History of the Computer

With much information from:

www.pbs.org/nerds/ and http://www.computerhistory.org

Early Mathematical Devices

• Abacus• Knotted cords (quipu)• Others?

Hewlett-Packard

• 1939

• David Packard and Bill Hewlett

• First product is 200A Audio Oscillator

• Used to test sound systems and recording channels

Remote Access Calculating

• 1940

• CNC (complex number calculator)– George Stibnitz, Bell Telephone Laboratories

• Operated remotely using telephone lines and teletype

Konrad Zuse• German engineer

• 1941

• First general use programmable calculator (Z3)

• Pioneer in using binary math and boolean logic in electronic calculations– Binary math:

• Base 2: only 2 numbers—0 and 1

– Boolean logic:• Uses ‘AND’, ‘OR’, ‘NOT’ in comparisons

Simultaneous Calculations

• 1942• Atanasoff-Berry Computer developed at

Iowa State College– Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff and student Clifford

Berry

• Completes 29 simultaneous linear calculations (not programmable)

• Uses vacuum tubes to control electric current

Harvard Mark-I• 1943• Designed by Howard H. Aiken of Harvard, built by

IBM• Electro-mechanical calculator• 60 banks of 24 switches for data entry• Can store 72 numbers• Speed:

– Addition in 3 seconds– Multiplication in 6 seconds– Division in 15.3 seconds– Trig functions over 1 minute

Colossus

• British computer used to break German codes in WWII

• Operational by December 1943

• Used 1500 vacuum tubes and pulleys to move punched paper

• http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/archive/infopages/ColossusPhoto.html

ENIAC

• Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer• Developed by Ballistics Research Laboratory of Maryland

USA to assist in preparation of firing tables for artillery• Built at University of Pennsylvania• Completed in November 1945, demonstrated 1946• Used vacuum tubes

– Reprogramming required moving tubes and circuit wires

• Speed: in one second– 5000 additions

– 357 multiplications

– 38 divisions

ENIAC

• http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/eniac.html

September 9, 1945

• First computer bug

• Grace Hopper reported at 15:45 on Harvard Mark II

• Moth stuck between relays

New Development!

• Transistor developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1947– William Shockley, Walter Brattain, John

Bardeen

• Transistor replaces vacuum tubes as directors of current

• Solid state – Advantages?

B=BaseC=CollectorE=Emitter

IBM SSEC

• Selective sequence electronic calculator

• 1948

• First computer with stored program

• Used vacuum tubes and mechanical switches

• Speed: 50 multiplications per second

ERA 1101

• 1950

• Engineering Research Associates of Minneapolis

• First commercially produced computer

• Has magnetic drum storage device

UNIVAC

• Universal Automated Computer• Developed in 1951• Can store 12 000 digits in random access• 1905 operations per second• Originally developed for US Census Bureau• Cost: $750 000 plus $185 000 for high-speed

printer• Used by CBS to predict the outcome of 1952

presidential election (correctly)

http://www.wired.com

Grace Hopper

• 1952

• First compiler (A-0 compiler)

• Allows use of English words instead of numbers to program computer

Transistor

• 1954

• Gordon Teal of Texas Instruments

• Semiconductor substitute for vacuum tubes

• Brings cost of transistor down by making more efficient single-crystal transistor

• First transistor only computer in 1955– TRADIC made by AT&T Bell Laboratories

1956

• MIT: research on using a keyboard to input data directly to computer

• Storage: IBM makes 305 RAMAC– Random Access Method of Accounting and

Control– 50 magnetic disks– 5 million bytes of data

• Byte: collection of bits (usually 8) used to encode one character

Integrated Circuit

• 1958

• Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments

• Has both resistors and capacitors on same semiconductor– Thin piece of germanium with 5 components

linked by wires

1960

• First modem:– Dataphone developed by AT&T– Converted digital data to analog for transmission on phone lines

• Minicomputer?:– DEC PDP1– Cost $120 000– Comes with monitor, needs no AC and can be controlled by one

user– Hackers at MIT write first computer game (SpaceWar!) for use

on PDP1

• Language:– COBOL developed

1962

• Removable disc storage:– IBM 1311 Disk Storage Drive– Pack holds 6 disks

• Weighs 10 pounds• Stores about 2 million bytes

• Gold doped transistors:– Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp– More efficient and reliable transistor

1963

• Graphics:– Sketchpad

• Developed by Ivan Sutherland at MIT• Allows drawing geometric forms with light pen

– CAD• DAC-1 developed by General Motors and IBM

• Robots:– Rancho Arm developed by Rancho Los

Amigos Hospital in California

Mainframes

• Large (room or building sized) computers that are used by several different users to do several different (large) jobs.

