The History of Computer Technology

Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such devices changed the way we manage, work, and live. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the United States. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has the computer changed American management to it†s greatest extent. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every spect of management, and our lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer's ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago (Dolotta, 1985). It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to programming rules that the user must memorize. All ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed on the abacus. This was one of the first management tools used. The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal's father, who was a tax collector, manage the town†s taxes (Beer, 1966). In the early 1800s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine (Dolotta, 1985). It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need. It was programmed by and stored data on cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called punch cards. This machine was xtremely useful to managers that delt with large volumes of good. With Babbage†s machine, managers could more easily calculate the large numbers accumulated by inventories. The only problem was that there was only one of these machines built, thus making it difficult for all managers to use (Beer, After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1850 and 1900 there were great advances in mathematics and physics that began to rekindle the interest. Many of these new advances involved complex calculations and formulas that were very time consuming for human calculation. The first major use for a computer in the U. S. was during the 1890 census. Two men, Herman Hollerith and James Powers, developed a new punched-card system that could automatically read information on cards without human (Dolotta, 1985). Since the population of the U. S. as increasing so fast, the computer was an essential tool for managers in tabulating the These advantages were noted by commercial industries and soon led to the development of improved punch-card business-machine systems by International Business Machines, Remington-Rand, Burroughs, and other corporations (Chposky, 1988). By modern standards the unched-card machines were slow, typically processing from 50 to 250 cards per minute, with each card holding up to 80 digits. At the time, however, punched cards were an enormous step forward; they provided a means of input, output, and memory storage on a massive scale. For more than 50 years following their first use, punched-card machines did the bulk of the world's business computing By the late 1930s punched-card machine techniques had become so well established and reliable that Howard Hathaway Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer ased on standard IBM electromechanical parts (Chposky, 1988). Aiken's machine, called the Harvard Mark I, handled 23-digit numbers and could perform all four arithmetic operations (Dolotta, 1985). Also, it had special built-in programs to handled logarithms and trigonometric functions. The Mark I was controlled from prepunched paper tape. Output was by card punch and electric typewriter. It was slow, requiring 3 to 5 seconds for a multiplication, but it was fully automatic and could complete long computations The outbreak of World War II produced a desperate need for computing capability, especially for the military (Dolotta, 985). New weapons systems were produced which needed trajectory tables and other essential data. In 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchley, and their associates at the University of Pennsylvania decided to build a high-speed electronic computer to do the job. This machine became known as ENIAC, for Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator (Chposky, 1988). It could multiply two numbers at the rate of 300 products per second, by finding the value of each product from a multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was thus about 1,000 times faster than the previous generation of computers. ENIAC used 18,000 standard vacuum tubes, occupied 1800 square feet of floor space, and used about 180,000 watts of electricity. It used punched-card input and output. The ENIAC was very difficult to program because one had to essentially re-wire it to perform whatever task he wanted the computer to do. It was efficient in handling the particular programs for which it had been designed. ENIAC is generally accepted as the first successful high-speed electronic digital computer and was used in many applications from 1946 to 1955. However, the ENIAC was not accessible to managers of businesses Mathematician John Von Neumann was very interested in the ENIAC. In 1945 he undertook a theoretical study of computation that demonstrated that a computer could have a very simple and yet be able to execute any kind of computation effectively by means of proper programmed control without the need for any changes in hardware. Von Neumann came up with incredible ideas for methods of building and organizing practical, fast computers. These ideas, which came to be referred to as the stored-program technique, became fundamental for future generations of high-speed digital computers and were universally adopted The first wave of modern programmed electronic computers to take advantage of these improvements appeared in 1947. This group included computers using random access memory, RAM, which is a memory designed to give almost constant access to any particular piece of information (Dolotta, 1985). These machines had punched-card or punched-tape input and output devices and RAMs of 1000-word capacity. Physically, they were much more compact than ENIAC: some were about the size of a grand piano and required 2500 small electron tubes. This was quite an improvement over the earlier machines. The first-generation stored-program computers required considerable maintenance, usually attained 70% to 80% reliable operation, and were used for 8 to 12 years (Hazewindus,1988). Typically, they were programmed directly in machine language, although by the mid-1950s progress had been made in several aspects of advanced programming. This group of machines included EDVAC and UNIVAC, the first commercially available computers. With this