The four generations of computers
part 1
The first generations of computers
ENIAC
The first generation of computers started with ENIAC, the first computer to use electronic valves/vacuum tubes. The first generation of computers were massive shelves and mainly used for calculations. They only had one use per computer and no operating system making them quite primitive.
The second generation of computers
The second generation of computers were smaller and had transistors. Transistors made the computers faster and require less wiring. These computers had an operating system (IBM) and used punch cards. These computers were mainly used for science and engineering.
Punch cards, transistors and vacuum tubes
Punch cards
These were stiff pieces of paper that had holes punched into them. The computer would then recognise these holes as code.
Transistors
Transistors were used to amplify electronic signals and also increased the processing power of the computer.
Vacuum tubes
Vacuum tubes were used to control the flow of the electricity. However, they are now no longer used.