The History Of Computers

Computers, it seems as if they have been aroundcomputer used 18,000 vacuum tubes and could
forever. Yet it wasn't until the 1981 that the firstperform calculations at the rate of 5,000 additions per
personal computer was introduced by IBM - onlysecond. Operators used plug boards and wires to
twenty six years ago.program the desired operations. The computer used
So who invented the first computer and how did itmagnetic tape to store input and output rather than
evolve to what it is today?punch tape, another invention by Eckert and Mauchley.
The definition of a computer is any programmableSuch computers were to later be called 'First
electronic device that can store, retrieve, and processGeneration' computers.
data. But the idea of 'computing' dates all the wayIt was in 1947 when Bell Laboratories invented the
back to the 1200s when a Moslem cleric proposed atransistor that a wave of 'Second Generation'
way to solve problems with a series of writtencomputers were born. Texas Instruments improved
procedures. In 1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard built a loomthe transistor in 1954 and the vacuum tubes were
that weaves by reading punched holes stored on smallreplaced. With the transistors, computers became less
sheets of hardwood; the plates read or retrieved theexpensive and smaller in size.
pattern and creates or processed the weave.It wasn't until the development of programming
But it wasn't until prior to World War II when John V.language came along that the 'Third Generation'
Atansoff and Clifford John Berry started building thecomputer was born. Originally, programmers
'electronic' computer. Because of the war, the twocommunicated with computers through plug boards
were unable to complete their project. But in 1939,and wires. In 1956, FORTRAN, the first programming
Astansoff finished a small prototype computer to testlanguage was developed. Then, in 1959 came COBOL.
his ideas. The computer was called the ABC, standingThese programming languages enabled programmers
for Atansoff-Berry Computer.to write code and translate it into machine language.
The machine used 300 vacuum tubes to performThe operating system was created to provide a
calculations, capacitors to store binary data and punchbuffer between the user and the machine and to
cards to communicate input/output. Unlike oldenable the user to ask the computer to perform a high
mechanical machines, which used direct counting, thelevel task.
ABC used logical operations to perform addition andAfter this came the necessity for storage. In 1970, IBM
subtraction.put a floppy disk drive into their 3740 system. The
During World War II, the military wanted the computerfloppy disk provided three times more storage space
for more advanced uses. They were seeking anand thus the 'Fourth Generation' computers were born.
easier way to compute firing and ballistic tables. This isPersonal computers have changed tremendously since
when J. Presper Eckert and William Mauchleythis time with everything from hardware to storage to
developed the ENIAC or Electronic Numericalgreat varieties of software. With technology multiplying
Integrator and Calculator. This computer filled a thirtyitself with each decade, who knows what the future
by fifty foot room and weighted thirty tons. Thegeneration computers could look like.