Four generations of computing
Achievements and information on the 4 generations
The first generation computers were huge, slow, expensive, and often undependable. In 1946 two Americans, presper eckret, and jhon mauchly built the ENIAC electronic computer which used vacuum tubes instead of the mechanical switches. The vacuum tube was an extremely important step in the advancement of computers.
The second Generation 1959-1964 { The era of Transistor}:
The Transistor computer did not last as long as the vacuum Tube computer lasted, but it was no less important in the advancement of computing technology. In 1947 three scientists, Jhon Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain working at Bells labs invented what would replace the vacuum tube forever. The invention of the Transistor which function like a vacuum tube in that it can be used to relay and switch electronic signals.The differences between the transistor and the vacuum tube were obvious. The Transistor was said to be faster, more reliable and much cheaper to build than the vacuum tube. One transistor replaced the same as 40 vacuum tubes.
The third generation 1965-1970 {integrated circuits}
Transistors were tremendous breakthrough in advancing the computer. The integrated circuit, or as it is sometimes referred to as semiconductor chip, packs a huge number of transistors onto a single wafer of silicon. Robert Noyce of fair child corporation and jack kilby of Texas instruments independently discovered the amazing attributes of integrated circuits. This lowered the cost as well as making it faster. The size of these machines dropped to the size of small file cabinets. Yet, the single biggest advancement in the computer era was yet to be discovered.
The fourth generation 1971-Today {the microprocessor}
This generation can be known by the invention of the microprocessor which is a single chip that could do all the processing of a full scale computer. These computers are more fast than any computer. However, what really made the tremendous growth of computers and its significant impact on our lives is the great invention of the microprocessor!