Computer Education

Lecture 2
Evolution of Computing
 During the Last Lecture …

• We learnt about the Analytical Engine - the first general-

purpose, digital computer – and its inventor Charles
Babbage

• We had a discussion about the key strengths (speed, do not

get bored) and weaknesses (pattern recognition, innovative
ideas) of the modern computer
 Today’s Goal

To learn about the evolution of computing

To recount the important milestones and the key

events

To learn about the steps that took us from Babbage’s

idea of the Analytical Engine to today’s ultra-smart
hand held computers
But first, why should we spend time on
recounting the events of the past

Why not just talk about what is happening

in computing now and what is going to
happen in the future?

Why?
• If you do not learn from the history,
your condemned to repeat it

• Recounting the events of the past

provides an excellent opportunity to:
– learn lessons
– discover patterns of evolution, and
– use them in the future

• If we learn from history well, we will:

– neither repeat the mistakes of the past
– nor would we waste time re-inventing
what already has been invented
 Babbage’s Analytical Engine - 1833
• Mechanical, digital, general-purpose

• Was crank-driven

• Could store instructions

• Could perform mathematical calculations

• Could store information permanently in punched cards

 Punched Cards - 1801
• Initially had no relationship with computers

• Invented by a Frenchman named Joseph-Marie Jacquard for

storing weaving patterns for automated textile looms (“khuddian”)

• Their value for storing computer-related information was later

realized by the early computer builders

• Punched cards were replaced by magnetic storage only in the early

1950s
 Protests Against Jacquard’s Invention

• Hand weavers saw the automatic loom as a threat

to their livelihood

• They burned several of the new machines

• A few weavers even physically assaulted Jacquard

 Turing Machine - 1936

• Alan Turing of Cambridge University presented his idea of a

theoretically simplified but fully capable computer, now
known as the “Turing Machine”

• The concept of this machine, which could theoretically

perform any mathematical computation, was very
important in the future development of the computer

• You will learn about the details of the “Turing Machine” in

your advanced Computer Science courses
 Another contribution by Alan Turing
• The “Turing test”

• A test proposed to determine if a computer has the

ability to think

• So far no one has built a computer that can pass

that test – there is cash prize of US$100,000
 Terminal

Human

Terminal

Interrogator

Machine
on its own
 Turing Test

• An interrogator is connected to one person and one

machine via a terminal, therefore can't see her
counterparts

• The interrogator’s task is to find out which of the

two candidates is the machine, and which is the
human only by asking them questions. If the
machine can "fool" the interrogator, it passes the
“Turing Test”.
 Vacuum Tube - 1904

• John Fleming, an English Physicist, developed the very first one

• These electronic devices consist of 2 or more electrodes

encased in a glass or metal tube

• They along with electric relays were used in the construction of

earlier computers

• These tubes have now been almost completely replaced by

more reliable and less costly transistors
 ABC - 1939
• Attanasoff-Berry Computer

• John Attanasoff & Clifford Berry at Iowa State College

• World’s first electronic computer

• The first computer that used binary numbers instead of

decimal

• Helped grad students in solving simultaneous linear equations

 Harvard Mark 1 - 1943

• Howard Aiken of Harvard University

• The first program controlled machine

• Included all the ideas proposed by Babbage for the

Analytical Engine

• The last famous electromechanical computer

 ENIAC – 1946
• Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer
• World’s first large-scale, general-purpose electronic
computer
• Built by John Mauchly & John Echert at the
University of Pennsylvania
• Developed for military applications
• 5,000 operations/sec, 19000 tubes, 30 ton
• 9’ x 80’
• 150 kilowatts: Used to dim the lights in the City of
Philadelphia down when it ran
 Transistor - 1947

• Invented by Shockly, Bardeen, and Brattain at the

Bell Labs in the US

• Compared to vacuum tubes, it offered:

– much smaller size
– better reliability
– much lower power consumption
– much lower cost

• All modern computers are made of miniaturized

transistors
• Tubes replaced mechanicals

• Transistors replaced tubes

• What is going to replace the transistors?

