How long has computers been around

These machines allowed their users to interact via the keyboard and monitor. It also did away with the punch cards and the printouts of previous systems. Fourth-generation computers were from to and saw the greatest changes in computers as we know them. Technology developed to a point where it allowed millions of transistors to be placed on a single circuit chip, bringing the monolithic integrated circuit technology. This is also the time where the Intel chip was invented, the first microprocessor chip to be commercially available in The fourth-generation computer saw the advent of the personal computer industry.

The mids also saw personal computers like the Altair being sold to the public in kits that needed assembly.

Later on, computers that were already assembled like the Commodore Pet and Apple II were also available. Personal computers had the ability to create networks, and this was what lead to the internet in the s. Laptops and hand-held devices were also from the fourth-generation computers. This was also the time when computers went through major changes in storage capacity and processing speed.

The fifth-generation computers include what we will see in the future. This should include even faster and more advanced computer technology. Computers in the future are not just the rectangular objects we hold in our hands. They already are and will be in almost everything we touch — our cars , our refrigerators, even our light switches. Soon, all of our devices will be able to communicate with each other. They can change to 16 million colors and shades of white with just simple commands.

But there is also a growing market for non-gamers who want to experience virtual reality in the comfort of the home. Since technology affects our lives and the world we live in, we should remember that these changes should be available for everyone, not just those who can afford them.

For example, 3D printing and prosthetics with robot technology — should be accessible and available to everyone and anyone who needs it, regardless of their income.

Scientists and technologists should work towards achieving changes and advances that will benefit everyone. They should be trained to see how their designs and inventions could be used technologically but should also be made aware of how these will impact people and lives in general.

So what will the future bring? No one knows. But we can only hope that whatever gadget or other technological invention is made, it would create a better bond between people. These innovations should help create and strengthen this bond, and allow nations and people to better understand one another through these innovations. Computers have touched and influenced our lives and the whole world in more ways than one.

Work, communication, and access to information are much easier thanks to computers and the internet. There are different classifications of computers, so the answer can vary on the type. Even with the many changes the computer has gone through, from being a simple computing machine to the computers we enjoy today, one thing is for certain — the future will bring us even more technological advancements that will greatly impact our lives and the world we live in.

But have you ever wondered where computers originated or how long they have been around? The Turing Machine by Alan Turing The Turing Machine was proposed in by Alan Turing, an English mathematician, logician, and computer scientist regarded as the father of computer science. IBM introduced its first commercial scientific computer in The first microprocessor was released by Intel, called the Intel , in First-Generation Computers First-generation computers looked and functioned very far from the computers we have today.

Second-Generation Computers Second-generation computers were designed and developed between to Third-Generation Computers The third-generation computers saw a change in speed, semiconductor chips, keyboards, and monitors from — Fourth-Generation Computers Fourth-generation computers were from to and saw the greatest changes in computers as we know them. Fifth-Generation Computers The fifth-generation computers include what we will see in the future.

The Future of Computers Computers in the future are not just the rectangular objects we hold in our hands. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began construction in and was not completed until It occupied about 1, square feet and used about 18, vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although a judge later ruled the ABC computer was the first digital computer, many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer because it was fully functional.

Kilburn wrote the first electronically-stored program, which finds the highest proper factor of an integer , using repeated subtraction rather than division. Kilburn's program was executed on June 21, It was also the first computer to run a graphical computer game, "OXO," an implementation of tic-tac-toe displayed on a 6-inch cathode ray tube.

Around the same time, the Manchester Mark 1 was another computer that could run stored programs. Built at the Victoria University of Manchester, the first version of the Mark 1 computer became operational in April Mark 1 was used to run a program to search for Mersenne primes for nine hours without error on June 16 and 17 that same year.

The first computer company was Electronic Controls Company and was founded in by J. In , Konrad Zuse began working on the Z4 that later became the first commercial computer.

