Living in the

IT Era
 MODULE 2: HISTORY OF COMPUTER:
BASIC COMPUTING PERIODS
Objectives

At the end of the chapter, students must be able to:

• Gain familiarity of the different discoveries during the different periods.
• Learn different inventions and discoveries during electro-mechanical age that
lead to the inventions of today’s technology.
• Identify different technologies and their improvements during the different
generations.

Definition of Computer
• Computer is a programmable machine.
• Computer is an electronic device that manipulates information, or data. It has the ability
to store, retrieve, and process data.
• Computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions
(program).
• Computer is any device which aids humans in performing various kinds of computations
or calculations.

Three principal characteristics of computer:

• It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.
• It can execute a pre-recorded list of instructions.
• It can quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data.

Applications of ICT (Computers) in Our Daily Lives

1. Business
Almost every business uses computers nowadays. They can be employed to store and
maintain accounts, personnel records, manage projects, track inventory, create
presentations and reports. They enable communication with people both within and
outside the business, using various technologies, including e-mail. They can be used to
promote the business and enable direct interaction with customers.

2. Education
Computers can be used to give learners audio-visual packages, interactive exercises,
and remote learning, including tutoring over the internet. They can be used to access
educational information from intranet and internet sources, or via e-books. They can be
used to maintain and monitor student performance, including through the use of online
examinations, as well as to create projects and assignments.

3. Healthcare
Healthcare continues to be revolutionized by computers. As well as digitized medical
information making it easier to store and access patient data, complex information can
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also be analyzed by software to aid discovery of diagnoses, as well as search
for risks of diseases. Computers control lab equipment, heart rate monitors, and blood
pressure monitors. They enable doctors to have greater access to information on the
latest drugs, as well as the ability to share information on diseases with other medical
specialists.

4. Retail and Trade

Computers can be used to buy and sell products online - this enables sellers to reach a
wider market with low overheads, and buyers to compare prices, read reviews, and
choose delivery preferences. They can be used for direct trading and advertising too,
using sites such as eBay, Craigslist, or local listings on social media or independent
websites.
5. Government
Various government departments use computers to improve the quality and efficiency of
their services. Examples include city planning, law enforcement, traffic, and tourism.
Computers can be used to store information, promote services, communicate internally
and externally, as well as for routine administrative purposes.

6. Marketing
Computers enable marketing campaigns to be more precise through the analysis and
manipulation of data. They facilitate the creation of websites and promotional materials.
They can be used to generate social media campaigns. They enable direct
communication with customers through email and online chat.

7. Science
Scientists were one of the first groups to adopt computers as a work tool. In science,
computers can be used for research, sharing information with other specialists both
locally and internationally, as well as collecting, categorizing, analyzing, and storing
data. Computers also play a vital role in launching, controlling, and maintaining space
craft, as well as operating other advanced technology.

8. Publishing
Computers can be used to design pretty much any type of publication. These might
include newsletters, marketing materials, fashion magazines, novels, or newspapers.
Computers are used in the publishing of both hard-copy and e-books. They are also
used to market publications and track sales.

9. Arts and Entertainment

Computers are now used in virtually every branch of the arts, as well as in the wider
entertainment industry. Computers can be used to create drawings, graphic designs,
and paintings. They can be used to edit, copy, send, and print photographs. They can be
used by writers to create and edit. They can be used to make, record, edit, play, and
listen to music. They can be used to capture, edit and watch videos. They can be used
for playing games.

10. Communication
Computers have made real-time communication over the internet easy, thanks to
software and videoconferencing services such as Skype. Families can connect with
audio and video, businesses can hold meetings between remote participants, and news
organizations can interview people without the need for a film crew. Modern computers
usually have microphones and webcams built-in nowadays to facilitate software like
Skype. Older communications technologies such as email are also still used widely.

11. Banking and Finance

Most banking in advanced countries now takes place online. You can use computers to
check your account balance, transfer money, or pay off credit cards. You can also use
computer technology to access information on stock markets, trade stocks, and manage
investments. Banks store customer account data, as well as detailed information on
customer behavior which is used to streamline marketing.

