Computer History 2023

Abacus

The ___________ is consider by many to be the first form of a calculating device.

Pascaline

This ____ is considered the first mechanical calculator with the ability to add and subtract.  It was invented circa 1642 by a young French mathematician.

Charles Babbage

_____ created a machine called The Difference Engine.  His ideas were some of the first that led to the creation of computers.

ENIAC

The design of the _____ was the precursor to the modern computer. It contained input and output units, a control unit, memory, a processor and even a printing device.

punched cards

In 1889 Herman Hollerith devised a way to calculate and tabulate data through the use of _______________.

U.S. Census Bureau

 

Hollerith's first customer for his tabulating machine was the ________________.

vacuum tubes

 

The invention of _____ in 1904 allowed for mechanical relay switches to be replaced in early calculating machines.

Zuse Z1

 

The _________________ was the first electronic, program controlled, general purpose computer.

ENIAC

The ___ computer was built in the U.S. to help calculate artillery firing tables.  When it was completed it took up the space of a small house and required many hours to reprogram it.

Colossus

 

The creation of this series of computers was significant in ending World War II. The purpose of the computers was to break the communication codes of the Germans.  **They were named….**

UNIVAC

The ________________ was the first commercially produced computer to be widely available.  It was able to store programs in its memory.

vacuum tube

It was a glass tube with gas removed which created a vacuum. It controlled the electricity flow and could be used as a switch. **This was called…**

“They were all used for calculations”

_______ was one characteristic of 1st generation computers.

Transistors

* _____ replaced the vacuum tube
* Revolutionized the electronics industry
* 1948 by William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at Bell Labs

IBM 608

* The ____ was released in 1957 as the first transistor-powered, commercially available computer.
* Contained 3,000 transistors

IBM 140\`1

* the ___ was introduced in 1959
* designed to fit the existing punch card environment
* stored programs replaced punched card information processing
* Processor consisted of individual printed circuit boards with transistors and other components

UNIVAC LARC

* the _____ was developed by Remington-Rand
* 1960, U. of California Radiation Labs
* considered to be one of the first “supercomputers”
* it was designed to run hydrodynamic simulations for nuclear weapon design.

Assembly Language

* ______ was a low-level programming language used to interface with the computer’s CPU
* uses words as substitutions for binary numbers
* difficult language and is usually substituted for a higher language

FORTRAN

* ____ was a __programming language__ @@developed by IBM/John Backus in 1957@@
* replaced binary machine code with English-like words and math formulas
* used language for scientific and technical computing
* the oldest of the high-level languages and is still being used today

COBOL

* _____ is the second oldest language, first released in 1960
* Developed by Dr. Grace Hopper
* a wordy language
* It is an outdated program

integrated circuit

*  the___ was proposed by Geoffrey Dummer
* an electronic circuit formed on a small piece of semiconducting material, performing the same function as a larger circuit made from individual components

IBM System/360

* the ______ was developed in 1964
* Mainframe system'
* designed to handle a variety of both commercial and scientific applications
* IBM introduced a variety of models
* customers used a cheaper model and then upgraded

BASIC

* _____ is a higher level programming language
* created by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz in 1964
* used through the 80’s
* New variants of BASIC are used today
* most personal computers were made with BASIC built-in

magnetic storage

* ______ devices came to be used for long-term storage


* Processing/short-term memory for "**work in progress**" used by the computer came to be purely electronic.
* In 1962, IBM introduced this type of device

What are some characteristics of the 3rd gen?

* Significantly smaller in size
* required less power,
* Faster-Reduced computational time
* comparatively cheaper.
* Development of keyboard and monitor for interaction
* Continued development of high level languages

Microprocessor/Intel 4004

* 1971, a team of Intel engineers led by designer Federico Fagin,
* This was the first integrated circuit that combined the central processing unit, memory, and input, and output controls on a single silicon chip.
* The chip contained 2,300 transistors and cost $60 which is about $446 in 2023.