PRODUCT DATE LINE

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY,
INNOVATION AND CHANGE

ASSIGNMENT - I

By

ASHISH KUMAR
01916608509
MBA (GENERAL) WEEKEND
4th SEMESTER

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 HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical
computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been
assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those
human beings whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute
such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical
almanacs. Imagine one had a job where hour after hour, day after day, one were to do
nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness,
leading to mistakes. And even on best days one wouldn't be producing answers very fast.
Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that
is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.

3000 B.C. Babylonia

15th Century (1500 A.D)

17th Century
• 1614 John Napier invented logarithms after which multiplication and division can
be performed by adding and subtracting logarithms.
• 1623 Wilhelm Schickard built first mechanical adding machine. Schickard built a
"Calculating Clock" that would perform addition and subtraction with gears.
• 1642 Blaise Pascal built and sold mechanical adding machine, the Pascaline .
Pascal's machine added using gears, but subtraction required the use of a
mathematical trick.
• 1679 Gottfried Leibniz invented binary arithmetic one of the downfalls of early
computing machines was their adherence to the decimal system. Modern
computers use Leibniz's binary arithmetic.
18th Century
• Special purpose analog machines were developed. The 1700s saw the rise of
many machines to aid navigation as well as a few more adding machines.
While all are very interesting, none has any direct bearing on the evolution
of the computer.

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19th Century
• 1801 Joseph Marie Jacquard developed automated loom using punched cards.
Jacquard revolutionized the weaving industry, and his innovation was
recognized by Lovelace and Babbage as useful in calculating machines.
• 1822-1842 Charles Babbage developed Difference Engine. Babbage's creations were
hampered by the lack of precision machining available at the time, as
well as Babbage's reliance on the decimal system.
• 1840 Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace suggested punch cards to Babbage.
Lovelace which was a staunch supporter of Babbage. Lovelace drew
Babbage's attention to Jacquard's looms, and she produced the programs
for Babbage's Analytical Engine.
• 1847-1854 George Boole developed mathematical logic. Boole was the first to apply
mathematical concepts to logic. His Boolean algebra now composes the
heart of all computing devices.
th
20 Century
• 1930 Vannevar Bush built analog differential analyzer to solve differential
equations. 1932 was the time of C. E. Wynnv Williams where first large
scale application of digital electronics was done. WynnWilliams used
digital electronics to build a binary counter for physics experiments in
Cambridge.
• 1938-41 Conrad Zuse built the electomechanical programmable computer. Zuse
developed his own version of Boolean algebra. Zuse built memory and
arithmetic units from electronic devices. Because of the isolation of
Germany during World War II, Zuse's work went unnoticed by others in the
field.
• 1939-42 John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the electronic digital computer first
to use vacuum tubes. Atansoff and Berry's computer (ABC) was a special
purpose machine for solving systems of equations. In addition to being the
first machine to use vacuum tubes to calculate, the ABC incorporated
binary arithmetic, regenerative electronic memory, and logic circuits.
• 1940 George Stibitz and S. B. Williams built first multi terminal remotely
accessible calculator. This calculating device could perform addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division on complex numbers.
• 1942 John Mauchly believed electronic technologies were superior to mechanical
technologies. In 1943-1945: Ballistics Research Laboratory ‘ENIAC’ was
built. This group built a calculating machine for trajectory calculations.
• 1947 Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented the transistor at Bell Telephone
Laboratory. Transistors perform all of the electrical functions of vacuum
tubes, but use little energy, generate little heat, turn on instantly, are sturdy
and stable, and are cheap.
• 1948 Manchester Group developed first electronic machine to perform stored
program. The Manchester machine demonstrated the ability to perform
stored programs, but the memory was so limited (32 words of 32 bits each)

