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.

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

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

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 Napier’s Bones

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

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

Figure 1.5 Pascaline

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

Figure 1.6 Stepped Reckoner

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

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

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

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

Scheutzian Calculation Engine

• Invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843.
• Based on Charles Babbage's difference engine.
he first printing calculator.

Figure 1.11 Scheutzian Calculation Engine

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

Figure 1.12 Tabulating Machine

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

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

Atanasoff-Berry Computer
• 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)

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

UNIVAC 1
Figure 1.17 UNIVAC 1
• The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer
1) was the first commercial computer.
• Designed by John Presper Eckert and John
Mauchly.

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.

• The first computer company was the

The First Portable Computer Electronic Controls Company.
• Osborne 1 – the first portable computer. • Founded in 1949 by John Presper Eckert
• Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer and John Mauchly.
Corporation.

The First Computer Company

Basic Computing Periods - Ages

Pre-mechanical
The pre-mechanical 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
petroglyphs 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.

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.

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

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. 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

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.

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. Second
generation 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
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.

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.

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.

Brief History of Internet

ARPA – Advanced Research Project Agency January 2, 1969 – started an experimental
computer network. Concept – No server, but equal importance/participation to every computer in
the network. Even if, one or two node destroyed that will now affect the network. In 1982 the word
internet started. 1986 – First “ free net” created in Case Western Reserve University 1991: US
government allowed business agencies to connect to internet. Now all people can connect to the
internet and improve their life and work quality. The internet support various aspects in our life.
Vinton Gray Cerf ForMemRS is an American Internet pioneer and is recognized as one of "the
fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with TCP/IP co-developer Bob Kahn.

B. Major Components of the Internet

1. Servers – is a computer program that provides service to another computer program

and it’s user.

Types of Servers

Application Server – a program in computer that provides the business

logic for an application program.
Web Server – a computer program that serves requested HTML pages or
files.
Proxy Server – is a software that acts as an intermediary between an
endpoint device, such as computer and another server
from which a user is requesting.
Mail Server – is an application that receives incoming e-mail from local
users and remote senders and forward outgoing e-mail for
delivery
File Server – is a computer responsible for central storage and
management of data files so that another computer on the same
network can access them.
Policy Server – is a security component of a policy – based network that
provides authorization services and facilities tracking and
control of files.

2. IP Address (Internet Protocol) – is a numerical label assigned to each device. This

provides identity to a network device.
 3. Browser – is an application program that provides a way to look information on
the web.

Example of browsers: Google chrome, safari,

internet explorer, opera, Mozilla

4. Domain Name System (DNS) – is the

phonebook of internet. We access
information online through domain Name Entity
names.
.com commercial
Example of DNS: www.facebook.com,
.org organization
www.pup.edu.ph,www.academia.edu
.net network

.edu education

.gov National and State Government Agencies

.ph Philippines

.au Australia
5. Internet Service Provide (ISP) – is an
organization that provides services for accessing,
using or participating in the internet.

Two types of ISP: National ISP – provided

internet access to a specific geographic area.
Regional ISP – business that provides internet
access in cities and towns nationwide.

Example of ISP: Sky

Broadband, PLDT, Converge

C. Uses of Internet
• Look for information
• School works, jobs, and home purposes
• Send and receive electronic mail
• Video teleconferencing (video call, video
chat)
• Buy and sell product
• Social networking
• Watch & post videos
• Games
• Take college courses
• Monitor home while away
• Financial transactions
• Download music and movies
 D. Internet Terms and Definition

• Internet - A global network of thousands of computer networks linked by data lines and
wireless systems.
browser
• Email – the most common method of sending and receiving messages online
• Social media – websites and apps that allow people to share comments, photos, and
videos
• Online gaming – games that allow people to play with and against each other over the
Internet
• Software updates – operating system and application updates can typically download
from the Internet
• HTML - Hypertext Markup Language is a coding language used to tell a browser how to
place pictures, text, multimedia and links to create a web page. When a user clicks on a
link within a web page, that link, which is coded with HTML, links the user to a specific
linked web page.
• URL - Uniform Resource Locator is a web address used to connect to a remote resource
on the world wide web.
• Bit - is a single digit in the binary numbering system (base 2). For example: 1 is a bit or 0
is a bit.
• Byte - generally consists of eight bits.
• Upload - To upload is to transfer data from your computer to another computer. •
Download - To download is to transfer data from another computer to your computer. •
HTTP - is the acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the data communication standard of
web pages. When a web page has this prefix, the links, text, and pictures should work
correctly in a web browser.
• HTTPS - is the acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. This indicates that the
web page has a special layer of encryption added to hide your personal information and
passwords from others.
• Router or router-modem combination is the hardware device that acts as the traffic cop
for network signals arriving at your home or business from your ISP. A router can be
wired or wireless or both.
• Encryption - is the mathematical scrambling of data so that it is hidden from
eavesdroppers. Encryption uses complex math formulas to turn private data into
meaningless gobbledygook that only trusted readers can unscramble.
• Web Bot - A term that applies to programs/applets (macros and intelligent agents) used on
the Internet. Such bots perform a repetitive function, such as posting messages to
multiple newsgroups or doing searches for information.
• Search Engine - specialized software, such as Google and Yahoo, that lets www browser
users search for information on the web by using keywords, phrases.