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The Manual Calculator
A manual calculator is a device that assists the process of numeric calcualtion. In ancient Rome, India, China, and Japan, a manual calculator called an abacus was used.
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Slide Rules
In 1621, an English mathematician named William Oughtred constructed the first slide rule. The slide rule used John Napier's logarithms to perform complex engineering and scientific calculations.
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The Mechanichal Calculator
In 1962, Whilhelm Schickard, a German professor, created created a mechanichal calculator, called Schickard's Calculator with a series of interlocking gears. Everytime the gear completed a full circle, it moved to the next gear one notch to the left.
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The Pascaline
In 1642, a Frenchman by the name of Blaise Pascal developed the "Pascaline." It was a mechanichal device that could perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
(http://people.uncw.edu/tompkinsj/112/texnh/images/pascaline_open2.jpg) -
Leibniz Calculator
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a German born man, created the Leibniz Calculator in 1673. This calculator was also mechnichal and was operated much like the "Pascaline."
(http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~mmk/Teaching/AI/figures/pascal-calculator.jpg) -
de Colmar's Arithmometer
In1820, Thomas de Colmar produced the first mass-produced calculator called de Colmar's Arithmometer.
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Difference Engine
Charles Babbage devloped proposed a device called the Difference Engine in 1822. The Difference Engine would operate using steam power which was a cutting edge technology during the time. It was intended to quickly and accurately calculate large tables of numbers used for astrnomical and engineering applications.
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Computer Prototypes - The Atanasoff-Berry Computer
In 1937, an Iowa State professor by the name of John V. Atanasoff worked on a prototype for an electronic computer. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the first to use vacuum tubes instead of mechanichal switches for processing circuitry.
(http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~ncokca/drgd/Atanasoff%20Berry%20Computer.jpg) -
First-Generation Computers
First-generation computers can be characterized by their use of vacuum tubes. A vacuum tube is an electronic device that controls the flow of electrons in a vacuum. ENIAC, the prototype for the first-generation computers, contained about 18,000 tubes. Programming first-generation computers was difficult. Programmers were forced to link 0s and 1s to write instructions in machine language. (http://museumvictoria.com.au/csirac/images/mn003699.jpg) -
COLOSSUS
In 1943, British developers created COLOSSUS which was an electronic device created to decode encrypted by the German Enigma machine. It contained 1,800 vacuum tubes and was capable of reading input at the rate of 5,000 characters per second.
(http://dgatx.com/computing/people/Tony-Sale/pubs/2004/Colossus/colossus_files/col5c.jpg) -
ENIAC
John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert led a team who began to work on a general-purpose electronic computer called ENIAC. ENIAC stood for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. It was designed to calculate trajectory tables for the U.S. Army. It was over 11 feet long and ten feet high and weighed 30 tons.
(http://people.virginia.edu/~dg6n/classes/0405.1.fall.mdst110/lectures/pictures/Eniac.jpg) -
Second-Generation Computers
Second-generation computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes. Transistors regulate current or voltage flow and act as a switch for electronic signlas. Transistors performed functions similar to vacuum tubes, but they were smaller, cheaper, and more reliable. (http://www.bowkera.com/images/NorthStar/Advantage.jpg) -
UNIVAC
A computer called the UNIVAC was considered to be the first commercially successful digital computer. It was completed in 1951 by the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp. The UNVIAC was smaller then the ENIAC but it was more powerful. UNVIAC could read data at the rate of 7,200 characters per second. it could also complete s.s5 million instruction cycles per second.
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Thrid-Generation Computers
Third-generation computers became possible when Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor independently developed integrated circuits. This made it possible to pack the equivalent of thousands of vacuum tubes or transistors into a single minature chip. (http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T389/Chip01.jpg) -
RCA Spectra 70 & IBM 360
Two fo the first computers to incorporate integrated circuits were hte RCA Spectra 70 and the successful IBM 360. The first orders for the computer were filled in 1965. (http://blog.unab.cl/nicotapia/files/2009/08/ibm360.jpg) -
DEC PDP-8
Also in 1965, Digital Equipment Corp. introduced the DEC PDP-8 which was the first comercially successful minicomputer. Minicomputers were designed to be smaller and less powerful than mainframe computers while maintaining the capability to run multiple programs for multiple users. (http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/dec-pdp-8.jpg) -
Fourth-Generation Computers
The technology for fourth-generation computers appeared in 1971 when Tedd Hoff developed the first general-purpose microprocessor called the Intel 4004. It dramatically changed the computer industry resulting in the fourth-generation computer systems that were faster, smaller, and even less expensive than third-generation computers. (https://rqchp.ca/modules/cms/checkFileAccess.php?file=local.rqchpweb/Histoire/Premiers_ordinateurs/Intel_4004_t.jpg) -
6800 8-Bit Microprocessor
In 1974, Motorola released the 6800 8-bit microprocessor. A few months later the 6502 8-bit microprocessor was created. It was used in the Apple II and Commodore PC systems. (http://www.retropartsstore.com/images/MOTOROLA_MC6800PD.jpg) -
MITS Altair
IN 1975, Ed Roberts and the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems company announced the MITS Altair which many belive was the first commercial micro computer. The Altair was a computer for hobbyists. The kit came unnassembled in a box containing a processor and 256 bytes of memory. (http://kumanomix.cocolog-nifty.com/kumanomix/images/altair8800.jpg) -
Apple I
In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded the Aplle Computer Corporation and released the Apple I. It contained a system board with 4 KB of RAM that sold for $666.66. (http://cicorp.com/apple/garage/apple-1-2-steves.jpg) -
Personal Computer
In 1981, IBM began to market what is known as a personal computer, or PC. The PC was based on the 8088 processor. The PC was $3,000 and included a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor, 16 KB of RAM and a single sided 160 KB floppy disk drives. (http://www.fastrackcomputing.net/forum/images/MCPCs_IBM-PC_8.jpg) -
Apple Lisa
Apple introduced a product called Apple Lisa in 1983. Its key feature was its graphical user interface. It was an idea borrowed from the Xerox Alto computer. (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/Apple_Lisa1_CompleteSyst_s1.jpg) -
Apple Macintosh
In 1984, Apple released the first Apple Macintosh, The Macintosh featured graphical user interface that made programs easier to use than those on IBM PCs. The Macintosh became the computer of choice for graphical applications such as desktop publishing. (http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/05/phaidon/image/9_843-apple-macintosh.jpg) -
IBM & Macintosh
In the mid-1990's IBM-compatible computers accounted for more than 90% of all PC sales. The Apple Macintosh accounted for the remainder. (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5345088/336581-main_Full.jpg) -
IBM AS/400
By the year 2000, the IBM AS/400 was one of the few remaining devices that could be classified as a minicomputer. (http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/logo/images/920913.jpg)