 EDVAC – 1948
• Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer

• Built by Echert & Mauchly and included many design ideas

proposed by Von Neumann

• The first electronic computer design to incorporate a

program stored entirely within its memory

• First computer to use Magnetic Tape for storing programs.

Before this, computers needed to be re-wired each time a
new program was to be run
 Floppy Disk - 1950

Invented at the Imperial University in Tokyo by

Yoshiro Nakamats

Provided faster access to programs and data as

compared with magnetic tape
 Compiler - 1951
• Grace Hopper of US Navy develops the very first
high-level language compiler

• Before the invention of this compiler, developing a

computer program was tedious and prone to errors

• A compiler translates a high-level language (that is

easy to understand for humans) into a language
that the computer can understand
 UNIVAC 1 - 1951
• UNIVersal Automatic Computer
• Echert & Mauchly Computer Company
• First computer designed for commercial apps
• First computer that could not only manipulate
numbers but text data as well
• Max speed: 1905 operations/sec
• Cost: US$1,000,000
• 5000 tubes. 943 cu ft. 8 tons. 100 kilowatts
• Between 1951-57, 48 were sold
 BASIC - 1965
• Beginner All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

• Developed by Thomas Kurtz & John Kemeny at Dartmouth

College

• The first programming language designed for the non-

techies

• The grand-mother of the most popular programming

language in the world today – Visual BASIC
 Computer Mouse - 1965

• Invented by Douglas Englebart

• Did not become popular until 1983, when Apple

Computers adopted the concept
 ARPANET - 1969

• A network of networks

• The grand-daddy of the today’s global Internet

• A network of around 60,000 computers developed

by the US Dept of Defense to facilitate
communications between research organizations
and universities
 Intel 4004 - 1971
• The first microprocessor

• Microprocessor: A complete computer on a

chip

• Speed: 750 kHz

 Altair 8800 - 1975
• The commercially available 1st PC

• Based on the Intel 8080

• Cost $397

• Had 256 bytes of memory; my PC at home has a

million times more RAM (Random Access Memory)
 Cray 1 - 1976
• The first commercial supercomputer

• Supercomputers are state-of-the-art machines designed to

perform calculations as fast as the current technology
allows

• Used to solve extremely complex tasks: weather prediction,

simulation of atomic explosions; aircraft design; movie
animation

• Cray 1 could do 167 million calculations a send; the current

state-of the-art machines can do many trillion (1012)
calculations per second
 IBM PC & MS DOS - 1981
• IBM PC: The tremendously popular PC; the
grand-daddy of 95% of the PC’s in use today

• MS DOS: The tremendously popular operating

system that came bundled with the IBM PC
 TCP/IP Protocol - 1982

• Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

• The communications protocol used by the computer

networks, including the Internet

• A communication protocol is a set of rules that governs

the flow of information over a network
 Apple Macintosh - 1984
• The first popular, user-friendly, WIMP-based
PC

• Based on the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus,

Pointing Device) ideas first developed for the
Star computer at Xerox PARC (1981)
 World Wide Web -1989

• Tim Berners Lee – British physicist

• 1989 – At the European Center for Nuclear Energy

Research (CERN) in Geneva

• 1993 - The 1st major browser “Mosaic” was

developed at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Deep Blue -vs- Kasparov - 1997
It could analyze up to 300 billion
chess moves in three minutes

In 1997 Deep Blue, a supercomputer designed

by IBM, beat Gary Kasparov, the World Chess
Champion

That computer was exceptionally fast, did not

get tired or bored. It just kept on analyzing
the situation and kept on searching until it
found the perfect move from its list of
possible moves
 Mobile Phone-Computer
• A small computer, no bigger than the hand set of
desktop phone

• Can do whatever an Internet-capable computer can

plus can function as a regular phone

• First consumer device formed by the fusion of

computing and wireless telecommunication
What is he next major Milestone?

