COMPUTER Evolution and Development: A Brief History of Computers

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms, people, technologies, and milestones from the lecture on computer history.

COMPUTER

An electronic digital device designed to accept and store input data, process data and produce output information under the control of a stored sequence of instructions.

ABACUS

An early mechanical counting device, typically a rectangular frame with beads on rods, dating back to ancient times and used for arithmetic.

NAPIER’S BONES

A calculating method using rods or sticks (Napier’s Bones) to facilitate multiplication, division, and square roots.

NAPIER’S RODS

Rods used with scales for arithmetic calculations, developed by John Napier.

SLIDE RULE

A hand-calculating tool (invented by 1620) that uses logarithms to perform multiply and divide operations.

PASCALINE

Blaise Pascal’s 1642 gear-driven calculator capable of performing addition (early digital calculator).

LEIBNIZ’S CALCULATING MACHINE

A calculating device (1694) that used binary representation of numbers.

BABBAGE’S DIFFERENCE ENGINE

A mechanical computer designed by Charles Babbage to compute polynomial functions; a forerunner of modern computers.

ADA LOVELACE (LADY AUGUSTA LOVELACE)

Regarded as the first computer programmer for outlining how to instruct Babbage’s engine with punched cards.

GEORGE BOOLE

Pioneer of symbolic logic and Boolean algebra (1854).

WHEATSTONE PAPER TAPE

Continuously feeding paper tape introduced by Charles Wheatstone for storing and reading data.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

Inventor of the telephone; patent in 1876.

HOLLERITH PUNCH CARD TABULATING MACHINE

A machine using punched cards to tabulate data, famously used for the US Census.

IBM

A major computing company, established from merger activities around the Hollerith and other tabulating companies; influential in computer history.

KARL BRAUN (CATHODE RAY TUBE)

Developed the cathode ray tube, a key display technology in early electronics.

ATANASOFF-BERRY COMPUTER (ABC)

The 1942 electronic digital computer created by Atanasoff and Berry; credited as a foundational electronic computer.

ENIAC

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer; completed 1946, featured thousands of valves and high computational speed.

VACUUM TUBE

Electronic valve essential to early digital computers, enabling electronic computation.

FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS

Computers (1939–1959) using vacuum tubes and punch-card storage.

TRANSISTOR

Semiconductor device (invented 1947) replacing vacuum tubes; smaller, cheaper, more reliable, and generates less heat.

SHORTCODE

The world’s first high-level programming language (1953) developed by John Mauchly.

UNIVAC I

First commercial electronic computer.

RAMAC

IBM’s first hard disk drive (1956), a landmark in data storage.

NARINDER KAPANY (OPTICAL FIBER)

Pioneer who developed optical fiber technology for data transmission.

COBOL

High-level programming language invented in 1959 for business data processing.

PDP-1

First commercial computer to feature a keyboard and a monitor (1960).

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange; standard code for data transfer adopted in 1964.

DOUGLAS ENGELBART (MOUSE)

Pioneer who developed the computer mouse (1963) as part of interactive computing.

INTEL 4004

First commercial microprocessor released in 1971; 4-bit data path and ~2,300 transistors.

INTEL 8088

Intel microprocessor used in early IBM PCs (8088 era).

ALTair 8800

The first modern personal computer kit, released in 1975; lacked a monitor and keyboard, used toggle switches.

APPLE I

Apple’s first computer (1976) created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak; led to the Apple II.

APPLE II

Improved successor to the Apple I; contributed to the popularization of personal computing.

IBM PC

IBM’s personal computer introduced with MS-DOS (1981), a watershed in PC history.

MS-DOS

Microsoft Disk Operating System; the standard OS for IBM-compatible PCs in the 1980s.

PC XT

Early IBM PC model with features like built-in hard drive.

CD-ROM

Optical disc data storage format that debuted in the 1980s.

LASERJET

HP’s line of laser printers introduced in the 1980s.

WINDOWS 1.0

Microsoft’s first graphical operating environment released in 1985.

WINDOWS 2.0

An updated version of Windows with enhanced features (late 1980s).

WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW)

A system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the internet (popularized late 1980s–1990s).

I386/486 PROCESSORS (i486)

Intel 486 family; a family of 32-bit processors used in PCs in the 1990s.

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

Small handheld computer for personal information management; early examples include the 1990s era devices.

APPLE NEWTON

One of the first PDAs, introduced in 1993 by Apple.

ZIP DRIVE

Iomega’s removable storage system introduced in the 1990s.

WINDOWS 95

Microsoft’s influential 1995 operating system integrating GUI and improved stability.

PALM PILOT

A popular 1990s PDA device for personal information management.

DVD PLAYERS

Devices for playing digital video discs (DVDs), gaining popularity in the late 1990s.

I MAC

Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer (early 2000s) known for its design and usability.

LINUX

An open-source operating system project that gained prominence in the late 1990s.

Y2K

The Year 2000 problem; widespread concern about date handling in computer systems at the turn of the millennium.

USB 2.0

High-speed USB standard introduced around 2000 for faster peripheral connections.

FACEBOOK (TheFacebook)

Social networking platform launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg.

TWITTER (Twttr)

Social media platform launched in 2006.

iPHONE

Apple’s smartphone introduced in 2007, popularizing mobile apps and modern smartphones.

iPAD

Apple’s tablet computer introduced in 2010, enabling mobile computing and apps.

ANDROID

Google’s mobile operating system, introduced in 2003, powering many smartphones.

iTUNES STORE

Apple’s online store for digital media and apps, launched in 2003.

RASPBERRY PI

Low-cost single-board computer released in 2012, used for education and hobbyist projects.

PLAYSTATION 4 (PS4)

Sony’s eighth-generation gaming console announced in 2013.

SATA/CELEBRATED FIGURES (SATYA NADELLA)

Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO in 2014; led cloud and AI initiatives.

WINDOWS 10

Microsoft’s 2015 major Windows release introducing universal apps and updates.

WANNACRY RANSOMWARE

Widespread ransomware attack in 2017 affecting Windows systems.

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA

Firm implicated in data harvesting of Facebook profiles used in political campaigns (2018).

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

Field of computing focused on creating systems capable of learning and performing tasks that require intelligence.

GPT-2

OpenAI’s powerful language model released in 2019 for generating coherent text.

COVID-19 REMOTE WORK

Global shift to remote work and online collaboration accelerated by the 2020 pandemic.

THIRD GENERATION COMPUTERS

Computers (1964–1972) based on integrated circuits, smaller than 2nd generation.

MICROPROCESSORS

Complex integrated circuits that contain the processor’s functions on a single chip (e.g., Intel 4004).

FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTERS

Computers (1972–) based on microprocessors; use LSI and VLSI; smaller and faster.

FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTERS

Present and beyond; based on artificial intelligence, parallel processing and emerging technologies.

PHYSICAL LIMITS

Limits to CPU speeds due to heat and physics; multi-core and new architectures as remedies.

CPU CORES

Multiple processing units within a single CPU to increase performance.

FUTURE COMPUTERS

Concepts like invisible devices and flexible circuitry integrated into everyday objects.

WEARABLE COMPUTERS

Computing devices integrated into wearables; current usage and future prospects.