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4 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS
Before computers were developed people used sticks, stones, and bones as counting tools.
As technology advanced and the human mind improved with time more computing devices
were developed. We can divide computer history into 3 phases.
• Mechanical era
• Electro-mechanical Era.
• Electronic Era.

A. Mechanical era

Abacus: Abacus was invented by the Chinese around 4000 years ago. It’s a wooden rack with
metal rods with beads attached to them. The abacus operator moves the beads according to
certain guidelines to complete arithmetic computations. It is still in use in some parts of the
world.

Napier’s Bone: John Napier devised Napier’s Bones, a manually operated calculating apparatus.
For calculating, this instrument used 9 separate ivory strips (bones) marked with numerals to
multiply and divide. It was also the first machine to calculate using the decimal point system.

Pascaline: Pascaline was invented in 1642 by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and
philosopher. It is thought to be the first mechanical and automated calculator. It was a wooden
box with gears and wheels inside.

Stepped Reckoner or Leibniz wheel: In 1673, a German mathematician-philosopher named

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz improved on Pascal’s invention to create this apparatus. It was a digital
mechanical calculator known as the stepped reckoner because it used fluted drums instead of
gears.

Difference Engine: In the early 1820s, Charles Babbage created the Difference Engine. It was a
mechanical computer that could do basic computations. It was a steam-powered calculating
machine used to solve numerical tables such as logarithmic tables.

Analytical Engine: Charles Babbage created another calculating machine, the Analytical Engine,
in 1830. It was a mechanical computer that took input from punch cards. It was capable of solving
any mathematical problem and storing data in an indefinite memory.

Tabulating machine: An American Statistician – Herman Hollerith invented this machine in the
year 1890. Tabulating Machine was a punch card-based mechanical tabulator. It could compute
statistics and record or sort data or information. Hollerith began manufacturing these machines
in his company, which ultimately became International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.

Differential Analyzer: Vannevar Bush introduced the first electrical computer, the Differential
Analyzer, in 1930. This machine is made up of vacuum tubes that switch electrical impulses in
order to do calculations. It was capable of performing 25 calculations in a matter of minutes.

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 B. Electro-mechanical Era:

In this era, the calculator was developed with the integration of mechanical and electronic
vacuum tubes. example: mark - I, ABC, Zuse

Mark I: In the year 1937, major changes began in the history of computers when Howard
Aiken planned to develop a machine that could perform large calculations or calculations
involving large numbers. In the year 1944, Mark I computer was built as a partnership
between IBM and Harvard. It was also the first programmable digital computer marking a
new era in the computer world.
ABC Computer: At the end of 1939, John Vincent Atansoft and Clifford Berry built the first
electronic computer named as ABC (Atansoft Berry Computer). It is considered the first
computing machine, which introduced the idea of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory
and logic circuits.

C. Electronic Era:

In electronic era electronic circuit elements replace mechanical devices and calculations
were purely digital and only done with electronic circuits. Examples: ENIAC, COLOSSUS,
EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIAC etc

Colossus: In 1944, Alan Mathison Turing, a British mathematician, created a computer called
the colossus, which comprised 1800 vacuum tubes. It was one of the world's earliest working
programmable electronic digital computers.
ENIAC: In 1946, John Eckert and John Mauchly developed Electronic Numerical Integrator
and Calculator (ENIAC). ENIAC consisted of 18,000 vacuum tubes, which required around 160
KW of electricity and weighed nearly 30 tons.
EDVAC: John Eckert and John Mauchly also proposed the development of Electronic Discrete
Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC). EDVAC was completed by 1946 and came into
existence only in 1949. EDVAC contained approximately 4000 vacuum tubes and 10,000
crystal diodes.
UNIVAC: The Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) was the first commercially available
electronic computer. It was manufactured by the Eckert Mauchly Corporation in 1951 and its
implementation marked the real beginning of the computer era.

1.5 GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS

➢ First Generation Computers: Vacuum Tubes (1940-1956)

The computers of first generation used vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory
and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot
of heat and the installations used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they were very expensive and
only large organizations were able to afford it. Punch cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape
were used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine code

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as the programming language. Main first generation computers are: ENIAC,
EDVAC,UNIVAC.
✓ Main characteristics of first generation computers are:
Main electronic component Vacuum tube
Programming language Machine language.
Main memory Magnetic tapes and magnetic drums.
Input/output devices Paper tape and punched cards.
Speed and size Very slow and very large in size (often taking up entire
room).
Examples of the first IBM 650, IBM 701, ENIAC, UNIVAC1, etc.
generation

➢ Second Generation Computers: Transistors (1956-1963)

In this generation, transistors were used that were cheaper, consumed less power, more
compact in size, more reliable and faster than the first-generation machines made of vacuum
tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic
tape and magnetic disks as secondary storage devices.
In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming languages like FORTRAN,
COBOL were used. The computers used batch processing operating system. These were also
the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory.
✓ Main characteristics of second generation computers are:
Main electronic component Transistor
Programming language Machine language and assembly language
Memory Magnetic core and magnetic tape/disk
Input/output devices Magnetic tape and punched cards
Smaller in size, low power consumption, and generated
Power and size less heat (in comparison with the first generation
computers)
PDP-8, IBM1400 series, IBM 7090 and 7094, UNIVAC
Examples
1107, CDC 3600 etc.