On April 7, , IBM publicly introduced the , its first commercial scientific computer. MIT introduces the Whirlwind machine on March 8, , a revolutionary computer that was the first digital computer with magnetic core RAM and real-time graphics.

The TX-0 Transistorized Experimental computer is the first transistorized computer to be demonstrated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in In , the first desktop computer, the Programma , was unveiled to the public at the New York World's Fair. It was invented by Pier Giorgio Perotto and manufactured by Olivetti. In , Hewlett Packard began marketing the HP A , considered to be the first mass-marketed desktop computer. Although it was never sold, the first workstation is considered to be the Xerox Alto , introduced in The computer was revolutionary for its time and included a fully functional computer, display, and mouse.

The computer operated like many computers today utilizing windows , menus , and icons as an interface to its operating system. Intel introduces the first microprocessor, the Intel , on November 15, Considered as the first microcomputer, it used the Intel processor and was the first commercial non-assembly computer.

In , Ed Roberts coined the term "personal computer" when he introduced the Altair The computer relied on a series of switches for inputting data and output data by turning on and off a series of lights. The IBM is the first portable computer, which was released in September The computer weighed pounds and had a five-inch CRT display, tape drive , 1.

The first truly portable computer or laptop is considered to be the Osborne I , which was released in April and developed by Adam Osborne. The Osborne I weighed The computer kit was developed by Steve Wozniak in and contained a 8-bit processor and 4 kb of memory, which was expandable to 8 or 48 kb using expansion cards.

Although the Apple I had a fully assembled circuit board, the kit required a power supply , display , keyboard , and case to be operational. Below is a picture of an Apple I from an advertisement by Apple. The computer was code-named Acorn. The Video Display Module VDM marks the first implementation of a memory-mapped alphanumeric video display for personal computers.

Introduced at the Altair Convention in Albuquerque in March , the visual display module enabled the use of personal computers for interactive games. The fastest machine of its day, The Cray-1's speed comes partly from its shape, a "C," which reduces the length of wires and thus the time signals need to travel across them.

High packaging density of integrated circuits and a novel Freon cooling system also contributed to its speed. Typical applications included US national defense work, including the design and simulation of nuclear weapons, and weather forecasting. Intel and Zilog introduced new microprocessors.

Five times faster than its predecessor, the , the Intel could address four times as many bytes for a total of 64 kilobytes. The Zilog Z could run any program written for the and included twice as many built-in machine instructions.

Designed by Sunnyvale, California native Steve Wozniak, and marketed by his friend Steve Jobs, the Apple-1 is a single-board computer for hobbyists.

With an order for 50 assembled systems from Mountain View, California computer store The Byte Shop in hand, the pair started a new company, naming it Apple Computer, Inc. In all, about of the boards were sold before Apple announced the follow-on Apple II a year later as a ready-to-use computer for consumers, a model which sold in the millions for nearly two decades. When connected to a color television set, the Apple II produced brilliant color graphics for the time. Millions of Apple IIs were sold between and , making it one of the longest-lived lines of personal computers.

Apple gave away thousands of Apple IIs to school, giving a new generation their first access to personal computers. The TRS proved popular with schools, as well as for home use.

The TRS line of computers later included color, portable, and handheld versions before being discontinued in the early s. The first of several personal computers released in , the PET comes fully assembled with either 4 or 8 KB of memory, a built-in cassette tape drive, and a membrane keyboard. The PET was popular with schools and for use as a home computer.

After the success of the PET, Commodore remained a major player in the personal computer market into the s. The success of the VAX family of computers transformed DEC into the second-largest computer company in the world, as VAX systems became the de facto standard computing system for industry, the sciences, engineering, and research.

Shortly after delivery of the Atari VCS game console, Atari designs two microcomputers with game capabilities: the Model and Model The served primarily as a game console, while the was more of a home computer.

