History of computers

The first computing devices were used by primitive people. They used sticks, stones, and bones as counting tools. As the human mind and technology improved over time, more computing devices were developed. Some popular computer devices starting from the first to the latest are described below;

Counter

The history of the computer begins with the birth of the abacus, which is considered the first computer. It is said that the Chinese invented the Abacus about 4000 years ago.

It was a wooden stand on which metal rods with beads were attached. The balls were moved by the abacus operator according to some rules for performing arithmetic calculations. Abacus is still used in some countries such as China, Russia and Japan. An image of this tool is shown below;

Computer counter 1

Napier's bones

It was a manually operated calculating device invented by John Napier (1550-1617) of Merchiston. In this calculating tool, he used 9 different ivory strips or bones marked with numbers to multiply and divide. The instrument thus became known as Napier's Bones. It was also the first machine to use a decimal point.

Computer Napier Bones 1

Pascaline

Pascaline is also known as an arithmetic machine or adding machine. It was invented between 1642 and 1644 by the French mathematician-philosopher Biais Pascal. It is believed to have been the first mechanical and automatic calculator.

Pascal invented this machine to help his father, a tax accountant. It could only perform addition and subtraction. It was a wooden crate with a series of gears and wheels. When a wheel rotates one revolution, it rotates the adjacent wheel. On top of the wheels are a series of windows for reading the totals. An image of this tool is shown below;

Computer masculine 1

A graduated Reckoner or Leibnitz wheel

It was developed by the German mathematician-philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673. He improved Pascal's invention to develop this machine. It was a digital mechanical calculator called a step counter because it was made of knurled drums instead of gears. See the following image;

Computer step counter or Leibnitz wheel 1

Differential motor

It was designed in the early 1820s by Charles Babbage, who is known as the "father of the modern computer". It was a mechanical computer that could perform simple calculations. It was a steam-powered calculating machine designed to solve tables of numbers like a logarithmic table.

Computer differential motor 1

Analysis engine

This calculating machine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830. It was a mechanical computer that used punched cards as input. He was able to solve any math problem and store the information as permanent memory.

Computer Analysis Engine 1

Tabulating machine

It was invented in 1890 by the American statistician Herman Hollerith. It was a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards. It could tabulate statistics and record or sort data or information. This machine was used in the 1890 US Census. Hollerith also founded Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company, which later became International Business Machine (IBM) in 1924.

Computer Spreadsheet Machine 1

Differential analyzer

It was the first electronic computer introduced in the United States in 1930. It was an analog device invented by Vannevar Bush. This machine has vacuum tubes to switch electrical signals to perform calculations. It was able to do 25 calculations in a few minutes.

Computer Differential Analyzer 1

Mark I

Another major change in the history of computers began in 1937 when Howard Aiken planned to develop a machine that could perform calculations involving large numbers. In 1944, the Mark I computer was built as a partnership between IBM and Harvard. It was the first programmable digital computer.

Computer brand 1

A generation of computers

A generation of computers refers to specific improvements in computing over time. In 1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform computations. It replaced the gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous calculating machines.

In each new generation, the circuits became smaller and more advanced than the circuits of the previous generation. Miniaturization helped increase the speed, memory, and performance of computers. There are five generations of computers, which are described below;

First generation computers

First-generation computers (1946-1959) were slow, huge, and expensive. In these computers, vacuum tubes were used as basic components of the CPU and memory. These computers depended mainly on a batch operating system and punched cards. Magnetic tape and paper tape were used as output and input devices in this generation;

Some popular first-generation computers are;

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)

UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer)

IBM-701

IBM-650

Second generation computers

The second generation (1959-1965) was the era of transistor computers. These computers used transistors that were cheap, compact, and consumed less power; it made transistor computers faster than the first generation computers.

In this generation, magnetic cores were used as primary storage and magnetic disks and tapes were used as secondary storage. These computers used assembler and programming languages ​​such as COBOL and FORTRAN and operating systems for batch processing and multiprogramming.

Some popular second-generation computers are;

IBM 1620

IBM 7094

CDC 1604

CDC 3600

UNIVAC 1108

Third generation computers

Third-generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of transistors. A single integrated circuit can contain a huge number of transistors, increasing computer performance and reducing costs. Computers have also become more reliable, efficient, and smaller. Computers of this generation used remote processing, time-sharing, and multiple programming as an operating system. High-level programming languages ​​such as FORTRON-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, and ALGOL-68 were also used in this generation.

Some popular third-generation computers are;

The IBM-360 series

Honeywell-6000 series

PDP (personal data processor)

IBM-370/168

TDC-316

Fourth generation computers

Fourth generation computers (1971-1980) used very large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI); a chip containing millions of transistors and other circuit elements. These chips made computers of this generation more compact, powerful, faster, and more affordable. Computers of this generation used real-time, time-sharing, and distributed operating systems. Programming languages ​​like C, C++, and DBASE were also used in this generation.

Some popular fourth-generation computers are;

December 10th

STAR 1000

PDP 11

CRAY-1 (Super Computer)

CRAY-X-MP (Super Computer)

Fifth generation computers

In fifth-generation computers (1980 to date), VLSI technology was replaced by ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). It made it possible