12. Transport
Road vehicles, trains, planes, and boats are increasingly automated with computers
being used to maintain safety and navigation systems, and increasingly to drive, fly, or
steer. They can also highlight problems that require attention, such as low fuel levels, oil
changes, or a failing mechanical part. Computers can be used to customize settings for
individuals, for example, seat setup, air-conditioning temperatures.

13. Navigation
Navigation has become increasingly computerized, especially since computer
technology has been combined with GPS technology. Computers combined with
satellites mean that it's now easy to pinpoint your exact location, know which way that
you are moving on a map, and have a good idea of amenities and places of interest
around you.
 14. Working From Home
Computers have made working from home and other forms of remote working
increasingly common. Workers can access necessary data, communicate, and share
information without commuting to a traditional office. Managers are able to monitor
workers' productivity remotely.

15. Military
Computers are used extensively by the military. They are use for training purposes. They
are used for analyzing intelligence data. They are used to control smart technology, such
as guided missiles and drones, as well as for tracking incoming missiles and destroying
them. They work with other technologies such as satellites to provide geospatial
information and analysis. They aid communications. They help tanks and planes to
target enemy forces.

16. Social and Romance

Computers have opened up many ways of socializing that didn't previously exist. Social
media enables people to chat in text or audio in real time across large distances, as well
as exchange photographs, videos, and memes. Dating sites and apps help people to
find romance. Online groups help people to connect with others who have similar
interests. Blogs enable people to post a variety of views, updates, and experiences.
Online forums enable discussions between people on specialist or general topics.

17. Booking Vacations

Computers can be used by travelers to study timetables, examine route options, and buy
plane, train, or bus tickets. They can be used to explore and book accommodation,
whether traditional hotels, or through newer services, such as Air BnB. Guided tours,
excursions, events, and trips can also be explored and booked online using computers.

18. Security and Surveillance

Computers are increasingly being combined with other technologies to monitor people
and goods. Computers combined with biometric passports make it harder for people to
fraudulently enter a country or gain access to a passenger airplane. Face-recognition
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technology makes it easier to identify terrorists or crimina ls in public places.
Driver plates can be auto scanned by speed cameras or police cars. Private security
systems have also become much more sophisticated with the introduction of computer
technology and internet technology.

19. Weather Forecasting

The world's weather is complex and depends upon a multitude of factors that are
constantly changing. It's impossible for human beings to monitor and process all the
information coming in from satellite and other technologies, never mind perform the
complex calculations that are needed to predict what is likely to happen in the future.
Computers can process the large amounts of meteorological information.

20. Robotics
Robotics is an expanding area of technology which combines computers with science
and engineering to produce machines that can either replace humans, or do specific
jobs that humans are unable to do. One of the first use of robotics was in manufacturing
to build cars. Since then, robots have been developed to explore areas where conditions
are too harsh for humans, to help law enforcement, to help the military, and to assist
healthcare professionals.

History of Computer: Basic Computing Periods

Earliest Computers originally calculations were computed by humans, whose job title was
computers.

• These human computers were typically engaged in the calculation of a mathematical

expression.
• The calculations of this period were specialized and expensive, requiring years of training in
mathematics.
• The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried
out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the
middle of the 20th century.

a) Tally sticks
A tally stick was an ancient memory aid device to record and document numbers,
quantities, or even messages.

Figure 1.1 Tally Sticks

b) Abacus
• An abacus is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in performing
mathematical calculations. The abacus was invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C.
• The abacus in the form we are most familiar with was first used in China in
around 500 B.C.
• It used to perform basic arithmetic operations.

Figure 1.2 Abacus

c) Napier’s Bones
• Invented by John Napier in 1614.
• Allowed the operator to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots by
moving the rods around and placing them in specially constructed boards.

Figure 1.3 Napie’s Bones

d) Slide Rule
Invented by William Oughtred in 1622.
• Is based on Napier's ideas about logarithms.
• Used primarily for – multiplication – division – roots – logarithms –
Trigonometry • Not normally used for addition or subtraction.

Figure 1.4 Slide Rule

e) Pascaline
• Invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642.
• It was its limitation to addition and subtraction.
• It is too expensive.

