Information System Hardware

IS Hardware

A computer is an electronic device that can accept data, process the data according to specified rules, produce results and store the results for future use.

Early computers are built to solve mathematical and engineering problems whereas later computers emphasized on information processing for business applications.

The evolution of computer systems:

· First Generation (Mechanical/Electromechanical)

o Calculators Antikythera mechanism, Difference engine, Norden bombsight Programmable Devices Jacquard loom, Analytical engine, Harvard Mark I, Z3

· Second Generation (Vacuum Tubes)

o Calculators Atanasoff–Berry Computer, IBM 604, UNIVAC 60, UNIVAC 120 Programmable Devices Colossus, ENIAC, Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, EDSAC, Manchester Mark 1, Ferranti Pegasus, Ferranti Mercury, CSIRAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701, IBM 702, IBM 650, Z22

· Third Generation (Discrete transistors and SSI, MSI, LSI Integrated circuits)

o Mainframes IBM 7090, IBM 7080, IBM System/360, BUNCH Minicomputer PDP-8, PDP-11, IBM System/32, IBM System/36

· Fourth Generation (VLSI integrated circuits)

o Minicomputer VAX, IBM System i 4-bit microcomputer Intel 4004, Intel 4040 8-bit microcomputer Intel 8008, Intel 8080, Motorola 6800, Motorola 6809, MOS Technology 6502, Zilog Z80 16-bit microcomputer Intel 8088, Zilog Z8000, WDC 65816/65802 32-bit microcomputer Intel 80386, Pentium, Motorola 68000, ARM architecture 64-bit microcomputer^[34] Alpha, MIPS, PA-RISC, PowerPC, SPARC, x86-64 Embedded computer Intel 8048, Intel 8051 Personal computer Desktop computer, Home computer, Laptop computer, Personal digital assistant (PDA), Portable computer, Tablet PC, Wearable computer Theoretical/experimental Quantum computer, Chemical computer, DNA computing, Optical computer, Spintronics based computer

· The First Generation (1951-1959)
• 1951: Mauchly and Eckert built the UNIVAC I, the first computer designed and sold specifically for business data-processing applications.
• 1950s: Dr. Grace Murray Hopper developed the UNIVAC I compiler.
• 1957: The programming language FORTRAN (Formula Translator) was designed by John Backus, an IBM engineer.
• 1959: Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce of Texas Instruments manufactured the first integrated circuit which is a collection of tiny little transistors.

· The Second Generation (1959-1965)
• 1960s: Gene Amdahl designed the IBM System/360 series of mainframe (G) computers, the first general-purpose digital computers which uses integrated circuits.
• 1961: Dr. Hopper developed the COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) programming language.
• 1963: Ken Olsen, founder of DEC, produced the first minicomputer (G) PDP-1.
• 1965: BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language was developed by Dr. Thomas Kurtz and Dr. John Kemeny.

· The Third Generation (1965-1971)
• 1969: The Internet is started.
• 1970: Dr. Ted Hoff developed the famous Intel 4004 microprocessor (G) chip.
• 1971: Intel released the first microprocessor, a specialized integrated circuit which was ale to process four bits of data at a time. It also included its own arithmetic logic unit. PASCAL, a structured programming language, was developed by Niklaus Wirth.

· The Fourth Generation (1971-Present)
• 1975: Ed Roberts, the "father of the microcomputer" designed the first microcomputer, the Altair 8800, which was produced by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). At the same year, two young hackers, William Gates and Paul Allen approached MITS and promised to deliver a BASIC compiler. So they did and Microsoft was born from the sale.
• 1976: Cray developed the Cray-I supercomputer (G). Apple Computer, Inc was founded by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak.
• 1977: Jobs and Wozniak designed and built the first Apple II microcomputer.
• 1980: IBM offers Bill Gates the opportunity to develop the operating system for its new IBM personal computer. Microsoft has achieved tremendous growth and success today due to the development of MS-DOS. Apple III was also released.
• 1981: The IBM PC was introduced with a 16-bit microprocessor.
• 1982: Time magazine chooses the computer instead of a person for its "Machine of the Year."
• 1984: Apple introduced the Macintosh computer, which incorporated a unique graphical interface, making it easy to use. The same year, IBM released the 286-AT.
• 1986: Compaq released the DeskPro 386 computer, the first to use the 80036 microprocessor.
• 1987: IBM announced the OS/2 operating-system technology.
• 1988: A non-destructive worm was introduced into the Internet network bringing thousands of computers to a halt.
• 1989: The Intel 486 became the world's first 1,000,000 transistor microprocessor.
• 1993: The Energy Star program, endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), encouraged manufacturers to build computer equipment that met power consumption guidelines. When guidelines are met, equipment displays the Energy Star logo. The same year, Several companies introduced computer systems using the Pentium microprocessor from Intel that contains 3.1 million transistors and is able to perform 112 million instructions per second (MIPS).