• April 1964: IBM 360 introduced. IBM will set the standard for mainframes for the next 20 or so years.

• CDC 6600 Supercomputer: does 3 million calculations per second (3x faster than IBM)

http://www.issis.org/History_ISSiS_6.htm

Life in the 60s

• Mainframes are used by businesses and government for large calculations

• A typical minicomputer costs $20 000

• The price of integrated circuits is going down, and Gordon Moore predicts that the number of ICs (and thus the number of computers?) will double every year. This is known as Moore’s Law.

1967

• MOS chip– Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp– Metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuit– Equivalent of many transistors in small area

• First pacemaker:– Medtronics uses integrated circuits

1968

• Doug Engelbart demonstrates a word processor and an early hypertext system

• Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce found Intel.

• David Evans and Ivan Sutherland form E&S– Specialize in graphics systems for computers

1969

• UNIX:– Operating system designed by Kenneth

Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (Bell Labs)– Multi-user, multi-task system for computer

1970

• Fairchild Semiconductor introduces a 256-bit RAM chip.

• Intel introduces a 1K RAM chip and the 4004, a 4-bit microprocessor.– Can perform 90 000 operations per second

• First ATM machine– Citizens and Southern National Bank,

Valdosta GA

1971

• Bill Gates and Paul Allen form Traf-O-Data to sell their computer traffic analysis systems.

• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak build and sell “blue boxes” in California while they work for Hewlett-Packard.

• First email sent– Ray Tomlinson of BBN sent message over ARPANET

• First “personal computer”– Kenbak-1 costs $750– Switches for input, lights for output

1972

• Intel 8008 microprocessor– 256 unique arrangements of 0 and 1– Now can use both capital and lowercase

letters as well as many symbols

• Pong is released– Pong-Story : Welcome

1975

• Altair 8800:– No display and no memory– Programs are inputted by flipping a series of switches.– $297 or $385 with a case

• Paul Allen and Bill Gates develop the program BASIC for the Altair 8800. Microsoft is born.

• Jobs and Wozniak work on and release the Apple I– No memory, keyboard or monitor– Fully functional circuit board and ROM.

1977

• Apple is selling the Apple II for $1195 with 16 K of RAM but no monitor.

• Commodore and Tandy also release personal computers

1979

• Software Arts develops the first spreadsheet program

• Visicalc is an immediate success

• Copies shipped per month rise from 500 in October 1979 to 12 000 a month in 1981

1980

• Apple has captured 50% of the personal computer market

• Seagate Technology develops first hard disk drive– Holds 5 megabytes of information

• Microsoft is approached by IBM to develop BASIC for its personal computer project. The IBM PC will be released in August 1981.– MS-DOS

1982

• Time Magazine calls “The Computer” the “Machine of the Year”

• Movie “Tron” released– YouTube - 1982 - Tron - Trailer

• Commodore 64– Features 64K RAM – Impressive graphics– Many programs designed to use graphics capability– Sells for $595

1984

• Apple Macintosh debuts. It features a simple mouse-based GUI and has a built-in 9 inch black and white screen.

1985

• Microsoft Windows 1.0 ships in November

• Motorola produces the 68040, a 32-bit 25MHz microprocessor.

http://members.fortunecity.com/pcmuseum/windows.htm

1986

• Optical transistor– David Miller of AT&T Bell Labs– Beams of light control computer switches

• Pixar – Lucasfilm Special Effects Computer Group

purchased by Steve Jobs for $10 M– YouTube - Pixar Vgel

1989

• Intel 80486 Microprocessor– Equivalent of 1 000 000 transistors– Doubles speed of current chips

• Maxis– Co-founded by Will Wright– Produces SimCity

1990

• World Wide Web– Tim Berners-Lee at CERN– Allows many different computers to

communicate

Today’s Computer

• Smaller due to integrated circuits and much more powerful than the early mainframes

• More reliable due to integrated circuits

• Faster due to advances in integrated circuits (compare 1 MHz Apple I to 4 GHz current computers).

Parts of the computer

• CPU (today microprocessor)

• Input device(s)

• Output device(s)

• Memory

ROM

RAM