The History of Computers

1832 Difference Engine

Plans were drawn up by Charles Babbage in 1832 for a calculating machine called a Difference Engine. This was not a computer but it was the start of their creation. The engine calculates a series of mechanical values and prints the results. The Difference Engine would have had an estimated 25,000 parts. Babbage went on to invent a machine that did have many characteristics of a modern computer.

The Tubes 1942

In 1942 the first all purpose electronic computer called an Eniac (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was designed. It was so big it filled a whole room. It was made of 18,000 glass tubes called valves. As there were so many this caused over heating problems, used too much power and burned out rapidly. The Eniac was 1000 times faster than any other machine to date. In this second it could perform 5000 additions, 357 multiplications and 38 divisions. The valves were what increased the quickness.

The Transistor 1956

The invention of the transistor got around the problem of valves. It is basically an electronic on-off switch and it let the way to making things smaller and cheaper. It can both conduct and insulate as it is made of germanium and silicone. They switch and modulate electric current, converting sound waves into electronic waves and the resistor controls electric current. The name comes from the trans in transmitter and sistor in resistor.

Integrated Circuits 1959

With the invention of the silcon chip, or integrated circuit, computers got even smaller. Today’s computers contain millions of transistors placed on tiny slices of silcon chip, which is on a piece of plastic with pins. Silicon is a semi conductors. The chips have numbers around the edges and wires link the chips to the pins.

Microprocessors 1971

The Intel 4004 chip took the integrated circuit down in size. It placed the central processing unit, memory input and output controls on one small chip. This made it possible to place intelligence into objects. The company Intel comes from Integrated Electronics. The first money making product was the 64 bit static random access memory chip. At 1/8th wide and 1/6th inch long a chip was created that did the same job as the Eniac which filled 3000 cubic feet and had 18000 tubes!

In the 1960s the first central processing unit was made using a single chip, made with 2300 transistors on an area of 3 x 4mm. It places the entire central processing of a computer on a single chip.

Today’s computers are still based on the same theory as that designed in the 60s with over 5 million transistors performing hundreds of millions of calculations in seconds, a vast improvement from the tubes in 1942!

The first computer game, Space War was invented to help sell a computer. The computer had a circular screen.

Sources

Thanks to Catherine from Fingertips Typing Services for some good information.