History of Computer

History of computer consist of three ages

*The dark ages (3000 B.C – 1890 A.D)

*The middle ages (1890 A.D – 1944 A.D)

* The modern ages (Since 1944)

The Dark Ages:-

The first computers were peoples themselves. The word “Computer” is a title. It is used to describe those human beings whose job is to perform repetitive calculations required to complete such things as navigational tables, tides chart, etc. But its not the Appropriate way because some times carelessness led to mistake and another problem is that humans wouldn’t able to calculate things rapidly. Therefore , scientists were sea-rching for the ways to mechanize all these things.

A typical operation when computers were people

Chinese people introduced abacus in about 3000 B.C. It was the first device which used to perform arithmetic calculations by manipulating the beads. In fact abacus is a very fast calculating device, by which an operator can calculate faster then a person using a digital calculator.

A very old abacus A modern abacus

The 5 lower rings on each rod represents the 5 fingers and 2 upper represents 2 hands.

In 1617, John Napier a Scotsman designed a device called “Napier bones”. This device is consist of eleven bones or rods with numbers marked on them. By placing these rods side by side products and quotients of large numbers can be obtained very easily.

An original set of Napier’s bones

A modern set of Napier’s bones

In 1642, the great French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented a calculator called “Pascal’s Calculator”. This calculator manipulates numbers by rotating a cogwheel gear by one to ten steps with a carryover ratchet to operate next higher digit. We can find this technique , even now in automobiles odometer which uses a series of cogwheels to calculate distance.

Pascal’s Calculator or Pascal’s Pascaline

In 1801 the Frenchman, Joseph Marie invented a power loom that could base its weave and hence the design of fabrics upon a pattern automatically read from punched wooden cards, held together in a row by long rope. This was the first punched card mechanism.

Jacquard’s Loom A Jacquard card

In 1822-23, an English mathematician Charles Babbage was presenting a steam driven calculating machine of the size of room, which he called the difference engine. This machine would able to compute tables of numbers, such as logarithms tables. It was used for navigation purpose . By promoting their commercial and military navies, British Govt. manage to become the earth’s greatest empire.

The Middle Ages (1890 A.D – 1944 A.D)

One early success was the Harvard Mark I computer which was built as a partnership between Harvard and IBM in 1944. This was the first programmable digital computer made in the U.S. But it was not a purely electronic computer. The machine weighed 5 tons, was 8 feet tall and 51 feet long, and had a 50 ft rotating shaft running its length, turned by a 5 horsepower electric motor.

Harvard Mark I

In February,1946, the public got its first glimpse of the ENIAC, a machine built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert that improved by 1,000 times on the speed of its contemporaries. This computer have processing speed of 5000 operations per second.

In April, 1952, IBM shipped its first electronic computer, IBM 701, known as the defense calculator. During three years of production, IBM sold 19 machines to research laboratories, aircraft companies, and the federal government

IBM 701 operator's consoleIBM 701 processor frame

The modern ages:

In 1964, IBM announced the System/360, a family of six mutually compatible computers and 40 peripherals that could work together. t was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific.

System/360 Model 91

In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wonzaik along with Ronald G, formed apple company. Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I, a single-board computer. With specifications in hand and an order for 100 machines at $500 each from the Byte Shop, he and Steve Jobs got their start in business.

Apple I

In 1981, IBM put its leg into personal computers market with its announcement IBM personal computers. IBM introduced its PC, igniting a fast growth of the personal computer market. The first PC ran on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor and used Microsoft´s MS-DOS operating system.

In 1984, Apple computers introduces Macintosh, the first successful mouse-driven computer with a graphic user interface.

Applications that came as part of the package included MacPaint, which made use of the mouse.

In 1987, Microsoft introduces Windows for IBM PC’s. IBM introduced its PS/2 machines, which made the 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive and video graphics array standard for IBM computers. IBM released a new operating system, OS/2, at the same time, allowing the use of a mouse with IBMs for the first time.

IBM PS/2

And Then . . .

References

* Comprehensive computer studies - Urooj Anwer Zaidi

* Computer History Museum - http://www.computerhistory.org

* Computer science lab- http://www.computersciencelab.com/ComputerHistory