The History of Computing Devices

Generation	Examples of Computer	Electronic Components	Years	Used for?	Size	Interesting fact about each
1	This was the first generation computer used	Vacuum Tubes	1940-50	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.	Took up  a Room	A vacuum tube is an electronic device used for the processing of electrical signals. It consists of two or more electrodes inside a metal or glass tube which has been evacuated, hence the name.
2	This is a transistor computer and it was the second generation used	Transistors	1950-60	Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.	Size of a cabinet	A transistor is a solid-state electronic device used to control the flow of an electric current. The term solid-state refers to devices that take advantage of special properties of solids. (It usually refers to devices made of semiconducting materials.) Since they were invented in the 1940s, transistors have come to revolutionize modern communications.
3		Chips (Integrated Circuits)	1960-70	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.	Size of a stop sign	An integrated circuit, commonly referred to as an IC, is a microscopic array of electronic circuits and components that has been diffused or implanted onto the surface of a single crystal, or chip, of semiconducting material such as silicon
4		Microprocessors Computers on  a chip	1971-77	The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. 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.	Size of a desktop	The microprocessor, also known as a CPU (central processing unit), is a small semiconductor chip on a piece of silicon that handles basic logic and storage tasks for a computer. The microprocessor is the heart of any computer system, and is responsible for personal computing as we know and understand it today.
5.		Networking Parallel Computing	The 21st century	Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular andnanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.	supercomputer	Supercomputers, the world's largest and fastest computers, are primarily used for complex scientific calculations. The parts of a supercomputer are comparable to those of a desktop computer: they both contain hard drives, memory, and processors (circuits that process instructions within a computer program).