Figure 1.5 Pascaline

f) Stepped Reckoner
• Invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672.
• The machine that can add, subtract, multiply and divide automatically.

Figure 1.6 Stepped Reckoner

g) Jacquard Loom
• The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard
in 1881.
• It is an automatic loom controlled by punched cards.

Figure 1.7 Jacquard Loom

h) Arithmometer
• A mechanical calculator invented by Thomas de Colmar in 1820,
• The first reliable, useful and commercially successful calculating machine.
• The machine could perform the four basic mathematic functions.
• The first mass-produced calculating machine.

Figure 1.8 Arithmometer

 i) Difference Engine and Analytical Engine
• It an automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial
functions. • Invented by Charles Babbage in 1822 and 1834 • It is the first
mechanical computer.

Figure 1.9 Difference Engine & Analytical Engine

j. First Computer Programmer

• In 1840, Augusta Ada Byron suggests to Babbage that he use the binary
system.
• She writes programs for the Analytical Engine.

Figure 1.10 Augusta Ada Byron

k. Scheutzian Calculation Engine
• Invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843.
• Based on Charles Babbage's difference engine.
• The first printing calculator.

Figure 1.11 Scheutzian Calculation Engine

l. Tabulating Machine
• Invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890.
• To assist in summarizing information and accounting.

Figure 1.12 Tabulating Machine

m. Harvard Mark 1
• Also known as IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled
Calculator (ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken in 1943 • The first electro-
mechanical computer.

Figure 1.13 Harvard Mark 1

n. Z1
• The first programmable computer.
• Created by Konrad Zuse in Germany from 1936 to 1938.
• To program the Z1 required that the user insert punch tape into a punch tape
reader and all output was also generated through punch tape.

Figure 1.14 Z1

o. Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)

• It was the first electronic digital computing device.
• Invented by Professor John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry at
Iowa State University between 1939 and 1942.

Figure 1.15 Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)

p. ENIAC
• ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
• It was the first electronic general-purpose computer.
• Completed in 1946.
• Developed by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

Figure 1.16 ENIAC

q. UNIVAC 1
• The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer 1) was the first commercial
computer.
• Designed by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

Figure 1.17 UNIVAC 1

r. EDVAC
• EDVAC stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
• The First Stored Program Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in 1952.
• It has a memory to hold both a stored program as well as data.
 Figure 1.18 EDVAC

s. The First Portable Computer

• Osborne 1 – the first portable computer.
• Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation.

Figure 1.19 The First Portable Computer

t. The First Computer Company

• The first computer company was the Electronic Controls Company.
• Founded in 1949 by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

Basic Computing Periods - Ages

a. Premechanical
The premechanical age is the earliest age of information technology. It can be defined as
the time between 3000B.C. and 1450A.D. We are talking about a long time ago. When
humans first started communicating they would try to use language or simple picture
drawings known as petroglyths which were usually carved in rock. Early alphabets were
developed such as the Phoenician alphabet.

Figure 2.1 Petroglyph

As alphabets became more popular and more people were writing information down,
pens and paper began to be developed. It started off as just marks in wet clay, but later
paper was created out of papyrus plant. The most popular kind of paper made was
probably by the Chinese who made paper from rags.

Now that people were writing a lot of information down, they needed ways to keep
it all in permanent storage. This is where the first books and libraries are developed.
You’ve probably heard of Egyptian scrolls which were popular ways of writing down
information to save. Some groups of people were actually binding paper together into a
book-like form.

Also, during this period were the first numbering systems. Around 100A.D. was when the
first 1-9 system was created by people from India. However, it wasn’t until 875A.D. (775
years later) that the number 0 was invented. And yes, now that numbers were created,
people wanted stuff to do with them, so they created calculators. A calculator was the
very first sign of an information processor. The popular model of that time was the
abacus.

b. Mechanical
The mechanical age is when we first start to see connections between our current
technology and its ancestors. The mechanical age can be defined as the time between
1450 and 1840. A lot of new technologies are developed in this era as there is a large
explosion in interest with this area. Technologies like the slide rule (an analog computer
used for multiplying and dividing) were invented. Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline
which was a very popular mechanical computer. Charles Babbage developed the
difference engine which tabulated polynomial equations using the method of finite
differences.

