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Silent Generation
Letters and the telegraph was dominant: the only computers invented so far were very basic, highly specialized, and had little versatility in the form of analytical machines or, in one case, a code-breaker for the German's enigma code. -
George Stibitz
A Bell Laboratories scientist known as George Stibitz used used relays in an invention he "made on his kitchen table" which demonstrated first use of boolean logic in computers used for a simple calculator. -
The Colossus
The colossus was built to break the Lorenz ciphers used by Nazis during WWII. It shortened the decryption of these ciphers from weeks to hours. -
Eniac
The ENIAC was a 30 ton computer built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania which utilized electronic technology which allowed to to be over 1,000 times faster than any previous computer constructed. -
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Baby Boomer Generation
The principles behind computing were only now beginning to become developed, but the technology was still in its infancy dominated by vacuum tubes and building sized computers. -
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Generation X
During this era, the concepts that would become the world wide web were still in its infancy only available at universities known as ARPNET. Radios, television, newspapers, and word of mouth were the primary ways of gaining knowledge. People mostly interacted through wired telephones, letters, or face to face. -
The Apollo Guidance Computer
The Apollo Guidance computer designed by scientists and engineers at MIT which reduced the size of the computer from around the size of seven refrigerators to about 70 pounds which took up less than a cubic foot. -
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Generation Y
During this time period, the internet evolved from ARPNET for public use. Cellphones began to be developed, allowing for telephone services in someone's car, and later. their pocket. Slowly, the internet began to replace libraries as the chief source of knowledge. However, newspapers, radio stations, word of mouth, and television were still the primary disseminators of information and comunication. -
Apple launches the Macintosh
The first Macintosh went for 2500 and was the first successful mouse-driven computer. It also included "what you see is what you get" word processing software with MacWrite and a painting software called "MacPaint" -
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Generation Z
The digital world really changed the way this generation communicated: robust internet around the world allowed for connectivity. Smartphones allowed for advanced computing to be done in their pocket, or provide a portal to the worldwide web which slowly replaced radios, newspapers, and acted faster than word of mouth for knowledge and communication. -
Apple iPhone is released
The iPhone was a revolutionary device which went with a touchscreen as its primary form of interaction and allowed for extra functionality in the form of downloading additional apps. Furthermore, it could perform countless functions consistently and reliable at an acceptable rate at the time normally only associated with laptops or desktops. -
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Quantum Generation
With advances in quantum technologies, more instantaneous forms of communication may become possible. While they will function similarly to that of Generation Z, these key advances may make huge differences in computer simulation, data management and storage, and augmented or virtual realities. However, communication will largely be the same, but knowledge from the advanced computer simulations will increase. -
First commercial quantum supercomputer
The fastest practical quantum supercomputer designed through cooperation between various companies and governments will allow for much stronger encryption, exponentially faster processing for quantum-optimized problems including the analysis of big data.