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 in this prototype, it was not capable of performing complicated
calculations.
• 1949 Maurice Wilkes invented first machine capable of performing useful stored
programs. Wilkes and his colleagues at Cambridge built the Electronic
Delay Storage Automatic Calculator. EDSAC could store 16 sets of 32
words of 17 bits each.
• 1949 Prespert Eckert and John Mauchly invented first computer system. Eckert
and Mauchly created the Universal Automatic Computer, a versatile data
processing system. UNIVAC had many possible components: printers,
external long term magnetic tape storage, converters between cards and
tapes, tape copiers and a processer.
• 1951 Jay Forrester and Bob Everett First real time computer, the Whirlwind. It
became the prototype for air traffic control and monitoring air space. Grace
Hopper invented the compiler. Before the advent of compilers, even
operators of programmable computers (as opposed to hardwired machines)
had to enter instructions in binary or, at best, a symbolic assembly
language.
• 1953 Jay Forrester first used the magnetic core memory. Computer memory was
traditionally made of slow relays, slow magnetic drums, vacuum tubes
prone to breakage, or cathoderay tubes prone to breakage. Once Forrester's
idea of magnetic core memory was implemented.
• 1957 John Backus developed compiler for first modern computer language
FORTRAN. Backus' compiler led to the development of many other
languages, such as COBOL and BASIC.
• 1958 Philco Corporation first used of high speed transistors in computers. Jack
Kilby produced first integrated circuit at Texas Instruments Kilby's IC
proved that entire circuits could be produced on a single piece of
semiconductor. IC technology continued to develop, and a significant
breakthrough was made in 1959 by Robert Noyce of Fairchild
Semiconductor. ICs were used fairly quickly in memory, but their
incorporation in logic circuits took many years since they were
incompatible with existing systems. Kilby shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his invention.
• 1961 Steven Hofstein developed MOSFET. The MOSFET is a type of transistor
used in logic devices. 1963 Digital Equipment Corporation First
minicomputer, the PDP8 Ken Olsen founded the Digital Equipment
Corporation to produce smaller, less powerful computers for businesses.
The PDP8 used transistors and magnetic core memory. It was limited, the
memory having room for only 4K words of 12 bits each, but it was
affordable to many, and its price fell as its popularity grew.
• 1969 Ted Hoff placed all circuits on one chip Ted Hoff, working for Intel, came
up with the idea of making a general purpose logic chip that could be used
in any machine to perform any task.

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 • 1970 The first microprocessor was produced and it could only process 4 bits of
data at a time. An 8bit processor capable of running a minicomputer was
produced in 1972.
• 1974 Edward Roberts introduce the personal computer. Using one of Intel's
chips, Edward Roberts and his company produced a kit for building a home
computer. Paul Allen and Bill Gates wrote the first BASIC compiler for the
Altair soon after it was introduced. The company MITS did not survive, but
it's legacy is the personal computer industry.
• 1976-77 Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers came in market. Till
the time of 1979 Oracle introduces the first commercial version of SQL.
• 1981 IBM PC - Home Computer. Microsoft launched MS-DOS Computer
Operating System.
• 1985 Microsoft Windows came in the view.
• 1990 Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC) standards are developed by Tandy
and Microsoft.
• 1991-97 Apple introduces System 7 operating system May 13, 1991 also the World
Wide Web is launched to the public August 6, 1991. And thus in 1993
Microsoft releases Windows NT, Microsoft Office 4.0 and MS-DOS 6.0.
After which in 1995 Java is introduced. 1996 was the time when Google
was first developed by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. 1997 IEEE releases
802.11 (WiFi) standard which changes the entire era.
st
21 century
• 2001 Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (Version 2002) for Itanium systems
was released. YouTube is founded and comes online February 15, 2005.
• 2006 Intel releases the Core2 Duo Processor E6320 (4M Cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066
MHz FSB) April 22, 2006. Microsoft releases Microsoft Windows Vista to
corporations on November 30, 2006.
• 2009 Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 is introduced on March 19 and Windows 7 on
October 22
• 2010 Intel introduced i3, i5 and i7 processors

Comment: Computers are used in daily life in many forms. The use of computers has
increased to a large extent. In present environment with the development of the micro-
computer using the simplified operation, computer applications are not limited to the
application of high precision and scientific research only. Sharing resources and
communications are today’s most common applications of computers. One of the most
important uses of computer after its discovery is the use of internet. Now-a-days people
from any part of the world are connected to the other part using internet. Computer based
education and online teaching is the latest technological evolution. In short, in modern
society, the rapid development of computers provides a very important external conditions.