Atari's 8-bit computers were influential in the arts, especially in the emerging DemoScene culture of the s and '90s. The Motorola microprocessor exhibited a processing speed far greater than its contemporaries. This high performance processor found its place in powerful work stations intended for graphics-intensive programs common in engineering.

Intended to be a less expensive alternative to the PET, the VIC was highly successful, becoming the first computer to sell more than a million units. Commodore even used Star Trek television star William Shatner in advertisements. About 50, were sold in Britain, primarily to hobbyists, and initially there was a long waiting list for the system. The machine was expandable, with ports for cassette storage, serial interface and rudimentary networking.

The DN is based on the Motorola microprocessor, high-resolution display and built-in networking - the three basic features of all workstations. Apollo and its main competitor, Sun Microsystems, optimized their machines to run the computer-intensive graphics programs common in engineering and scientific applications.

Apollo was a leading innovator in the workstation field for more than a decade, and was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in IBM's brand recognition, along with a massive marketing campaign, ignites the fast growth of the personal computer market with the announcement of its own personal computer PC.

It featured a 5-inch display, 64 KB of memory, a modem, and two 5. Thousands of software titles were released over the lifespan of the C64 and by the time it was discontinued in , it had sold more than 22 million units.

It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the greatest selling single computer of all time. Franklin was able to undercut Apple's pricing even while offering some features not available on the original. Sun Microsystems grows out of this prototype. Sun helped cement the model of a workstation having an Ethernet interface as well as high-resolution graphics and the UNIX operating system.

Lisa is the first commercial personal computer with a graphical user interface GUI. It was thus an important milestone in computing as soon Microsoft Windows and the Apple Macintosh would soon adopt the GUI as their user interface, making it the new paradigm for personal computing. The success of the Portable inspired many other early IBM-compatible computers. Compaq's success launched a market for IBM-compatible computers that by had achieved an percent share of the personal computer market.

The Macintosh was the first successful mouse-driven computer with a graphical user interface and was based on the Motorola microprocessor. The PC Jr. While the PC Jr. It also included more memory and accommodated high-density 1. By the early s, Dell became one of the leading computer retailers. It developed a very loyal following while add-on components allowed it to be upgraded easily.

The inside of the Amiga case is engraved with the signatures of the Amiga designers, including Jay Miner as well as the paw print of his dog Mitchy. At 4 million operations per second and 4 kilobytes of memory, the gave PCs as much speed and power as older mainframes and minicomputers. The chip brought with it the introduction of a bit architecture, a significant improvement over the bit architecture of previous microprocessors. It had two operating modes, one that mirrored the segmented memory of older x86 chips, allowing full backward compatibility, and one that took full advantage of its more advanced technology.

It performed 2 million instructions per second, but other RISC-based computers worked significantly faster. Daniel Hillis of Thinking Machines Corporation moves artificial intelligence a step forward when he develops the controversial concept of massive parallelism in the Connection Machine CM The machine used up to 65, one-bit processors and could complete several billion operations per second.

Each processor had its own small memory linked with others through a flexible network that users altered by reprogramming rather than rewiring. Using this system, the machine could work faster than any other at the time on a problem that could be parceled out among the many processors. One of Britain's leading computer companies, Acorn continued the Archimedes line, which grew to nearly twenty different models, into the s.

The computer he created, an all-black cube was an important innovation. This object-oriented multitasking operating system was groundbreaking in its ability to foster rapid development of software applications. VTech, founded in Hong Kong, had been a manufacturer of Pong-like games and educational toys when they introduce the Laser computer.

The RISC microprocessor had a bit integer arithmetic and logic unit the part of the CPU that performs operations such as addition and subtraction , a bit floating-point unit, and a clock rate of 33 MHz.

The chips remained similar in structure to their predecessors, the chips. What set the apart was its optimized instruction set, with an on-chip unified instruction and data cache and an optional on-chip floating-point unit. Combined with an enhanced bus interface unit, the microprocessor doubled the performance of the without increasing the clock rate. Apple had initially included a handle in their Macintosh computers to encourage users to take their Macs on the go, though not until five years after the initial introduction does Apple introduce a true portable computer.