Third Generation Computers: Integrated Circuits. (1964-1971)

During the third generation, technology envisaged a shift from huge transistors to
integrated circuits, also referred to as IC. A single IC consists of many transistors which
increased the power of a computer and also reduced the cost.
This development made computers smaller in size, reliable, and efficient. In this generation
remote processing, time-sharing, multi-programming operating system were used. High-level
languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during
this generation. These computers had better storage devices and improved input/output

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devices, such as Visual Display Unit (VDU), Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR) and
high-speed line printers.
✓ Main characteristics of third generation computers are:
Main electronic component Integrated circuits (ICs)
Programming language High-level language
Memory Large magnetic core, magnetic tape/disk
Input / output devices Magnetic tape, monitor, keyboard, printer,
etc.
Examples IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP-11, NCR 395,
B6500, UNIVAC 1108, etc.

➢ Fourth Generation Computers: Micro-processors (1971-1980)

During this generation, computers were developed using the microprocessor as the main
component of technology. Microprocessors were also based on LSI (Large Scale Integration)
and VSLI (Very Large Scale Integration) technologies. They were developed by assembling
several ICs on a single silicon chip. The most advantage of this technology is that one
microprocessor can contain all the circuits required to perform arithmetic, logic, and control
functions on one chip.
VLSI is a chip containing millions of transistors and other circuit elements and because of
these chips, the computers of this generation are more compact, powerful, fast, and
affordable(low in cost). Real-time, time-sharing and distributed operating system are used
by these computers. C and C++ are used as the programming languages in this generation
of computers. graphical user interface (GUI) was introduced. In a graphical user interface,
users interact with programs that run in their own sizeable windows. The concept of private
computers and computer networks came into being within the fourth generation.
✓ Main characteristics of fourth generation computers are:
Main-electronic Very large-scale integration (VLSI) and the microprocessor (VLSI
component has thousands of transistors on a single microchip).
Memory semiconductor memory (such as RAM, ROM, etc.)
pointing devices, optical scanning, keyboard, monitor, printer,
Input/output devices etc.
Examples IBM PC, STAR 1000, APPLE II, Apple Macintosh, Alter 8800, etc.

➢ Fifth Generation Computers (1980-Present day)

In the fifth generation, computers are based on ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration)
technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having about ten million
electronic components.
This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence)
software. AI is an emerging branch in computer science, which interprets the means and
method of making computers think like human beings. All the high-level languages like C and

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C++, Java, python .Net etc., are used in this generation. Multi-threaded and distributed
operating systems are in use. Examples Desktop, laptop, Ultrabook, tablet etc

1.5 APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS

Business: A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or
versatility which made it an integrated part in all business organisations. Computer is used in
business organisations for: Payroll calculations, Sales analysis, Budgeting, Financial
forecasting, Managing employee’s database and Maintenance of stocks etc.

Education: Computers have its dominant use in the education field which can significantly
enhance performance in learning. Even distance learning is made productive and effective
through internet and video-based classes. Researchers have massive usage of these
computers in their work from the starting till the end of their scholarly work.

Marketing: In marketing, uses of computer are:

❖ Advertising - With computers, advertising professionals create art and graphics,
write and revise copy, and print and disseminate ads with the goal of selling more
products.
❖ Home Shopping - Home shopping has been made possible through use of
computerised catalogues that provide access to product information and permit
direct entry of orders to be filled by the customers.

Banking: Today banking is almost totally dependent on computer. Banks provide the
facilities of:
❖ Banks provide online accounting facility, which includes current balances, deposits,
❖ overdrafts, interest charges, shares, and trustee records.
❖ ATM machines are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.

Insurance: Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date with the help of
computers. The insurance companies, finance houses and stock broking firms are widely using
computers for their concerns.
Communication: Communication means to convey a message, an idea, a picture or speech
that is received and understood clearly and correctly by the person for whom it is meant for.
Some main areas in this category are: Chatting, E-mail, Usenet, FTP, Video-conferencing and
Telnet.

Health Care: The following are some of the fields of health care in which computers are
mostly used

❖ Diagnostic System − The computer is used to collect data and identify the cause of
disease and illness.
❖ Lab-diagnostic System − All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by a
computer.
❖ Patient Monitoring System − Computers are also used to check the patient’s signs for
abnormality such as CT (Computed Tomography) Scan, ECG (Electrocardiogram), etc.

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 ❖ Pharmacy Information System − Computers are used to check medicine labels, expiry
dates, and harmful side effects, etc.
❖ Surgery − Computers are used in performing surgery.

Military: Uses of computers in military areas are

❖ Missile Control
❖ Nuclear Weapon Control
❖ Security and Army Communication
❖ Military Operation and Planning
❖ Smart Weapons Control

Engineering Design: There are a lot more uses of computers for engineering purposes. Some
of them are:

❖ Structural Engineering − Requires stress and strain analysis for the design of buildings,
ships, budgets, spaceships, airplanes, etc.
❖ Industrial Engineering − Here computers deal with the design, improvement, and
implementation of integrated systems of people, materials, and equipment.
❖ Architectural Engineering − Computers help in planning cities and towns, designing
apartments and buildings using both 2D and 3D drawings.

For Entertainment: Most of the persons are using computer for entertainment purposes such
as: watching movies, videos, animations, listening to songs etc