Generations Of Computers

Each new generation of computer has brought considerable improvements in computing speed and power. Learn about the five generations of computers, as well as the significant technological advancements that have led to the computer technology we use today.
The history of computer development is a topic in computer science that is frequently used to refer to the many generations of computing hardware. Each computer generation is defined by a significant technological advancement that has significantly altered the way computers work.
From the 1940s to the present, the majority of key breakthroughs have resulted in more smaller, cheaper, more powerful, and efficient computing machines and technology, reducing storage and boosting portability.

5 generations of computers
First Generation: Vacuum Tubes
Second Generation: Transistors
Third Generation: Integrated Circuits
Fourth Generation: Microprocessors
Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence
First Generation: Vacuum Tubes (1940–1956)
The original computer systems were huge, took up entire rooms, and employed vacuum tubes for electronics and magnetic drums for main memory. These computers were extremely expensive to run, and in addition to consuming a lot of electricity, they also produced a lot of heat, which was frequently the source of failures. The maximum capacity of the internal storage was 20,000 characters.

Machine language, the lowest-level programming language known by computers, was used to conduct operations on first-generation computers, and they could only handle one problem at a time.
It would take operators days or even weeks to set up a new problem. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.

The Von Neumann architecture, which depicts the design architecture of an electronic digital computer, was introduced during this generation. J. Presper Eckert’s UNIVAC and ENIAC machines later became examples of first-generation computer technology. In 1951, the United States Census Bureau received the UNIVAC, which was the first commercial computer supplied to a business client.

Second Generation: Transistors (1956–1963)
In the second generation of computers, transistors would take the place of vacuum tubes. Although the transistor was conceived in 1947 at Bell Labs, it was not widely used in computers until the late 1950s. Hardware advancements such as magnetic core memory, magnetic tape, and the magnetic disc were also featured in this generation of computers.
The transistor outperformed the vacuum tube, allowing computers to grow smaller, quicker, cheaper, more energy-efficient, and more dependable than their predecessors in the first generation. Despite the fact that the transistor still generated a lot of heat, which caused the computer to malfunction, it was a huge advance over the vacuum tube. Punch cards were still used for input and prints output on a second-generation computer.
Second-generation computers switched from binary to symbolic, or assembly, languages, allowing programmers to define instructions in words. High-level programming languages, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN, were also being created at the time. These were also the first computers to store instructions in memory, moving away from magnetic drum technology and toward magnetic core technology.

Third Generation: Integrated Circuits (1964–1971)
The third generation of computers was defined by the advancement of the integrated circuit. Transistors were downsized and placed on silicon chips, known as semiconductors, allowing computers to run faster and more efficiently.

Instead of punch cards and printouts, users would interact with a third-generation computer via keyboards, monitors, and operating system interfaces, which allowed the device to execute multiple programmes at once while being monitored by a central software. Because computers were smaller and less expensive than their predecessors, they became available to a wider public for the first time.

Fourth Generation: Microprocessors (1971–present)
Thousands of integrated circuits were packed onto a single silicon chip, ushering in the fourth generation of computers. In the first generation, technology that could fill a whole room could now fit in the palm of your hand. The Intel 4004 chip, introduced in 1971, combined all of the computer’s components on a single chip, from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls.
IBM released its first personal computer for residential users in 1981, while Apple released the Macintosh in 1984. As more and more daily goods began to employ the microprocessor chip, microprocessors migrated out of the realm of desktop computers and into many other aspects of life.

As the power of these little computers grew, they could be joined together to build networks, leading to the creation of the Internet. GUIs, the mouse, and handheld technology were all developed with each fourth-generation computer.

Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence (Present And Beyond)
Fifth-generation computer technology, which is based on artificial intelligence, is still in the development, however some applications, such as speech recognition, are now in use. Artificial intelligence is becoming a reality because to the usage of parallel processing and superconductors. This generation is also the most capable of cramming a huge quantity of storage into a small and portable device.

In the coming years, quantum processing, molecular and nanotechnology will fundamentally alter the face of computers. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to create machines that can learn and self-organize while responding to natural language input.