The Five Generations of Computers
Vacuum tubes Integrated Circuits
Transistors
Microprocessors
Artificial Intelligence
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⚫The computerof
Generations has evolved from
Computer a large-sized
simple calculating machine to a smaller but
much more powerful machine.
⚫The evolution of computer to the current
state is defined in terms of the generations of
computer.
⚫Each generation of computer is designed
based on a new technological development,
resulting in better, cheaper and smaller
computers that are more powerful, faster and2
Generations
⚫Currently, thereofare
Computer
five generations of
computer. In the following subsections, we
will discuss the generations of computer in
terms of the technology used by them
(hardware and software), computing
characteristics (speed, i.e., number of
instructions executed per second), physical
appearance, and their applications.
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First Generation Computers
(1940-1956)
⚫ The first computers used vacuum tubes(a sealed glass tube
containing a near-vacuum which allows the free passage of
electric current.) for
circuitry and magnetic drums for memory.
⚫ They were often enormous and taking up entire room.
⚫ First generation computers relied on machine language.
⚫ 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(defect or
breakdown).
⚫ The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-
generation computing devices.
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First Generation
Computers
Advantages :
⚫It was only electronic device
⚫First device to hold memory
Disadvantages :
⚫Too bulky i.e large in size
⚫Vacuum tubes burn frequently
⚫They were producing heat
⚫Maintenance problems
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Second Generation Computers
(1956-1963)
• Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and
ushered in the second generation of
computers.
• Second-generation computers moved from
cryptic binary machine language to symbolic.
• High-level programming languages were also
being developed at this time, such as early
versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.
• These were also the first computers that
stored their instructions in their memory.
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Second Generation
Computers
Advantages :
⚫Size reduced considerably
⚫The very fast
⚫Very much reliable
Disadvantages :
⚫They over heated quickly
⚫Maintenance problems
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Third Generation Computers
(1964-1971)
⚫The development of the integrated
circuit was the hallmark of the third
generation of computers.
⚫Transistors were miniaturized and placed
on siliconchips, called semiconductors.
⚫Instead of punched cards and printouts, users
interacted with third generation computers
through keyboards
and monitors and interfaced with
an operating system.
⚫Allowed the device to run many
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Third generation computers
Advantages :
⚫ICs are very small in size
⚫Improved performance
⚫Production cost cheap
Disadvantages :
⚫ICs are sophisticated
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Fourth Generation Computers
(1971-present)
⚫The microprocessor brought the fourth
generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single
silicon chip.
⚫The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971,
located all the components of the computer.
⚫From the central processing unit and memory
to input/output controls—on a single chip.
⚫. Fourth generation computers also saw the
development of GUIs, the mouse and
handheld devices.
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Fourth Generation
Computers
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Fifth Generation Computers
(present and beyond)
⚫Fifth generation computing devices, based
on artificial intelligence.
⚫Are still in development, though there are
some applications, such as voice recognition.
⚫The use of parallel processing and
superconductors is helping to make artificial
intelligence a reality.
⚫The goal of fifth-generation computing is to
develop devices that respond to natural
language input and are capable of learning
and self-organization.
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Fifth Generation
Computers
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