Generation of Computer

Generation of computers from first to sixth:-

Hello friends...... The word computer which is the most valuable and very essential in our everyday lives and it's necessity is so high that we can't live for a while without this device like our mobile phone which is always present in our hands. 

But do you know when and how the computer was built and by whom. So today Hindi blog we discuss about generation of computer from first to sixth.

First generation of computer (1946-1956)

The evolution of first generation of computer have an interesting fact.

During the second World war, American military had faced a lot of problems due to technical complexity of targeting the enemy as this involved complex and tough computation.

Then Dr. John Mauchly and his assistant J.presper Eckert proposed an electronic computer to overcome this problem.

During 1943-46 they developed the first large general purpose computer at the University of Pennsylvania and named it "ENIAC". The acronym for ENIAC is" electronic numerical integrator and calculator"

Eniac was 100 feet long and 10 feet high. It consisted of 18000 vacuum tubes and consumed 140 kilowatts of electricity and it's weigh is about 30 tones.

Vacuum tubes:-

A vacuum tube is an electronic device used to control the flow of electrons. Vacuum tubes contains electrodes which control the electron flow and these are mainly used in early computers as an amplifier.

Attributes of the first generation:-

Vacuum tubes were the main logic elements of the internal structure of the first generation computers. Due to the consumption of lot of electricity they also produce tremendous heat and this high rate of heat emission generally was the cause of their getting unfunctional.

Hence they required a special air conditioning unit to maintain an optimum functional temperature and to keep these computers cool.

Punch cards for Input and Output:-

In these computers, the punch cards were used for inputting data and getting output. As these computers were based on punched cards, hence they had very low processing speed.

Magnetic Drum Internal memory:-

First generation computers had magnetic drum as primary internal storage. Data input through punch cards was stored on this magnetic drum as magnetic signals.

Limited applications:-

These computers were capable of carrying out few commercial transactions i.e., payroll processing, billing and accounting. But at that time these tasks done by human personnel’s were comparatively cheaper as these computers were very expensive.

Second generation of computers (1956_64)

In the second generation of computers, vacuum tubes were replaced with transistors. The working mechanism of transistor was same as that of vacuum tube but it was speedier, smaller in size and more reliable than vacuum tubes. It consumed less energy and emitted less heat.

Attributes of second generation of computers:-

Tape and disk are used as secondary storage:-

In these computers, magnetic tapes and disks were also used for secondary data storage, besides punch cards.

Magnetic core internal memory:-

The magnetic drum in internal storage was replaced by magnetic core, in the second generation of computer.

Modular hardware elements:- 

Maintenance of First generation of computers was a tedious practice. Hence each of all Computer units was given a modular design, which led to easy maintenance and installation of computers.

Programming in High Level Languages:-

To overcome the complexity in assembly language and machine language, high level languages wore developed e.g., FORTRAN and COBOL. 

FORTRAN:- Formula Translator

COBOL:- Common Business Oriented Language

During the phase of computer development ANSI set new standards for high level programming language. 

ANSI:- American National Standards Institute.

New Computer Applications:- 

Second generation computers gave rise to:

Air ticket Reservation System

Launch of Telestar

Evolution of Management Information system (MIS).

In 1962, IBM and American Airlines jointly developed the first Airlines Passenger Reservation System. Telestar was a communication satellite launched in 1962. MIS helped executives prepare reports with less paper work.

Third Generation of Computers (1964-71)

The third generation of computers started in the mid of 1964 when IBM came forward with the historical Computer Family; it was names as System 1360-line. In this generation Integrated Circuits were used.

In 1958, at Texas instruments, Jack Kilby completed the building of the first integrated circuit, containing five components on a piece of germanium, half an inch long and thinner that a toothpick.

Attributes of Third generation of computers:-

All computer operations could be controlled by a specific control program then called Operating System. Operating System itself is a group of many programs; each program is responsible for controlling a single specific operation of the computer.

Improvement in Software:-

During this generation more high level languages were developed. Market was flooded with user specific and requirement specific programming languages.

Rise of Mini Computer:

The size of computers was also minimized and name as mini computer.

First mini computer was PDP-8 which was as big as a refrigerator made by “Digital Equipment corporation” .

Evolution of Word processing:-

Preparation of documents using computer is called word processing. It came in existence when IBM came forward with machine- MT/ST i.e., Magnetic tape selecting typewriter, in year 1964.

Fourth generation of computers:-

During this phase, Large Scale Integrated Circuits came into existence. These ICs were having 300000 transistors in the area less than ¼ of an inch. Finally a whole CPU circuit of a computer was designed in small chip by Ted Hoff at Intel Corporation. 

This chip was developed in 1970 and named Intel 4004, and given a technical name as Micro Processor. Computers having microprocessor were called Micro Computers.

Now, competition in market was started to make a computer useful for a common man in his daily life. In the year 1970 only, MITS, a computer company launched the first micro computer Altair 8800. 

Info area:-

MITS gave the contractor of installing BASIC, a programming language on its micro computer to a Harvard University student, whose name is Bill Gates. Bill Gates succeeded in that. Later, he started his own company Microsoft Corporation which is world’s No.1 software company today.

Attributes of Fourth generation of computers:-

Micro Mini Era:- During this generation, the emphasis of developers was to create the smallest circuits for computers. ICs made during this period grew smaller, more speedy and cheaper than before. Idea of VLSIC and LSIC was propounded during this phase.

 LSIC : Large Scale Integrated Circuit

VLSIC : Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit 

Semiconductor Internal Memory : 

Fourth generation computers replaced the Magnetic core internal memory by semi conductor internal memory. The new memory was fast in processing, small in size and low in cost.

Further Improvements in Software:

Computers became trend setter during this phase. Almost all commercial activities became computerized due to its speed and accuracy feature. Consequently, several software’s were developed for different trades and applications. 

Electronic spreadsheet, applications generator and databases were developed during this phase. Working with application software’s was easier than working with languages of third generation.

Fifth generation of computers (1982 – present day computers):-

Fifth generation of computers includes advanced computer technology of present time and upcoming computers. In 1982, by Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) the fifth generation computer was introduced.

In the beginning of this generation, computers were interconnected to share data and information with each other. New ULSIC (Ultra Large Scale Integrate Circuits) are replacing VLSIC chips. This means for production of microprocessor chips millions of electronic components were used. 

The size of computers are also minimizing day by day. Like laptops, tablets and mobile phones etc. Different high level languages and software’s were introduced for easy and betterment of users. Like c, c++,c#, SQL, JAVA, .NET, Photoshop etc.

Attributes of fifth generation of computers:-

Different sizes of computers:- Size and structure of computers are being designed as per requirement. We can find various models of desktop, laptop, palmtop, tablets in the market today.

Internet:- It is a global network of computers. A great number of networks in the world are mutually interconnected via internet. New information related to health, medicine, science, art, culture, sports, business etc. can be available on the single click of your mouse.

Multimedia:- The combination of sound, images, graphics and text called multimedia is the gift from the fifth generation of computers.

New applications: Computer has so advanced that it can be used in almost every field whether it is film production, traffic control, business, industry, research or anything