1. Mechanical computing

2. Electro-mechanical computing

3. Vacuum tube computing

4. Transistor computing
(the current state-of the-art)

5. Quantum computing
Quantum
Mechanics
QUANTUM MECHANICS is the branch of physics which describes
the activity of subatomic particles, i.e. the particles that make up
atoms
 What is he next major Milestone?
• Quantum computers may one day be millions of times more
efficient than the current state-of-the-art computers.
• They take advantage of the laws that govern the behavior of
subatomic particles.
• These laws allow quantum computers to examine all possible
answers to a question simultaneously
• For example, if you want to find the largest from a list of four
numbers:
– The current computers require on average 2 to 3 steps to get to the
answer
– Whereas, the quantum computer may be able to do that in a single step
 For further info …

Read the following article that is available on the Web:

Quantum Computing with Molecules

by Neil Gershenfeld and Isaac L. Chuang

http://www.sciam.com/1998/0698issue/0698gershenfeld.html
Computer Types According to Capability

• Supercomputers

• Mainframes

• Servers

• Desktops

• Portables
 Supercomputers (1)
• State-of-the-art machines designed to perform
calculations as fast as the current technology allows

• Used to solve extremely complex and large-scale

problems: weather prediction, simulation of atomic
explosions; aircraft design; movie animation

• Cost tens of millions of dollars

• Unique in that unlike mainframes &

personal computers, designed to focus all
their resources and capabilities on a single
task at a time
 Supercomputers (2)
• Early supercomputers used a single or a few
processors working in parallel

• Those processors were custom-built for the

supercomputers, and were, therefore, very
expensive

• Modern supercomputers use the same

processors that are used in desktop PCs. They,
however, are designed to use 1000’s of them
working together in parallel
Why use many not-so-
powerful processors
working in parallel ?
Why not just design a
single, really powerful
processor ?
 The Champion: ASCI White
• Most powerful computer as of February 2002
• Capable of 12.3 trillion calculations/sec
– 74,000 times faster than Cray 1 (1976)
– 1,000 times faster than Deep Blue (1997)

• Designed for complex 3-D simulations required

for testing nuclear weapons
• Powered by 8192 microprocessors
• 6 TB of memory; 160 TB of storage capacity
 Mainframe Computers (1)
• Also called “Enterprise Servers”

• Designed for performing multiple, intensive

tasks for multiple users simultaneously

• Used by large businesses (e.g. banks, e-

commerce sites), military, and industrial
organizations
 Mainframe Computers (2)

• Designed for very-high reliability

• Can be serviced/upgraded while in operation

• Generally consist of multiple processors, GB’s of

memory, and TB’s of storage

• Cost in millions of dollars

 Servers/Minicomputers (1)
• The name minicomputers used to define
the class of computers that lies between
personal computers and mainframes

• Then very high-end desktop computers –

called low-end or mid-range servers – took
over the role that was previously played by
minicomputers
 Servers/Minicomputers (2)
• Low-end and mid-range servers are used by small
businesses and organizations as file-stores, to run
e-mail systems and Web sites
• Generally are more reliable than desktops, but not
as solid as the mainframes
• Generally consist of 2 or more processors, GB’s of
memory, and TB’s of storage

• Costs in hundreds of thousands of dollars

 Desktop Computers (1)
• Also called microcomputers

• Low-end desktops are called PC’s and high-end ones

“Workstations”

• Generally consist of a single processor only, some

times 2, along with MB’s of memory, and GB’s of
storage
 Desktop Computers (2)
• PC’s are used for running productivity applications,
Web surfing, messaging

