The advent of modern computers, which we used to use, was preceded by a whole evolution in the development of computer technology. According to popular theory, the development of the computer industry has been going on for several separate generations.
Modern experts tend to believe that there are six of them. Five of them have already taken place, one more is on the way. What exactly is the term "computer generation" understood by IT-specialists? What are the fundamental differences between the individual periods of development of computer technology?
Background to the appearance of computers
The history of the development of computers of 5 generations is interesting and fascinating. But before you study it, it will be useful to find out the facts regarding which technological solutions preceded the development of computers.
People have always sought to improve procedures related to counting, computing. Historians have found that tools for working with numbers, which have a mechanical nature, were invented in ancient Egypt and other ancient states. In the Middle Ages, European inventors could construct mechanisms by which, in particular, the periodicity of lunar tides could be calculated.
Some experts consider the prototype of modern computers to be the Babbage machine invented at the beginning of the 19th century , which had the functions of programming computing. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, devices appeared in which electronics began to be used. They were mainly involved in the telephone and radio communications industry.
In 1915, German emigrant German Hollerith , who moved to the United States, founded IBM, which later became one of the most recognizable brands in the IT industry. Among the most sensational inventions of Herman Hollerith were punch cards, which for decades served as the main storage medium when using computer technology. By the end of the 30s, technologies appeared that made it possible to talk about the beginning of the computer era in the development of human civilization. The first computers appeared, which later became classified as belonging to the "first generation".
Computer Signs
The key criterion for classifying a computing device as a computer, or computer, experts call programmability. In this, the corresponding type of machine, in particular, differs from calculators, no matter how powerful the latter are. Even when it comes to programming at a very low level, when “zeros and ones” are used, the criterion is valid. Accordingly, as soon as the machines were invented, perhaps, in appearance, they were very similar to calculators, but which could be programmed, they were called computers.
The term "computer generation" is understood, as a rule, as a computer belonging to a specific technological formation. That is, that base of hardware solutions, on the basis of which the computer works. At the same time, based on the criteria proposed by IT experts, the division of computers into generations is far from arbitrary (although, of course, there are transitional forms of computers that are difficult to unambiguously relate to any particular category).
Having completed the theoretical digression, we can begin to study the generation of computers. The table below will help us navigate in the periodization of each.
Generation | Years |
1 | 1930s - 1950s |
2 | 1960s - 1970s |
3 | 1970s - 1980s |
4 | The second half of the 70s - early 90s |
5 | 90s is our time |
6 | In developing |
Next, we will consider the technological features of computers for each category. We will determine the characteristics of computer generations. The table that we have now compiled will be supplemented by others, in which the corresponding categories and technological parameters will be correlated.
Note an important nuance - the following reasoning mainly concerns the evolution of computers, which today are usually referred to as personal computers. There are completely different computer classes - military, industrial. There are so-called "supercomputers". Their appearance and development is a separate issue.
First computers
In 1938, German engineer Konrad Zuse designs a device called the Z1, and in the 42nd he released its improved version - Z2. In 1943, the British invented their computer and called it “Colossus”. Some experts tend to consider English and German machines as the first computers. In 1944, Americans also created a computer based on intelligence from Germany. A computer developed in the USA was called "Mark I".
In 1946, American engineers made a small revolution in the field of computer engineering by creating the ENIAK tube computer, 1000 times more productive than the Mark I. The next famous American development was the computer created in 1951, called UNIAK. Its main feature is that it was the first computer to be used as a commercial product.
By that time, by the way, Soviet engineers working at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences had already invented their own computer. Our development is called MESM. Its performance, according to experts, was the highest among computers assembled in Europe.
Technological features of the first generation of computers
Actually, on the basis of what criteria is the first generation of computer development determined? First of all, IT specialists consider such a component base as vacuum tubes. The machines of the first generation also had a number of characteristic external features - a huge size, very high power consumption.
Their computing power was also relatively modest, it amounted to several thousand hertz. At the same time, computers of the first generation contained much that is in modern computers. In particular, this is machine code that allows you to program commands, as well as write data to memory (using punch cards and electrostatic tubes).
First-generation computers required the highest qualifications of the person using them. It required not only proficiency in core skills (expressed in working with punch cards, knowledge of machine code, etc.), but, as a rule, also engineering knowledge in the field of electronics.
In the computer of the first generation, as we have already said, there was already RAM. True, its volume was extremely modest; it was expressed in hundreds, at best, in thousands of bytes. The first RAM modules for computers could hardly be classified as an electronic component. They were tubes filled with mercury. The memory crystals were fixed on their specific areas, and thus the data was saved. However, soon enough after the invention of the first computers, more perfect memory based on ferrite cores appeared.
