrated circuit technology. This invention led to the development
of the personal computer industries. Personal
computers like the Altair 8800 were available to the public in the form of kits
and required assembly. later in 1970s and early 80s assembled personal
computers for home use, like the Commodore Pet, Apple II and the first IBM
computer, were m into the market. They had ability to create networks which
eventually led to the Internet in the early 1990s. There was creation of
smaller computers such as laptops and hand-held devices, Graphical user
interface (GUI) was also invented. Computer memory and storage went through
great improvements, with an increase in storage capacity and speed.
Fourth generation computers with micro processors
Microprocessors.
Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond).
This
is the generation we are now in and has impacted on our lives a lot. Computers such as screen touch computers, wireless computers have been invented. through this generation, computers have become smaller in size, they consume less electricity, they are a bit cheaper compared to computers in previous generations and they are also very portable in that they are moved from one place to another. During this generation, World-Wide Web (WWW) was developed by Tim Berners-Lee and released by CERN, internet developed with social media platforms such as facebook, twitter,Youtube and whatsapp that have made our lives simpler and easy hence leaving many of us become so lazy.
fifth generation computers.
Ipad computers.
Prediction of the future computers.
predicting the future of nanotechnology.
predicting the future of quantum computation
Last but not least, I quote Albert Einstein "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots". Indeed the way technology is growing at a faster rate year after year we will have a generation of children that will not think by themselves but rather relay on the technology only as we do see this in the current generation. Technology therefore is there to stay and new technologies to be developed hence its the way to go, the future of our children and grand children is so bright, it will shine upon us due to the technology developments.
fifth generation computers.
Ipad computers.
Prediction of the future computers.
computers
continue to develop into advanced forms of technology each and everyday, the sixth generation
computing has yet to be truly defined, since there are numerous paths that
technology is taking towards the future of computer development. For instance,
research is ongoing in the fields of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence,
as well as quantum computation. so the world wont be amused by these great developments in technology in the years to come.
Predicting
the future of artificial intelligence
predicting the future of nanotechnology.
Last but not least, I quote Albert Einstein "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots". Indeed the way technology is growing at a faster rate year after year we will have a generation of children that will not think by themselves but rather relay on the technology only as we do see this in the current generation. Technology therefore is there to stay and new technologies to be developed hence its the way to go, the future of our children and grand children is so bright, it will shine upon us due to the technology developments.
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