invention, managers had even more power to perform calculations for such things as statistical demographic data (Beer, 1966). Before this time, it was very rare for a anager of a larger business to have the means to process The UNIVAC was developed by John W. Mauchley and John Eckert, Jr. in the 1950s. Together they had formed the Mauchley-Eckert Computer Corporation, America's first computer company in the 1940s. During the development of the UNIVAC, they began to run short on funds and sold their company to the larger Remington-Rand Corporation. Eventually they built a working UNIVAC computer. It was delivered to the U. S. Census Bureau in 1951 where it was used to help tabulate the U. S. population Early in the 1950s two important engineering discoveries hanged the electronic computer field. The first computers were made with vacuum tubes, but by the late 1950s computers were being made out of transistors, which were smaller, less expensive, more reliable, and more efficient (Dolotta, 1985). In 1959, Robert Noyce, a physicist at the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, invented the integrated circuit, a tiny chip of silicon that contained an entire electronic circuit. Gone was the bulky, unreliable, but fast machine; now computers began to become more compact, more reliable and have more capacity. These new technical discoveries rapidly found their way into new odels of digital computers. Memory storage capacities increased 800% in commercially available machines by the early 1960s and speeds increased by an equally large margin (Jacobs, 1975). These machines were very expensive to purchase or to rent and were especially expensive to operate because of the cost of hiring programmers to perform the complex operations the computers ran. Such computers were typically found in large computer centers operated by industry, government, and private laboratories staffed with many programmers and support personnel. By 1956, 76 of IBM's large computer mainframes were in se, compared with only 46 UNIVAC's (Chposky, 1988). In the 1960s efforts to design and develop the fastest possible computers with the greatest capacity reached a turning point with the completion of the LARC machine for Livermore Radiation Laboratories by the Sperry-Rand Corporation, and the Stretch computer by IBM. The LARC had a core memory of 98,000 words and multiplied in 10 microseconds. Stretch was provided with several ranks of memory having slower access for the ranks of greater capacity, the fastest access time being less than 1 microseconds and the total capacity in the vicinity of 100 During this time the major computer manufacturers began to offer a range of computer capabilities, as well as various computer-related equipment (Jacobs, 1975). These included input means such as consoles and card feeders; output means such as page printers, cathode-ray-tube displays, and graphing devices; and optional magnetic-tape and magnetic-disk file storage. These found wide use in management for such applications as accounting, payroll, inventory control, ordering supplies, and billing. Central processing units for such purposes did not need to be very fast arithmetically and were primarily used to access arge amounts of records on file. The greatest number of computer systems were delivered for the larger applications, such as in hospitals for keeping track of patient records, medications, and treatments given. They were also used in automated library systems and in database systems such as the Chemical Abstracts system, where computer records now on file cover nearly all known chemical compounds The trend during the 1970s was, to some extent, away from extremely powerful, centralized computational centers and toward a broader range of applications for less-costly computer systems (Jacobs, 1975). Most continuous-process manufacturing, such as petroleum refining and electrical-power distribution systems, began using computers of relatively modest capability for controlling and regulating their activities. In the 1960s the programming of applications problems was an obstacle to the self-sufficiency of moderate-sized on-site computer installations, but great advances in applications programming languages removed Applications languages became available for controlling a great range of manufacturing processes, for computer operation of machine tools, and for many other tasks. In 1971 Marcian E. Hoff, Jr. , an engineer at the Intel Corporation, invented the microprocessor and another stage in the development of the computer began (Chposky, 1988). A new revolution in computer hardware was now well under way, involving miniaturization of computer-logic circuitry and of component manufacture by what are called large-scale In the 1950s it was realized that scaling down the size of electronic digital computer circuits and parts would increase speed and efficiency and improve performance (Jacobs, 1975). However, at that time the manufacturing methods were not good enough to accomplish such a task. About 1960, photoprinting of conductive circuit boards to eliminate wiring became highly developed. Then it became possible to build resistors and capacitors into the circuitry by photographic means. In the 1970s entire assemblies, such as adders, shifting registers, and counters, became available on tiny chips of silicon. In the 1980s very large scale integration, VLSI, in which hundreds of thousands of transistors are placed on a single chip, became increasingly common Many companies, some new to the computer field, introduced in the 1970s programmable minicomputers upplied with software packages (Jacobs, 1975). The size-reduction trend continued with the introduction of personal computers, which are programmable machines small enough and inexpensive enough to be purchased and used by individuals (Beer, 1966). One of the first of such machines was introduced in January 1975. Popular Electronics magazine provided plans that would allow any electronics wizard to build his own small, programmable computer for about $380. The computer was called the Altair 8800. Its programming involved pushing buttons and flipping switches on the front of the box. It didn't include a onitor or keyboard, and its applications were very limited. Even though, many orders came in for it and several famous owners of computer and software manufacturing companies got their start in computing through the Altair (Jacobs, 1975). For example, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founders of Apple Computer, built a much cheaper, yet more productive version of the Altair and turned their hobby into a business. After the introduction of the Altair 8800, the personal computer industry became a fierce battleground of competition. IBM had been the computer industry standard for well over a half-century. They held their position as the standard when they introduced their first personal computer, the IBM Model 60 in 1975 (Chposky, 1988). However, the newly formed Apple Computer company was releasing its own personal computer, the Apple II. The Apple I was the first computer designed by Jobs and Wozniak in Wozniak's garage, which was not produced on a wide scale. Software was needed to run the computers as well. Microsoft developed a Disk Operating System, MS-DOS, for the IBM computer while Apple developed its own software (Chposky, 1988). Because Microsoft had now set the software standard for IBMs, every software anufacturer had to make their software compatible with Microsoft's. This would lead to huge profits for Microsoft. The main goal of the computer manufacturers was to make the computer as affordable as possible while increasing speed, reliability, and capacity. Nearly every computer manufacturer accomplished this and computers popped up everywhere. Computers were in businesses keeping track of even more inventories for managers. Computers were in colleges aiding students in research. Computers were in laboratories making complex calculations at high speeds for scientists and physicists. The computer had made its mark everywhere in management and built up a huge industry The future is promising for the computer industry and its technology. The speed of processors is expected to double every year and a half in the coming years (Jacobs, 1975). As manufacturing techniques are further perfected the prices of computer systems are expected to steadily fall. However, since the microprocessor technology will be increasing, it's higher costs will offset the drop in price of older processors. In other words, the price of a new computer will stay about the same from year to year, but technology will steadily Since the end of World War II, the computer industry has grown from a standing start into one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the United States (Hazewindus,1988). It now comprises thousands of companies, making everything from multi-million dollar high-speed supercomputers to printout paper and floppy disks. It employs millions of people and generates tens of billions of dollars in sales each year. Surely, the computer has impacted every aspect of people's lives (Jacobs, 1975). It has affected the way people work and play. It has made everyone's life easier by doing difficult work for people. The History of Computer Technology This report briefly explains the history of modern computers, starting from the year 1936 to present day time. There are many models of computers documented throughout the years, but they only computer models mentioned are ones that I deemed too have had the greatest effect on computer technology back then and now. This report will show how in just forty years, computers have transformed from slow, room-sized machines, to the small and fast computers of today. Computers are a part of important everyday life, but there was a time when computers did not exist. Computers are one of the few inventions that do not have one specific inventor. Many inventors have contributed to the production and technology of computers. Some of the inventions have been different types of computers, while the others were parts needed for the computer to function effectively. Many people have added their creations to the list required to make computers work, adding to the overall technology of computers today. The term â€Å"computer† originally referred to people. It was a job title for those who did repetitive work with math problems. A computer is define as a programmable machine that receives input, stores and automatically manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format. The most significant date in the history of computers is in the year of 1936. This is the year the first â€Å"computer† was developed by a German engineer named Konrad Zuse. He called it the Z1 Computer and it was the first system to be fully programmable. The Z1 Computer had computing power, setting it apart from other electronic devices. Programming early computers became somewhat of a hassle for inventors and in 1953 Grace Hooper invented the first high level computer language. Her invention helped simplify the binary code used by the computer so that its users could dictate the computer’s actions. Hooper’s invention was called Flowmatic and has evolved into modern day technology. In the same year, the International Business Machines (IBM) was introduced into the computing industry, forever altering the age of computers. Throughout computer history, this company has played a major role in the development of new systems and servers for public and private use. Inventors saw IBM as competition within the computing history, which helped to spur faster and better development of computers. Their first computer technology contribution was the IBM 701 EDPM Computer. During the three years of production, IBM sold 19 machines to research laboratories, aircraft companies, and the federal government. The first computer physically built in America was the IAS computer. It was developed for Advanced Study at Princeton under the direction of John Von Neumann between1946-1950. (History of Computer Technology, 2011). John von Neumann wrote â€Å"First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC; in which he outlined the architecture of a stored-program computer (Computer History Museum – Timeline of Computer History, 2006). Electronic storage of programming information and data eliminated the need for the more clumsy methods of programming. An example of stored-program data computer is the IAS computer. Many modern computers trace their ancestry to the IAS machine and they are referred to as von Neumann (or Princeton) architecture machines. The IAS computer embodied the concept of a stored-program computer. The main memory contained two main categories of information, instructions and data. The computer had an ability to place different sequences of instructions in the memory which made the computer