History of computer technology development

Computers have become a necessity. They are everywhere: in homes, factories, offices and cars ... We sometimes do not even think how the history of the development of computer technology is multifaceted and rich in historical dates. To date, there are four generations of computers.

The first generation was cumbersome (by today's standards, huge) machines. Except for the work of the German engineer Zuse (namely, he created the first computer in 1941, but the works were lost), then the ancestor of the current computers is Mark-1 (1943). This machine required a huge hall and consisted of 800 km of wires, more than 3300 thousand relays and consumed hundreds of kilowatts of electricity for calculations. These computers were used for military calculations.

But it is worth noting that the history of computer technology generation I did not start with "Mark I". The date of its beginning was fixed in 1946 year. Then the work of the computer began to be based on electron-vacuum lamps. It was this design that ENIAC had. In size, it was practical as the first "Mark", but it was more productive (more than a thousand times). The car was interesting, powerful, innovative, but impractical. For one calculation it was required to switch cables in a certain order within a few hours. The device was idle, and the development of computer technology continued and a new concept appeared - the "element base", which could provide the functioning of the computer. The base of computers of the first generation consisted of capacitors, resistors and electron-vacuum lamps.

The history of computer technology of domestic production begins in 1951, thanks to S.A. Lebedev. It all began with MESM, which after the modifications became BESM-2. A little later in the USSR was created the most powerful computer in Europe named M-20, which quite often came out of their system and required a considerable number of engineers for service.

The second generation of computers began with the invention and use of the first transistor. From this moment the history of the development of computer technology began to gain a completely different speed of movement. The base of the computer began to be based on semiconductor elements. The transistor was forty times more productive than an electronic lamp, compact and cheaper. It became possible to use printed circuit boards. In 1965, Digital Equipment introduced a compact (!) Computer, the dimensions of which were slightly less than a roomy refrigerator. It was called the miracle PDP-8 and cost 20 thousand US dollars.

While the portable PDP-8 surprises everyone with its performance, at the same time the development of third generation computers (the late 1960s - 1970s) is beginning. This is due to the development and testing of the first integrated circuit (John Kilbri 1958). On the silicon plate were located transistors and their connections. Performance - from hundreds of thousands to millions of operations per second.

In 1968, the first computer on integrated circuits - IBM-360 - was launched. In 1970, Intel began implementing integrated memory circuits. Every year the performance of parts increased at least twice, while the area of the schemes either did not change, or it became smaller. This gave rise to the development of the fourth generation of computers.

In 1970, Intel (Marshan Edward Hoff) designed the first analog of the central processor of a large computer. In 1970, it goes on sale under the name Intel-4004. At a size of 3 cm it was more productive than three computers "Mark II". The development of microprocessors went quite fast, which allowed creating practical computers that were used for typing, calculating and simplifying accounting. Thanks to people like S. Jobs and Wozniak (the founders of Apple Computer), the history of the development of computer technology began to bring these devices closer to ordinary users. And now ordinary people could observe how fast the productivity grows, new programs appear and much more. By the end of the 70's. The spread of personal computers has received an incredibly large turnover. Thanks to active actions and dexterous manipulations with the commercial interests of large corporations, the young American Bill Gates successfully wins for Microsoft the right to develop software. Successful transactions and timely patenting of programs, including Windows, have made Microsoft for a long time the recognized leader in the world of IT technologies, eliminating the main rival - Apple.

The fourth generation is evolving to this day. The history of the development of computer technology continues. Modern computers differ only in that several processors are used simultaneously for processing information.