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A computer is a programmable electronic device that accepts raw data as input and processes it with a set of instructions (a program) to produce the result as output. It renders output after performing mathematical and logical operations and can save the output for future use. It can process numerical as well as non-numerical calculations. The term “computer” is derived from the Latin word “computer” which means to calculate.
A computer is designed to execute applications and provides a variety of solutions through integrated hardware and software components. It works with the help of programs and represents the decimal numbers through a string of binary digits. It also has a memory that stores the data, programs, and results of processing. The components of a computer such as machinery that includes wires, transistors, circuits, and hard disks are called hardware. Whereas, the programs and data are called software.
It is believed that the Analytical Engine was the first computer which was invented by Charles Babbage in 1837. It used punch cards as read-only memory. Charles Babbage is also known as the father of the computer.
The basic parts without which a computer cannot work are as follows
- Processor: It executes instructions from software and hardware.
- Memory: It is the primary memory for data transfer between the CPU and storage.
- Motherboard: It is the part that connects all other parts or components of a computer.
- Storage Device: It permanently stores the data, e.g., hard drive.
- Input Device: It allows you to communicate with the computer or to input data, e.g., a keyboard.
- Output Device: It enables you to see the output, e.g., monitor.
Computers are divided into different types based on different criteria. Based on the size, a computer can be divided into five types:
- Micro Computer
- Mini Computer
- Mainframe Computer
- Super Computer
- Workstations
1. Micro Computer:
It is a single-user computer that has less speed and storage capacity than the other types. It uses a microprocessor as a CPU. The first microcomputer was built with 8-bit microprocessor chips. Common microcomputers include laptops, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDA), tablets, and smartphones. Microcomputers are generally designed and developed for general usage like browsing, searching for information, the internet, MS Office, social media, etc.
2. Mini Computer:
Mini-computers are also known as “Midrange Computers.” They are not designed for a single. They are multi-user computers designed to support multiple users simultaneously. So, they are generally used by small businesses and firms. Individual departments of a company use these computers for specific purposes. For example, the admission department of a University can use a Mini-computer for monitoring the admission process.
3. Mainframe Computer:
It is also a multi-user computer capable of supporting thousands of users simultaneously. Large firms and government organizations use them to run their business operations as they can store and process large amounts of data. For example, Banks, universities, and insurance companies use mainframe computers to store the data of their customers, students, and policyholders, respectively.
4. Super Computer:
Super-computers are the fastest and most expensive computers among all types of computers. They have huge storage capacities and computing speeds and thus can perform millions of instructions per second. The super-computers are task-specific and thus used for specialized applications such as large-scale numerical problems in scientific and engineering disciplines including applications in electronics, petroleum engineering, weather forecasting, medicine, space research, and more. For example, NASA uses supercomputers for launching space satellites and monitoring and controlling them for space exploration.
5. Work stations:
It is a single-user computer. Although it is like a personal computer, it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor than a microcomputer. In terms of storage capacity and speed, it comes between a personal computer and a minicomputer. Work stations are generally used for specialized applications such as desktop publishing, software development, and engineering designs.
Benefits of Using a Computer:
- Increases your productivity: A computer increases your productivity. For example, after having a basic understanding of a word processor, you can create, edit, store, and print documents easily and quickly.
- Connects to the Internet: It connects you to the internet that allows you to send emails, browse content, gain information, use social media platforms, and more. By connecting to the internet, you can also connect to your long-distance friends and family members.
- Storage: A computer allows you to store a large amount of information, e.g., you can store your projects, ebooks, documents, movies, pictures, songs, and more.
- Organized Data and Information: It not only allows you to store data but also enables you to organize your data. For example, you can create different folders to store different data and information and thus can search for information easily and quickly.
- Improves your abilities: It helps write good English if you are not good at spelling and grammar. Similarly, if you are not good at math, and don’t have a great memory, you can use a computer to perform calculations and store the results.
- Assist the physically challenged: It can be used to help the physically challenged, e.g., Stephen Hawking, who was not able to speak used a computer to speak. It also can be used to help blind people by installing special software to read what is on the screen.
- Keeps you entertained: You can use the computer to listen to songs, watch movies, play games, and more.
The computer has become a part of our life. There are plenty of things that we do in a day are dependent on a computer. Some of the common examples are as follows:
- ATM: While withdrawing cash from an ATM, you are using a computer that enables the ATM to take instructions and dispense cash accordingly.
- Digital currency: A computer keeps a record of your transactions and balance in your account and the money deposited in your account in a bank is stored as a digital record or digital currency.
- Trading: Stock markets use computers for day-to-day trading. Many advanced algorithms are based on computers that handle trading without involving humans.
- Smartphone: The smartphone that we use throughout the day for calling, texting, and browsing is a computer.
- VoIP: All voice over IP communication (VoIP) is handled and done by computers.
History of Computers
The first counting device was used by the primitive people. They used sticks, stones, and bones as counting tools. As the human mind and technology improved with time more computing devices were developed. Some of the popular computing devices starting with the first to recent ones are described below;
Abacus
The history of computer begins with the birth of abacus which is believed to be the first computer. It is said that Chinese invented Abacus around 4,000 years ago.