The second generation of computers
What is the further history of the development of computers? Generations of computers began to develop further. Computers using not only vacuum tubes, but also semiconductors, became widespread in the 1960s. The clock frequency of the microcircuits significantly increased - an indicator of 100 thousand hertz and higher was considered a common thing. The first magnetic disks appeared as an alternative to punch cards. In 1964, IBM released a unique product - a separate computer monitor with fairly decent specifications - a 12-inch diagonal, a resolution of 1024 by 1024 pixels, and a scan frequency of 40 Hz.
Generation Three
What is remarkable about the third generation of computers? First of all, the transfer of computers from lamps and semiconductors to integrated circuits, which, apart from computers, began to be used in many other electronic devices.
For the first time, the capabilities of integrated circuits were shown to the world through the efforts of engineer Jack Kilby and Texas Instruments in 1959. Jack created a small structure made on a plate made of germanium metal, which was supposed to replace complex semiconductor structures. In turn, Texas Instruments created a computer assembled on the basis of such records. The most remarkable thing is that it was 150 times less than a similar performance semiconductor computer. Integrated circuit technology has been further developed. A major role in this was played by the research of Robert Neuss.
These hardware components allowed, first of all, to significantly reduce the size of the computer. As a result, there has been a significant increase in computer performance. The third generation of computers was characterized by the release of computers with a clock frequency, expressed already in megahertz. The power consumption of computers has also decreased.
The technologies for recording data and processing them in RAM modules have become more advanced. As for RAM, ferrite elements have become more capacious, technologically advanced. Prototypes first appeared, and then the first versions of floppy disks used as an external storage medium appeared. Cache memory appeared in PC architecture. The display window became the standard environment for user and computer interaction.
There was a further improvement of the software components. Full-fledged operating systems appeared, a wide variety of application software began to be developed , and multitasking concepts were introduced into the work of computers. In the framework of the third generation computer, such programs as database management systems, as well as software for the automation of design work, appear. More and more programming languages and environments are emerging within which software is being created.
Fourth Generation Features
The fourth generation of computers is characterized by the appearance of integrated circuits belonging to the class of large, as well as the so-called super-large. A leading microcircuit appeared in PC architecture - a processor. Computers in their configuration have become closer to ordinary citizens. Using them became possible with minimal qualification, while working with computers of previous generations required professional skills. RAM modules began to be produced not on the basis of ferrite elements, but on the basis of CMOS chips. To the fourth generation of computers, it is customary to include the first Apple computer , assembled in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Stefan Wozniak. Many IT experts believe that Apple is the world's first personal computer.
The fourth generation of computers also coincided with the beginning of the popularization of the Internet. In the same period, the most famous brand of the software industry, Microsoft, appeared today. The first versions of the operating systems that we know today appeared - Windows, MacOS. Computers began to spread rapidly around the world.
Fifth generation
The heyday of the fourth generation of computers is the mid-to-late 80s. But already in the early 90s, processes began to take place on the IT-technology market, which made it possible to begin the countdown to a new generation of computers. We are talking about significant steps forward, primarily in engineering developments related to processors. Microcircuits with architecture related to the type of parallel-vector appeared.
The fifth generation of computers is an incredible rate of growth in machine performance from year to year. If in the early 90s the clock frequency of microprocessors of several tens of megahertz was considered a good indicator, then by the beginning of the 2000s no one was surprised at gigahertz. The computers that we use now, according to IT experts, are also the fifth generation of computers. That is, the technological backlog of the early 90's is still relevant.
Fifth-generation PCs have become not just computers, but full-fledged multimedia tools. It became possible to mount films on them, work with images, record and process sound, create engineering projects, and launch realistic 3D games.
Sixth Generation Features
In the foreseeable future, analysts say, we have the right to expect that the 6th generation of computers will appear. It will be characterized by the use of neural elements in the architecture of microcircuits, the use of processors in a distributed network.
The performance of computers in the next generation will probably be measured not in gigahertz, but in a fundamentally different type of calculus.
Feature Comparison
We studied the generation of computers. The table below will allow us to navigate the correlation of computers belonging to a particular category, and the technological base on which their operation is based. The dependencies are as follows:
Generation | Technological base |
1 | Vacuum tubes |
2 | Semiconductors |
3 | Integrated circuits |
4 | Large and extra large schemes |
5 | Parallel Vector Technologies |
6 | Neural principles |
Visualization of the correlation of performance and a particular generation of computers may also be useful. The table that we will now compile will reflect this pattern. We take as a basis such a parameter as the clock frequency.
Generation | Clock rate |
1 | Several kilohertz |
2 | Hundreds of kHz |
3 | Megahertz |
4 | Tens of MHz |
5 | Hundreds of MHz, Gigahertz |
6 | Measurement criteria are being worked out. |
Thus, we visualized key technological features for each generation of computers. The table, any of the ones presented by us, will help us to correlate the relevant parameters and the specific category of computers in relation to a particular stage in the development of computer technology.