Generations of Computers

The Five Generations of Computers

First generation computers
(1940-1956) - Vacuum Tubes

- The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory.

—- They were often enormous and taking up entire room.

—- First generation computers relied on machine language.

—- They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.

—- The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices.

 Second generation computers
(1956-1963) - Transistors

- Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers.

- Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic.

- High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.

- These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory.

 Third generation computers
(1964-1971) - Integrated Circuits

- The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers.

—- Transistors were miniaturized and placed on siliconchips, called semiconductors.

—- Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system.

—- Allowed the device to run many different applications at one time.

 Fourth generation computers
(1971-present) - Microprocessors

 

- The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip.

—- The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer.

—- From the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls—on a single chip.

—- Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.

Fifth generation computers
(present and beyond) - Artificial Intelligence

- Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence.

—- Are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition.

—- The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality.

—- The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.