History of
Computers
Definition of Computer
• One who computes
• A device for making calculations
• A programmable electronic device that stores,
retrieves, and processes information
What was the first calculator or computer using
the definition: a device for making calculations
Mechanical Calculators – Part 1
An abacus is a calculation tool, often constructed as a wooden frame with beads sliding on
wires. It was in use centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu-Arabic numeral
system and is still widely used by merchants and clerks in China and elsewhere.
The origins of the abacus are disputed, as many different cultures have been known to have
used similar tools. It is known to have existed in Babylonia and in China, with invention to
have taken place between 2400 BC and 300 BC.
Mechanical Calculators – Part 2
The Antikythera Mechanism is from ancient Greece (B.C.)
X-ray examination shows 30 miniaturized differential gears. The device was
possibly used for calculating the position of the Sun, moon, and planets.
Mechanical Calculators – Part 3
Blaise Pascal’s
mechanical
calculator from 1642.
Diagram of the
Charles Babbage
difference engine
from 1819.
Curta handheld
mechanical
calculator from
1948.
Mechanical Calculators – Part 4
The slide rule was invented by William Oughtred in 1625. The slide rule is
based on Napier's ideas about logarithms - it has logarithmic scales that
can be slid past each other to allow approximations to multiplication to
be carried out quickly and easily.
Slide rules were in continual use by scientists and mathematicians right
up until to the introduction of the first handheld calculator by Hewlett
Packard in 1972.
First Vacuum Tube Computer - 1942
The ENIAC was developed during the war to
calculate ballistic tables.
It contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, covered 1800
square feet of floor space, weighed 30 tons,
consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power.
In one second, the ENIAC could perform 5,000
additions, 357 multiplications or 38 divisions.
Transistors replaced Tubes
IBM 650 Business Computer
Transistors, like vacuum tubes, provide amplification
and switching. They can be used in radios, televisions,
and also computers. Computers were made with
transistors from 1954 - 1959.
The Integrated Circuit was invented in 1959
In 1959, the integrated circuit was invented which allowed many
transistors to be placed on a single semiconductor material (silicon).
From 1960 – 1963, almost all integrated circuits produced were
purchased by NASA for the Apollo program.
Beginning in the 1970’s integrated circuit technology was used to
create the brains of computers. These are known as microprocessors
or Central Processing Units (CPU).
Intel began making CPU’s for home computers
1971 – Intel 4004
1993 – Intel Pentium
1997 – Intel Pentium II
1999 – Intel Pentium III
1974 – Intel 8080
1979 – Intel 8088
2000
Intel Pentium 4
1982 – Intel 80286
1985 – Intel 80386
1989 – Intel 80486
2006
Intel Core 2
Industrial Revolution 1700 - 1900
The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th
centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and
transportation had a profound effect on socioeconomic and cultural
conditions in Britain and subsequently spread throughout Europe and
North America. The industrial revolution began an era of per-capita
economic growth in capitalist economies.
• What were the effects of the technological advances?
• What happened to the price of the products?
• What about all the people put out of work by the
machines? How do you protect yourself from losing your
job to a machine or computer?
Information Age
• Vast improvements in
communication
• Computers are EVERYWHERE
• Instant access to all information
from anywhere
1877
Bell Telephone
2007
Apple iPhone
Where do we find computers today?
RFID
Car Computer
Entertainment
Navigation
POS
What’s Next in Computing?
Ditch the laptop and
smart phone, your
brain may directly
interface to future
computers for
instantaneous access
to all knowledge and
infinite memory.
Humanoid robots
may be common in
the home in 10 – 20
years.
Nanotechnology will
provide a new level
of miniaturization. This
device is half the width
of a human hair.
Can we really predict where we will be in the future?
In a 1954 Popular Science Magazine, this was a prediction of
what a home computer might be like in 50 years (2004).
Are you scared of technology?