Computer can classified in to five types according to generations i.

e time period

. First generation computer . Second generation computer . Third generation computer . Fourth generation computer . Fifth generation computer

First generation computer

Period : 1940 1956 inventor : Lee de Forest Main processing device : Vacuum tubes

TECHNOLOGY USED: THOUSANDS OF VACUUM TUBES A vacuum tube is high speed electronic device, which used filaments as a source of electronics & could control and amplify electronic signals. Data and instructions were fed into the system from punched cards.

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY USED The instructions were written in machine and assembly languages. The stored program concept was used.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS Bulky in size Highly unreliable Limited commercial use Difficult commercial Production Costly Difficult to use

EXAMPLES ENAIC, EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701

Advantages :
. It was only electronic device . First device to hold memory

Disadvantages :
. Too bulky i.e large in size . Vacuum tubes burn frequently . They were producing heat . Maintenance problems

Vacuum tube

Vacuum tube

Vacuum tubes

Observing Vacuum tube

Punched cards

Punched cards models

Too bulky i.e large in size

Vacuum tubes burn frequently

Maintenance problems

Second generation computer

Period : 1956 1963 inventor : William Shockley Main processing device : Transistor Storage media : Magnetic disc

HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY USED Transistors because of following properties Highly reliable as compared to tubes Could switch ten times faster than tubes One-tenth the power consumed by tube Smaller than a tube Less expensive to produce Dissipated less heat as compared to vacuum

Magnetic disks and tapes as secondary storage media SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY USED

High level programming languages (FORTRAN, COBOL) were used. KEY CHARACTERISTICS Ten times faster than first generation computer Smaller in size Consumed less power and dissipated less heat More reliable and less prone to hardware failure Commercial production was still difficult & costly EXAMPLES Honeywell 400, IBM 7030, CDC 1604, UNIVAC LARC

Second generation computer

Advantages :
. Size reduced considerably . The very fast . Very much reliable

Disadvantages :
. They over heated quickly . Maintenance problems

Transistor

Third generation computer

Period : 1964 1971 inventor : Jack Kilby

Robert Noyce

Main processing device : IC (integrated circuit) Storage media : Floppies

HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY USED: ICS Integrated circuits are circuits consisting of several electronic components like transistors,grown on a single silicon chip. Larger capacity magnetic disks & tapes as secondary storage Mini computers SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY USED Standardization of high level languages (Fortran & COBOL). Unbundling of software from hardware

KEY CHARACTERISTICS Powerful, capable of performing about 1 million instructions per second Smaller in size than second generation Consumed less power & dissipated less heat More reliable & less prone to hardware failures & requiring lower maintenance cost Cheaper to produce commercially

EXAMPLE IBM 360/370, PDP 8, PDP -11, CDC 6600

Third generation computer

Advantages :
. ICs are very small in size . Improved performance . Production cost cheap

Disadvantages :
. ICs are sophisticated

IC (integrated circuit)

ICs (integrated circuits)

IC (integrated circuit)

Fourth generation computer

Period : 1971 1989 Inventor : Ted Hoff Main processing device : ICs with VLSI
(Very Large Scale Integration)

Storage media : Floppies, CDs.

HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY USED ICs with very large scale integration (VLSI) technology, capable of integrating 1 million components on a chip A Microprocessor contains all circuits needed to perform arithmetic logic & control functions on a single chip Semiconductor memory Larger capacity hard disks as in-built secondary storage Magnetic tapes & floppy disks as portable storage media Personal computer Spread of high speed computer network

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY USED OS like MS-DOS, Ms-Windows, Apple were developed for PCs Graphical user Interface (GUI) provides icons and menus to make it user friendly PC based applications like powerful word processing package, spread sheet package, etc. UNIX OS C programming language became popular

KEY CHARACTERISTICS PCs were smaller and cheaper than mainframes or minicomputers of third generation Small, affordable, reliable, easy to use PCs More powerful Mainframe systems They were general purpose machines Easier to produce commercially Groupware is such application that allows multiple members working on a single project located at distant locations using network Add-on Hardware feature that allows to invest only in hardware configuration & software of their need and value EXAMPLE IBM PC, APPLE II, TRS 80, VAX 9000, CRAY-I, CRAY-2, CRAY-X

Fourth generation computer

Advantages :
. It is a compact . Less power consumption . Production cost is cheap

Disadvantages :
. No artificial intelligent.

ICs with VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)

Fifth generation computer

Period : 1989- Present Main processing device : ICs with parallel
processing

Storage media : Video disks Advantages : . Artificial intelligence . Expert system

HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY USED ICs with ULSI (Ultra Large scale Integration) resulting in chips having ten million components Larger capacity main memory Larger capacity hard disks Notebook Computers Powerful desktop PCs & workstations Very powerful mainframe The Internet

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY USED A vast ocean of information became readily available to computer users through World Wide Web (www) Multimedia applications Internet based applications like e-mail

KEY CHARACTERISTICS Portable computers More powerful, cheaper, reliable

Cont
Very powerful mainframes General purpose machines Easier to produce commercially

EXAMPLE IBM, Notebooks, Pentium PCs, SUN Workstations, IBM SP/2, PARAM 10000

. First generation computer . Second generation computer

Vacuum tubes

Transistors

. Third generation computer . Fourth generation computer

ICs
. Fifth generation computer

ICs with VLSI

ICs with parallel processing

Computer is a group of electronic devices used to process the data. The characteristics of a computer are: 1. Speed 2. Reliability 3. Memory capacity 4. Accuracy 5. Functionality 6. Tirelessness

1. Speed: computer process the data at an unimaginable speed. The speed of the computer ranges up to Nano seconds. 2. Reliability: The next important characteristic of a computer is its reliability. we can always rely on the information given by a computer. 3. Memory capacity: The memory capacity of a computer is measured in in bits and bytes. Large amount of the data can be stored in computer and retrieved. Memory capacity of the computer ranges in Giga bytes.

4. Accuracy: Accuracy of the computer is very high it performs calculation with greater accuracy in less time. 5. functionality: computer can performs many kinds of jobs. They not process the data but also can be Used for plying music, movies, and printing jobs. It finds its applications in all most all the fields. 6. Tirelessness: A computer never gate tired.

6. functionality: computer can performs many kinds of jobs. They not process the data but also can be Used for plying music, movies, and printing jobs. It finds its applications in all most all the fields. 7. Tirelessness: A computer never gate tired.

SOURCES: 1. Website: Http://en.wikipedia.org 2. Fundamentals of Computers:-P.K.SINHA

Presented By:-

Aayush Srivastava
MBA(G) Div-A Roll No-03