It was a wooden rack which has metal rods with beads mounted on them. The beads were moved by the abacus operator according to some rules to perform arithmetic calculations. Abacus is still used in some countries like China, Russia and Japan. An image of this tool is shown below;
Napier’s Bones
It was a manually-operated calculating device which was invented by John Napier (1550-1617) of Merchiston. In this calculating tool, he used 9 different ivory strips or bones marked with numbers to multiply and divide. So, the tool became known as “Napier’s Bones. It was also the first machine to use the decimal point
Pascaline
Pascaline is also known as Arithmetic Machine or Adding Machine. It was invented between 1642 and 1644 by a French mathematician-philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is believed that it was the first mechanical and automatic calculator.
Pascal invented this machine to help his father, a tax accountant. It could only perform addition and subtraction. It was a wooden box with a series of gears and wheels. When a wheel is rotated one revolution, it rotates the neighboring wheel. A series of windows is given on the top of the wheels to read the totals. An image of this tool is shown below;
Stepped Reckoner or Leibnitz wheel
It was developed by a German mathematician-philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673. He improved Pascal’s invention to develop this machine. It was a digital mechanical calculator which was called the stepped reckoner as instead of gears it was made of fluted drums. See the following image;
Difference Engine
In the early 1820s, it was designed by Charles Babbage who is known as the “Father of Modern Computer”. It was a mechanical computer which could perform simple calculations. It was a steam-driven calculating machine designed to solve tables of numbers like logarithm tables.
Analytical Engine
This calculating machine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830. It was a mechanical computer that used punch-cards as input. It was capable of solving any mathematical problem and storing information as a permanent memory.
Tabulating Machine
It was invented in 1890, by Herman Hollerith, an American statistician. It was a mechanical tabulator based on punch cards. It could tabulate statistics and record or sort data or information. This machine was used in the 1890 U.S. Census. Hollerith also started the Hollerith?s Tabulating Machine Company which later became International Business Machine (IBM) in 1924.
Differential Analyzer
It was the first electronic computer introduced in the United States in 1930. It was an analog device invented by Vannevar Bush. This machine has vacuum tubes to switch electrical signals to perform calculations. It could do 25 calculations in few minutes.
Mark I
The next major changes in the history of computer began in 1937 when Howard Aiken planned to develop a machine that could perform calculations involving large numbers. In 1944, Mark I computer was built as a partnership between IBM and Harvard. It was the first programmable digital computer.
Generations of Computers
A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in computer technology with time. In 1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform the counting. It replaced the gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous computing machines.
In each new generation, the circuits became smaller and more advanced than the previous generation circuits. The miniaturization helped increase the speed, memory and power of computers. There are five generations of computers which are described below;
First Generation Computers
The first generation (1946-1959) computers were slow, huge, and expensive. In these computers, vacuum tubes were used as the basic components of CPU and memory. These computers were mainly depended on batch operating system and punch cards. Magnetic tape and paper tape were used as output and input devices in this generation;
Some of the popular first-generation computers are;
- ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
- EDVAC ( Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
- UNIVAC I( Universal Automatic Computer)
- IBM-701
- IBM-650
Second Generation Computers
The second-generation (1959-1965) was the era of transistor computers. These computers used transistors which were cheap, compact and consuming less power; it made transistor computers faster than the first generation computers.
In this generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic disc and tapes were used as the secondary storage. Assembly language and programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN, and Batch processing and multiprogramming operating systems were used in these computers.
Some of the popular second-generation computers are;
- IBM 1620
- IBM 7094
- CDC 1604
- CDC 3600
- UNIVAC 1108
Third Generation Computers
The third generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of transistors. A single IC can pack huge number of transistors which increased the power of a computer and reduced the cost. The computers also became more reliable, efficient, and smaller in size. These generation computers used remote processing, time-sharing, multi programming as the operating system. Also, high-level programming languages like FORTRON-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, and ALGOL-68 were used in this generation.
Some of the popular third-generation computers are;
- IBM-360 series
- Honeywell-6000 series
- PDP(Personal Data Processor)
- IBM-370/168
- TDC-316
Fourth Generation Computers
The fourth-generation (1971-1980) computers used very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits; a chip containing millions of transistors and other circuit elements. These chips made this generation computers more compact, powerful, fast and affordable. These generation computers used real-time, time-sharing, and distributed operating systems. The programming languages like C, C++, and DBASE were also used in this generation.
Some of the popular fourth-generation computers are;
- DEC 10
- STAR 1000
- PDP 11
- CRAY-1(Super Computer)
- CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)
Fifth Generation Computers
In fifth generation (1980-till date) computers, the VLSI technology was replaced with ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). It made possible the production of microprocessor chips with ten million electronic components. This generation of computers used parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. The programming languages used in this generation were C, C++, Java, .Net, etc.
Some of the popular fifth generation computers are;
- Desktop
- Laptop
- NoteBook
- UltraBook
- Chromebook
