Computers have become a necessity. They are everywhere: in homes, factories, offices and cars ... We sometimes don’t even think how much the history of the development of computer technology is multifaceted and rich in historical dates. To date, four generations of computers are distinguished.
The first generation was bulky (by today's standards huge) machines. Apart from the work of the German engineer Zuse (namely, he created the first computer in 1941, but the work was lost), then the founder of today's computers is Mark-1 (1943). This machine required a huge hall and consisted of 800 km of wires, more than 3300 thousand relays and consumed hundreds of kilowatts of electricity for calculations. These computers were used for military calculations.
But it is worth noting that the history of computer equipment of generation I did not begin with “Mark I”. The date of its beginning was recorded in 1946. Then the computer began to be based on electronic vacuum tubes. It was this design that ENIAC had. In size, it was practical as the first "Mark", but was distinguished by greater productivity (more than a thousand times). The car was interesting, powerful, innovative, but impractical. For one calculation, it was required to conduct cable switching in a certain order for several hours. The device was idle, and the development of computer technology continued and a new concept appeared - the “element base”, which could ensure the functioning of the computer. The base of computers of the first generation consisted of capacitors, resistors and vacuum tubes.
The history of computer technology of domestic production begins in 1951, thanks to S.A. Lebedev. It all started with MESM, which after refinement became BESM-2. A little later in the USSR, the most powerful computer in Europe was created with the name M-20, which quite often went out of order and required a considerable staff of engineers for maintenance.
The second generation of computers began with the invention and use of the first transistor. From that moment, the history of the development of computer technology began to gain a completely different speed. The computer base began to be based on semiconductor elements. The transistor was forty times more efficient than an electronic lamp, more compact and cheaper. The use of printed circuit boards has become possible. In 1965, Digital Equipment introduced a compact (!) Computer, the dimensions of which were slightly smaller than a roomy refrigerator. This miracle was called PDP-8 and cost 20 thousand US dollars.
While the portable PDP-8 surprises everyone with its performance, the development of third-generation computers (at the end of the 1960s and 70s) also begins. This is due to the development and testing of the first integrated circuit (John Kilbry 1958). Transistors and their connections were located on a silicon wafer. Productivity - from hundreds of thousands to millions of operations per second.
In 1968, the first integrated circuit computer, the IBM-360, was published. In 1970, Intel began implementing integrated memory circuits. Every year, the performance of the parts increased at least twice, while the area of the circuit either did not change or became smaller. This gave rise to the development of the fourth generation of computers.
In 1970, Intel (Marchian Edward Hoff) designed the first analogue of the central processor of a large computer. In 1970, it went on sale under the name Intel-4004. With a size of 3 cm, it was more productive than three Mark II computers. The development of microprocessors went quite quickly, which allowed us to create practical computers that were used for typing, computing, and simplifying accounting. Thanks to people like S. Jobs and V. Wozniak (the founders of Apple Computer), the history of computer technology began to bring these devices closer to ordinary users. And now, ordinary people themselves could observe how fast productivity is growing, new programs appear and much more. By the end of the 70s the proliferation of personal computers has gained an incredibly high turnover. Thanks to the vigorous actions and clever manipulations with the commercial interests of large corporations, the young American Bill Gates is successfully gaining the right to develop software for Microsoft. Successful transactions and timely patenting of programs, including Windows, made Microsoft a recognized leader in the IT world for a considerable period of time, eliminating Apple's main rival.
The fourth generation is developing to this day. The history of the development of computer technology continues. Modern computers differ only in that several processors are used simultaneously to process information.