Sales were weaker than projected, despite being widely praised by the press for its active matrix display, removable trackball, and high performance. The line was discontinued less than two years later.

It would serve as the model for several other significant multi-processor systems that would be among the fastest in the world. Based on Charles Babbage's second design for a mechanical calculating engine, a team at the Science Museum in London sets out to prove that the design would have worked as planned.

Apple's Macintosh Portable meets with little success in the marketplace and leads to a complete redesign of Apple's line of portable computers. All three PowerBooks introduced featured a built-in trackball, internal floppy drive, and palm rests, which would eventually become typical of s laptop design. The PowerBook was the entry-level machine, while the PowerBook was more powerful and had a larger memory. The PowerBook was the high-end model, featuring an active matrix display, faster processor, as well as a floating point unit.

The PowerBook line of computers was discontinued in Based on the Touchstone Delta computer Intel had built at Caltech, the Paragon is a parallel supercomputer that uses 2, later increased to more than four thousand Intel i processors.

More than one hundred Paragons were installed over the lifetime of the system, each costing as much as five million dollars. The Paragon at Caltech was named the fastest supercomputer in the world in Paragon systems were used in many scientific areas, including atmospheric and oceanic flow studies, and energy research.

Apple enters the handheld computer market with the Newton. The handwriting recognition software was much maligned for inaccuracy. The Newton line never performed as well as hoped and was discontinued in The Pentium introduced several advances that made programs run faster such as the ability to execute several instructions at the same time and support for graphics and music.

Using dual PowerPC CPUs, and featuring a large variety of peripheral ports, the first devices were used for software development. While it did not sell well, the operating system, Be OS, retained a loyal following even after Be stopped producing hardware in after less than 2, machines were produced.

Officially known as the Track Write, the automatically expanding full-sized keyboard used by the ThinkPad is designed by inventor John Karidis. The keyboard was comprised of three roughly triangular interlocking pieces, which formed a full-sized keyboard when the laptop was opened -- resulting in a keyboard significantly wider than the case. Palm Inc. Sony had manufactured and sold computers in Japan, but the VAIO signals their entry into the global computer market.

The first VAIO, a desktop computer, featured an additional 3D interface on top of the Windows 95 operating system as a way of attracting new users. The VAIO line of computers would be best known for laptops were designed with communications and audio-video capabilities at the forefront, including innovative designs that incorporated TV and radio tuners, web cameras, and handwriting recognition. The line was discontinued in Until the year , it was the world's fastest supercomputer, able to achieve peak performance of 1.

The machine was noted for its ease-of-use and included a 'manual' that contained only a few pictures and less than 20 words. The camera had a maximum resolution of 0. The J-Phone line would quickly expand, releasing a flip-phone version just a month later. Cameras would become a significant part of most phones within a year, and several countries have even passed laws regulating their use.

A consortium of aerospace, energy, and marine science agencies undertook the project, and the system was built by NEC around their SX-6 architecture. To protect it from earthquakes, the building housing it was built using a seismic isolation system that used rubber supports.

The Earth Simulator was listed as the fastest supercomputer in the world from to Leaving Palm Inc. After retiring their initial Visor series of PDAs, Handspring introduced the Treo line of smartphones, designed with built-in keyboards, cameras, and the Palm operating system. The Treo sold well, and the line continued until Handspring was purchased by Palm in With a distinctive anodized aluminum case, and hailed as the first true bit personal computer, the Apple G5 is the most powerful Macintosh ever released to that point.

While larger than the previous G4 towers, the G5 had comparatively limited space for expansion. Harkening back to the hobbyist era of personal computing in the s, Arduino begins as a project of the Interaction Design Institute, Ivrea, Italy.