• Workstations for more demanding tasks like low-

end 3-D simulations and other engineering &
scientific apps

• Are not as reliable and fault-tolerant as servers

• Workstations cost a few thousand dollars; PC

around a $1000
 Mobile Computers (1)
• Laptops, palmtops, and wearable computers are very
capable computers but are light-weight and consume
very little power

• Laptops (also called notebook computers) generally

weigh around 2kg, use special low-power processors,
typically have TB memory, TB of storage, can work for
more than 2 hours on battery

• Their usage is similar to that of PCs

• They cost in the range of $1500-2500

 Mobile Computers (2)
• Palmtops, also known as PDA’s - Personal Digital Assistants

• Weigh less than a pound, have very low-power processors,

KB’s of memory, MB’s of storage capacity

• Can run for many hours on AA batteries

• Used as an electronic version of a pocket diary. Also for

Web surfing and e-mail or even as mobile phones

• Palmtops cost $200-600

 Mobile Computers (3)
• Wearables are small in size, carried in a pocket,
worn on the arm, waist, or head or elsewhere on
the body
• Capability similar to PDA’s, but more expensive
• They are always ON, and always accessible. That is,
the user can always enter and execute commands,
even while walking around or doing other activities
• Each soldier of the future will be fitted with one
 Ranking w.r.t. installed number
• PC’s
• PDA’s
• Workstations
• Servers
• Wearables (will take the top spot in future)
• Mainframes
• Supercomputers
Now that we have learnt about the various
types of computers and about their typical
applications, let’s move on to a new topic

Let’s now find out about the essential

components that are present in every type of
computers
At the highest level, two things are
required for computing

Hardware: The physical equipment in a

computing environment such as the
computer and its peripheral devices
(printers, speakers, etc.)

Software: The set of instructions that

operates various parts of the hardware.
Also termed as “computer program”
We’ll have a lot to say about software during
the duration of this course

However, for the rest of today’s discussion,

let’s concentrate on hardware
 All computers have the following essential
hardware components:
Input – the component through which a user instructs a
computer about what to do
Processor – the engine that processes the instructions given
by the user
Memory – where the processor stores information that is
required during its computations
Storage – where information that is required to be used much
later is stored
Output – the component that communicates the results of a
computation to the user
There is another quite essential component that is present in every computer …

????
The Bus!
Control Integer Keyboard Mouse
Unit Unit
Compact
Floating Disk
Cache
Point
Memory
Unit

Processor Hard
System Bus
Disk

Memory
Bus

Memory Printer Monitor

Input Devices
• Mouse
• Keyboard
• Joystick
• Camera
• Microphone
• Scanner
What’s a Port?
 Port
The connection point at which we connect input
and output devices to a computer
Many Types of Ports

1. Parallel
2. Serial
3. SCSI
4. USB
5. Firewire
Processor
• Pentium
• Celeron
• Athlon
• PowerPC
• StrongARM (PDA)
• Crusoe (Laptops)
• SPARC (Workstations)
Memory/Storage
• RAM
• Punch cards
• ROM
• Hard disk
• Floppy disk
• Tape
• CD
• DVD
 Classifying Memory/Storage
• Electronic (RAM, ROM)
magnetic (HD, FD, Tape), optical (CD, DVD)

• Volatile (RAM), non-volatile (HD)

• Direct access (RAM, HD), serial access (Tape)

• Read/write (HD, RAM), read-only (CD)

Output Devices

Printer

Plotter

Speakers

Monitor
modem
input device or output device?
modem
modem
demodulator
mo dem
modulator
Modem is an example of a device that acts both
as an input as well as an output device

• Can you think of any other such dual-

purpose devices?

– Network cared
– Touch screens
What have we learnt today?

What are the various types of computers

with respect to their size, capability,
applications (FIVE TYPES)

The five essential components of any

computer are input devices, processor,
memory, storage and output devices
Next time we’ll find out about

1. What are the major building blocks of a

modern personal computer?

2. How those building blocks are put

together to form a PC?