Computers and Technology

One of the greatest inventions of the time is obviously the computer. Billions of people use computers in their daily life throughout the world. Throughout decades, computer has evolved from a very expensive and slow device to today's extremely smart machines with unbelievable processing power.

No single person was credited with the invention of computer, many believe that Konrad Zuse and his Z1 machine was the first in a long line of innovations that gave us the computer of today. Konrad Zuse was a German who was famous for the creation of the first freely programmable mechanical computing device in 1936. Zuse's Z1 was created with a focus on 3 basic elements that are still necessary in today's calculators. Later, Konrad Zuse created Z2 and the Z3.

The first of the MARK series computers were being built at Harvard. The MARK I began in 1944 and this computer was huge filling in a room having a size of 55 feet long by 8 feet high. The MARK I could perform a wide variety of calculations. It became a success and was utilized by the US Navy. It was in service till 1959.

The ENIAC computer was one of most important achievements in computing. It was commissioned during World War II and used by the US military. Vacuum tubes were used by this computer instead of electric motors and levers for fast calculations. Its speed was about thousand times faster than any other calculating device during that time. This computer was enormous and had a total cost of $500,000. The ENIAC was in operation till 1955.

RAM or Random Access Memory was first introduced in 1964. The first RAM was a metal detector plate positioned close to a vacuum tube which detected the difference in electrical charges. It was an easy way of storing computer instructions.

There were plenty of innovations in the 1940s. The Manchester Baby was developed by Telecommunications Research Establishment. It was the first computer to use a stored program and it went live in 1948. The Manchester MARK I went live in 1951 and showed tremendous progress against computers. Researchers had found that there was a huge chance of development for the computer.

The UNIVAC which stands for Universal Automatic Computer was built by the creators of ENIAC. It was the fastest and most innovative computer capable of handling many computations. It was a masterpiece of its time and was praised by public.

IBM is known for creating the first personal computer widely affordable and available to the people. IBM 701 was the first general purpose computer developed by IBM. The new computer language called FORTRAN was used in the new 701. Other IBM computers also followed like the 704. The IBM 7090 also was a big success and it dominated business computers for the next 20 years. In the late 1970's and into 1980 IBM developed a personal computer known as the PC. IBM has had a huge influence on the computers used today.

In 1984, the Apple Macintosh was released and Apple computers dominated the market. It was not a quick success. It went into production from January of 1984 to October of 1985.

With the growth of personal computer market in the early and mid 1980s, many companies realized that GUI or Graphical User Interface was user friendly. This led to the development of an operating system called Windows by Microsoft. The first version was called Windows 1.0 and later came Windows 2.0 and 3.0 editions. Microsoft is increasingly popular today.

Today, computers are extremely powerful and more affordable than ever. They have practically infiltrated into every aspect of our lives. It is used as a powerful tool of communication and commerce. The future is computer is tremendous.

Technology advancements are often quantified and identified by the terminology "generation." Each year, the product development process improves, this is deemed a generation. With each new generation of computer, the motherboard and silicon footprint decreases and the speed, power and memory power increases.

Progression of Computers

Computers have come a long way since the first generation vacuum tubes for circuitry and memory magnetic drums. The first generation computer utilized assembly language programming or high level programming languages to execute instructions for the user. These early computers required a lot of electricity to operate and also generated a lot of heat that was difficult to displace.

The second generation replaced the vacuum tubes with transistors, which were a primary component of microprocessors today. Transistors were invented in 1947 in Bell Laboratories. These devices were preferable to vacuum tubes that emitted a significant amount of heat and slowed processing times.

Transistors opened the door to faster processing. The latest microprocessors contain tens of millions of microscopic transistors. Without the transistor, we would not have the same level of computing power that we have today.

The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 50s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube. This allowed computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors.

The third generation computer involved integrated circuits. These circuits are often referred to as semiconductors, because of the substrate used to design the circuit. Semiconductors dramatically increased the speed and efficiency of the computer. Semiconductors also decreased the overall footprint of the computer. As the semiconductor packages become smaller, designers produced smaller laptops and desktop computers. Minimalist designers and chiropractors rejoiced with the weight and size reduction.

The fourth generation marked the production of computers as we know them today. Microprocessors were introduced in this generation of computers. The computer processing speeds increased exponentially, as the "brain" of the computer mastered complex computations. This generation of computer allowed manufacturers to lower the price to make computers available to the common household. Computers, however, were still not as cost effective as they are today.

The fifth generation of computer added artificial intelligence to the computer to improve the speed and efficiency of advanced computations and graphic displays. Game playing, expert systems, natural language, neural networks and robotics were all capabilities of the fifth generation computer.

Neural networks were particularly important in this generation of computer. The computer could mimic actual neuron synapses in the human body. These complex mathematical models were handled with ease through the fifth generation computer. However, scientists still needed more computing power to accomplish advanced robotics and other language computations.

The Sixth Generation of Computer

Not only does the technology improve, but the price decreases as the technology improves. The sixth generation of computer provided consumers with the opportunity to have more power on a smaller footprint. The sixth generation also introduced voice recognition. Improved technology allows the computer to take dictation and recognize words. Computers have the ability to learn via a variety of advanced algorithms.

The use of nanotechnology is a characteristic of sixth generation computers. This significantly increases the processing time of the computer and help consumers. Computers with multiple CPUs can perform sophisticated calculations and multitask. When a single CPU can perform multiple tasks at once, this is considered multi-tasking.

When qubits or quantum bits process calculations, it is typically faster than conventional computers. This technology works in conjunction with the computer's processor and memory. Complex languages such as English, Chinese, French and Spanish are easily processed with the use of qubits or quantum bits. Computers can now understand and interpret numerous languages with the new advanced technology available.

This new advancement will allow students and the disabled to speak commands into the computer without touching the physical device. Voice recognition is also helpful in laboratory clean rooms, surgical operating rooms or even use in customer service. Voice recognition will significantly enhance the scientist's ability to create new technology.

Voice controlled games and typing applications are easy with sixth generation applications. Avid gamers will view video games in incredible detail with life-like motion. Parallel processing enables faster speeds for video games. As the semiconductor footprint becomes smaller through the use of nanotechnology, the user has more flexibility in the use of the computer.

Conclusion

Sixth generation took advanced computing to a new level with voice recognition. Consumers can only imagine what the seventh generation of computer will bring. Consumers will look forward to these new advancements as they develop.