very useful. This allowed inventions to build computers to complete different tasks at different times. Such a computer can be reconfigured (reprogrammed) at any time to perform a new or different task. The Hungarian-born von Neumann demonstrated prodigious expertise in hydrodynamics, ballistics, meteorology, game theory, statistics, and the use of mechanical devices for computation contributed to the production of the modern day computer (Computer History Museum – Timeline of Computer History, 2006). In 1955, Bank of America coupled with Stanford Research Institute and General Electric; saw the creation of the first computers for use in banks. Researchers at the Stanford Research Institute invented â€Å"ERMA†, the Electronic Recording Method of Accounting computer processing system. ERMA updated and posted checking accounts and manually processed checks and account management. The MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) was a part of ERMA and allowed computers to read special numbers at the bottom of the checks. This technology helped with the tracking and accounting of checks transactions. ERMA was officially demonstrated to the public in September 1955 and first tested on real banking accounts in the fall of 1956. (Blain, 2005). Today, computer technology has transformed the banking industry. One of the most important breakthroughs in computer history occurred in 1958. This was the creation of the integrated circuit, known as the chip. The integrated circuit device is one of the base requirements for the modern computer systems. On every motherboard and card inside the computer system, are many chips that contain vital information on what the boards and cards do. Without the integrated circuit, the computers known today would not be able to function. The first commercially integrated circuits became available from the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in 1961. All computers then started to be made using chips instead of the individual transistors and their accompanying parts. Texas Instruments first used the chips in Air Force computers and the Minuteman Missile in 1962. They later used the chips to produce the first electronic portable calculators. The original integrated chip had only one transistor, three resistors and one capacitor and was the size of an adult's pinkie finger. Today, an integrated chip is smaller than a penny and can hold 125 million transistors (Bellis). The late 1970s saw the popularization of personal computers and the progress continues from then until now. An explosion of personal computers occurred in the 1970s. The Tandy Corporation was one of the leading companies in computer technology. Their most popular invention was the TRS-80 arriving on the market in the late 1970s. It was immediately popular, selling out at Radio Shack where it was exclusively sold. The TRS-80 was sold for only $600, making it affordable for many individuals to own their own personal computer. Within its first year, over 55,000 consumers bought Tandy TRO-80 to use in their home or office and over 250,000 of them sold in the next few years. Tandy Corporation’s TRS-80 had a keyboard and motherboard all in one. This is a common trend that other companies today use for their personal computer products. TRS-80 also included office applications, including a word processor, calculator, and early spreadsheet capabilities (The People History – Computers From the 1970s). People during the late 70s embraced personal computers and used them for a variety of reasons, such as, games, office applications, home finances, storing date, and many other necessary usages. In 1975, Apple Computers was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniac. The Apple II was launched in 1977 and was an immediate success as well. Apple created the â€Å"home/personal computer† that could be used by anybody. The success of the Apple II established Apple Computers as a main competitor in the field of personal computers. Then Dan Bricklin created a spreadsheet program called VisiCalc for the Apple II. It went on sale in 1979 and within four years it sold 700,000 copies at $250 a time (Trueman, 2000). By 1980, there were one million personal computers in the world. Computers have come an enormous way since their initial establishment, as the earliest electronic computers were so large that they would take up the entire area of a room, while today some are so small that they can fit in your hands. While computers are now an important part of the everyday lives of human beings, there was a time where computers did not exist. Knowing the history of computers and how much progression has been made can help individuals understand just how complicated and innovative the creation of computers really is. The first programmable digital computers invented in the 1940s have dramatically changed in appearance and technology from today. They were as big as living rooms and were about as powerful as modern day calculators. Modern computers are billions of times more capable than early machines and occupy less space. Simple computers, such as smart phones, are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and can be powered on by a small battery. In today's world, computers play an incredibly large role in the way the world exists in general, and the majority of tasks could actually not be completed if not for the use of computers. Although there are certainly some areas and jobs that cannot yet be completed solely by computers and which thus still require actual manpower, for the most part, computers have helped to make life significantly easier, productive, and more convenient for us all. Future computer technology will help solve many medical problems by reinterpreting sensory data and modulating brain activity. Technology will be so advanced that it may allow people who have lost the use of their limbs to use robotics to regain their disabled movements. The future of computer technology is very bright and welcomed indeed. Current trends, research, and development happening at a lightning speed supports this statement. Our children today will see a whole new world of technology with computers within the next decade. Works Cited http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/intergrated_circuit.htm http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/70scomputers.html http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/personal_computer.htm