History of Computers

  • Invention of Pascaline calculator

    Pascal-Only performed addition (never worked)
    -Invented by Blaise Pascal (mathematician)
  • Stepped reckoner invented

    Stepped Reckoner-Invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
    -Completed in 1694
    -Could add, subtract, multiply, divide, and calculate square roots
    -Parts malfunctioned (ahead of its time)
  • Difference Engine proposed

    Difference Engine-Invented by Charles Babbage
    -Made for Navigation ships (lost at sea)
    -Never built but led to Analytical Engine
    -Government killed project in 1842
  • Analytical Engine

    Analytical Engine-Followed programs on punched cards (still do today) & designed to make decisions based on programs (larger of 2 nums)
    -Never built but model for today
  • Ada Byron (Countess of Lovelace) reviews Analytical Engine

    AdaAda Byron (Countess of Lovelace) – first programmer
    -Stated no computer no matter how powerful could ever think which is still true today
  • Tabulating Machine Invented

    Tabulating Machine-End of 19th Century the Census took 9 years to compile (outdated)
    -Used Electricity instead of gears
    –General count of population now six weeks
    -Invented by Herman Hollerith for 1890 Census
    -Hollerith also founded Tabulating Machine Company, which later merged to become IBM
  • Atanasoff-Berry computer invented

    ABCABC (first electronic computer) used binary number system of 1s and 0s still used today (wasn’t recognized until the 1990s)
    -It and ENIAC were the first TRUE computers, instead of glorified calculators
    -Invented by physics professor John Atanasoff and grad student Clifford Berry
  • Mark 1 invented

    HarvardIBM – Used punch cards – but could not make decisions so still calculator (sophisticated) but 51 feet in length and weight 5 tons
    -Invented by Howard Aiken at Harvard
  • ENIAC

    -Made for WWII trajectory of shells but finished after war was over
    -Solved problem that team of mathematicians needed three days in twenty seconds!
    -30 tons & 1500 sq ft (average home)
  • Transistor

    -Invented to make computers smaller and less expensive
    Speeds up to 10,000 calculations per second
  • Grace Murray Hopper used “debug” to remove a moth

    Grace Murray Hopper made COBOL
    -"debug" still used today
  • EDVAC & EDSAC

    edvacEniac/ABC still needed pulling, plugging & switch flipping to change instructions
    John Von Neumann – Idea of stored program in CPU to control all functions
    Program – List of instructions written in a language that the computer understands.
    EDVAC & EDSAC (Von Neumann) solved problems with instructions on paper tape
    -Entering instructions now in machine language (0s and 1s) to represent switches
  • UNIVAC

    -Used stored program concept correctly & first computer language (C-10) with first keyboard
    Sold to Census Bureau in 1951
    Still large and expensive – only large corporations & government could afford
    1000 calculations per second
  • Machine Language (first generation programming language)

    – 0’s & 1’s is the only language that a computer understands (low-level)
    Written directly to address hardware
    Very complex & tedious
  • IBM Model 650

    1960s IBM Model 650 – first medium-sized computer
    Still expensive--for corporations/government only
    Smaller & Cheaper than anything before
    Punched cards replaced by magnetic tape
  • High-level programming languages

    High-level programming languages have English-like instructions (easier to use) but must be compiled (translated to assembly)
    Languages include Fortran, COBOL (for Department of Defense), Ada, C, Pascal, Etc.
    (date unclear)
  • Assembly language

    Assembly LanguageAssembly language (also low-level) with names to represent machine language
    Must be translated to machine (assembled)
  • Integrated Circuits invented

    Integrated Circuits (ICs) – Computer Chips
    Replaced transistors
    Fastest; Millions of calculations per second
    Silicon etched with intricate circuits
  • IBM System 360

    -One of first computers with circuits
    Difficulty keeping up with demand
    Cheaper so hospitals & universities could afford
  • Desktop PC

    Input Devices (Takes information in) vs. Output Devices (Sends information out)
    CPU (Central Processing Unit) processes data and controls flow of data (heart) & directs all activities of the computer
    ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) within the CPU for arithmetic and logic/comparisons (brain)
  • Microprocessor

    Created by Marcian Hoff
    Entire CPU on a chip
    Made Microcomputers (computer small enough to fit on a desktop) possible
  • Altair (first microcomputer)

    Mainframe--Large & Expensive ($100,000-millions range)
    Large corporations, banks, governments & universities
    Usually has ‘dummy’ terminals
    Usually requires their own room
    IBM System 360 was one of first
    A smaller ‘minicomputer’ was also used on a smaller scale
    Eventually MICROcomputers became common
  • Bill Gates created a BASIC language interpreter

    BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) – uses an interpreter so code can be tested as it is written
  • Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs built Apple computer in their garage

  • Bill Gates founded Microsoft

    Also developed MS-DOS for PCs and Windows
  • IBM-PC

    Had spreadsheet, accounting & word processing software (instant success)
    Available to all – Compared Porsche $1
  • Osborne 1 Portable Computer invented

    Mobile Computing-First mobile computer
    -Made mobile computing possible and helped with the invention of the following:
    Bluetooth – wireless technology used to allow mobile computer devices to communicate
    Mobile computing devices – Notebooks, tablets, handhelds and wearable computers
    Smartphone – Most popular & growing
  • Fourth-generation languages (4GLs)

    Bill GatesObject-oriented programming (OOP) evolved creates modules to use over again
    Visual Basic, C++ and Java are OOPs
    -More high level than other high-level languages