Figure 2.2 Difference Engine

There were lots of different machines created during this era and while we have not yet
gotten to a machine that can do more than one type of calculation in one, like our
modern-day calculators, we are still learning about how all of our all-in-one machines
started. Also, if you look at the size of the machines invented in this time compared to
the power behind them it seems (to us) absolutely ridiculous to understand why anybody
would want to use them, but to the people living in that time ALL of these inventions
were HUGE.

c. Electromechanical
Now we are finally getting close to some technologies that resemble our modern-day
technology. The electromechanical age can be defined as the time between 1840 and 1940.
These are the beginnings of telecommunication. The telegraph was created in the early 1800s.
Morse code was created by Samuel Morse in 1835. The telephone (one of the most popular
forms of communication ever) was created by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The first radio
developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894. All of these were extremely crucial emerging
technologies that led to big advances in the information technology field.

The first large-scale automatic digital computer in the United States was the Mark 1 created by
Harvard University around 1940. This computer was 8ft high, 50ft long, 2ft wide, and weighed 5
tons - HUGE. It was programmed using punch cards. How does your PC match up to this hunk of
metal? It was from huge machines like this that people began to look at downsizing all the parts
to first make them usable by businesses and eventually in your own home.

Figure 2.3 Harvard Mark 1

d. Electronic
The electronic age is what we currently live in. It can be defined as the time between 1940 and
right now. The ENIAC was the first high-speed, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed
to solve a full range of computing problems. This computer was designed to be used by the U.S.
Army for artillery firing tables. This machine was even bigger than the Mark 1 taking up 680
square feet and weighing 30 tons - HUGE. It mainly used vacuum tubes to do its calculations.

There are 4 main sections of digital computing. The first was the era of vacuum tubes and punch
cards like the ENIAC and Mark 1. Rotating magnetic drums were used for internal storage. The
second generation replaced vacuum tubes with transistors, punch cards were replaced with
magnetic tape, and rotating magnetic drums were replaced by magnetic cores for internal
storage. Also during this time high-level programming languages were created such as FORTRAN
and COBOL. The third generation replaced transistors with integrated circuits, magnetic tape
was used throughout all computers, and magnetic core turned into metal oxide semiconductors.
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An actual operating system showed up around this time along with the advanced
programming language BASIC. The fourth and latest generation brought in CPUs (central
processing units) which contained memory, logic, and control circuits all on a single chip. The
personal computer was developed (Apple II). The graphical user interface (GUI) was developed.
 Figure 2.4 Apple 2

History of Computer: Generations of Computer

There are five generations of computer:

• First generation – 1946 to 1958
• Second generation – 1959 to 1964
• Third generation – 1965 to 1970
• Fourth generation – 1971 to Today
• Fifth generation – Today to future

a. The First Generation

The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory,
and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate
and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was
often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language,
the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform
operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on
punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.
Examples: – ENIAC – EDSAC – UNIVAC I, UNIVAC II, UNIVAC 1101

b. The Second Generation

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers.
One transistor replaced the equivalent of 40 vacuum tubes. Allowing computers to become
smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable. Still generated a great
deal of heat that can damage the computer.

Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or

assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words.
Secondgeneration computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which
moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.

Examples: UNIVAC III, RCA 501, Philco Transact S-2000, NCR 300 series, IBM 7030
Stretch, IBM 7070, 7080, 7090 series
 c. The Third Generation

The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of
computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called
semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. It could
carry out instructions in billionths of a second. Much smaller and cheaper compare to the
second-generation computers.

d. The Fourth Generation

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of

integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. As these small computers became
more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the
development of the Internet.

Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld
devices.

e. The Fifth Generation

Based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Still in development. The use of parallel processing
and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. The goal is to develop
devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-
organization. There are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used
today.

References
• https://ftms.edu.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/csca0201_ch01.pdf
• https://www.sutori.com/story/history-of-ict-information-and-communications-technology-
N7J51bQqSU7vLWcVfdn5M9qa
• https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html
• https://www.explainthatstuff.com/historyofcomputers.html