History & Types of Computers. =) HW.

The development of the modern day computer was the result of advances in technologies and man's need to quantify. Papyrus helped early man to record language and numbers. The abacus was one of the first counting machines..
Some of the earlier mechanical counting machines lacked the technology to make the design work. For instance, some had parts made of wood prior to metal manipulation and manufacturing. Imagine the wear on wooden gears. This history of computers site includes the names of early pioneers of math and computing and links to related sites about the History of Computers, for further study. This site would be a good Web adjunct to accompany any book on the History of Computers or Introduction to Computers.

TIMELINE:

2400 BC Abacus: The abacus, the first known calculator, was invented in Babylonia   500 BC Panini: Introduced the forerunner to modern formal language theory 300 BC Pingala: Pingala invented the binary number system 87 BC Antikythera Mechanism: Built in Rhodes to track movement of the stars 60 AD Heron of Alexandria: Heron of Alexandria invents machines which follow a series of instructions 724 Liang Ling-Can: Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock 1492 Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci depict inventions such as flying machines, including a helicopter, the first mechanical calculator and one of the first programmable robots   1614 John Napier: John Napier invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which was able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots   1622 William Oughtred: William Oughtred develops slide rules 1623 Calculating Clock: Invented by Wilhelm Schickard 1642 Blaise Pascal: Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine 1671 Gottfried Leibniz: Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus 1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard: Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards   1820 Arithmometer: The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar   1822 Charles Babbage: Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer 1834 Analytical Engine: The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage 1835 Morse code: Samuel Morse invents Morse code 1848 Boolean algebra: Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole 1853 Tabulating Machine: Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine 1869 William Stanley Jevons: William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine 1878 Ramon Verea: Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table 1880 Alexander Graham Bell: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone 1884 Comptometer: The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys   1890 Herman Hollerith: Herman Hollerith invents a counting machine which  increment mechanical counters   1895 Guglielmo Marconi: Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi   1896 Tabulating Machine Company:  Herman Hollerith forms the Tabulating Machine Company which later becomes IBM   1898 Nikola Tesla: Remote control was invented by  Nikola Tesla   1906 Lee De Forest: Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube 1911 IBM: IBM is formed on June 15, 1911   1923 Philo Farnsworth: Television Electronic was invented by  Philo Farnsworth 1924 John Logie Baird:  Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird Walther Bothe: Walther Bothe develops the logic gate   1930 Vannevar Bush: Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine 1931 Kurt Godel:  Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language 1937 Alan Turing: Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine   1938 Konrad Zuse: Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape   1939 George Stibitz: George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers Hewlett Packard:  William Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett Packard John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry: John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry develop the  ABC (Atanasoft-Berry Computer) prototype   1943 Enigma: Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma encryption machine Colossus: Alan Turing develops the the code-breaking machine Colossus   1944 Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper: Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University   1945 ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) Computer Bug: The term computer ‘bug’ as computer bug was first used by Grace Hopper   1946 F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to  random-access memory (RAM)   1947 Pilot ACE: Donald Watts Davies joins Alan Turing to build the fastest digital computer in England at the time, the Pilot ACE William Shockley: William Shockley invents the transistor at Bell Labs Douglas Engelbart: Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards   1948 Andrew Donald Booth: Andrew Donald Booth invents magnetic drum memory Frederic Calland Williams  & Tom Kilburn: Frederic Calland Williams  & Tom Kilburn develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "Baby"   1949 Claude Shannon: Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chess Howard Aiken: Howard Aiken develops the Harvard-MARK III   1950 Hideo Yamachito: The first electronic computer is created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito. Alan Turing: Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test.   1951 LEO:  T. Raymond Thompson and  John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co. UNIVAC: UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was introduced -  the first commercial computer made in the United States and designed principally by John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly EDVAC: The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) begins performing basic tasks. Unlike the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal   1953 The IBM 701 becomes available and a total of 19 are sold to the scientific community.   1954 John Backus & IBM: John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language   1955 Bell Labs introduces its first transistor computer.   1956 Optical fiber was invented by  Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss   1957 Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians 1958 ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA is formed Silicon chip: The first integrated circuit, or silicon chip, is produced by the US Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce   1959 Paul Baran: Paul Baran theorises on the "survivability of communication systems under nuclear attack", digital technology and symbiosis between humans and machines   1960 COBOL: The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented.   1961 Unimate: General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory.   1962 The first computer game:  The first computer game Spacewar Computer Game invented BY Steve Russell & MIT   1963 The Computer Mouse: Douglas Engelbart invents and patents the first computer mouse (nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end) The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers.   1964 Word processor: IBM introduces the first word processor BASIC:  John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC)   1965 Hypertext:  Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext"   1967 Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk 1969 Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer Gary Starkweather: Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer whilst working with Xerox ARPANET:  The U.S. Department of Defense sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET ) this network was the first building blocks to what the internet is today but originally with the intention of creating a computer network that could withstand any type of disaster. 1970 RAM: Intel  introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.   1971 E-mail: E-mail was invented by  Ray Tomlinson Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by  James Fergason Pocket calculator: Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation Floppy Disk: Floppy Disk was invented by  David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.   1972 First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game The CD:  The compact disc is invented in the United States.   1973 Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol Personal computer: The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers Gateways: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks   1974 SQL: IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL WYSIWYG:  Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) to describe the ability of being able to display a file or document exactly how it is going to be printed or viewed   1975 Portable computers: Altair produces the first portable computer Microsoft Corporation: The Microsoft Corporation was founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800   1976 Apple: Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs 1977 Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated MODEM: Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line   1978 Magnetic tape: The first magnetic tape is developed in the US   1979 Over half a million computers are in use in the United States.   1980 Paul Allen and Bill Gates: IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create an operating system for a new PC. They buy the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template to develop DOS.   1981 Microsoft: MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success   1982 WordPerfect: WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program Commodore 64:  The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time. SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced   1983 More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States Domain Name System (DNS): Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int. Windows: Microsoft Windows introduced eliminating the need for a user to have to type each command, like MS-DOS, by using a mouse to navigate through drop-down menus, tabs and icons   1984 Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface Cyberspace: William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer   1985 Paul Brainard: Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field. Nintendo: The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut.   1986 More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States. 1987 Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works Perl: Larry Wall introduces Perl 1.0   1988 Over 45 million PCs are in use in the United States. 1990 The Internet, World Wide Web & Tim Berners-Lee:  Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau propose a 'hypertext' system starting the modern Internet Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems   1991 The World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991   1993 At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist   1994 The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Berners-Lee to help with the development of common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web YAHOO: YAHOO is created in April, 1994.   1995 Java: Java is introduced Amazon: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos EBay: EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar Hotmail: Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia.   1996 WebTV: WebTV is introduced   1997 Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish Microsoft acquires Hotmail   1998 Google: Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page on September 7, 1998 PayPal is founded by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin   2001 Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001.   2002 Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold PayPal is acquired by eBay   2005 September 12: eBay acquires Skype 2006 Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.

The Types Of Computers: Analog and Hybrid (classification based on operational principle)

• Analog Computers: The analog computer is almost an extinct type of computer these days. It is different from a digital computer in respect that it can perform numerous mathematical operations simultaneously. It is also unique in terms of operation as it utilizes continuous variables for the purpose of mathematical computation. It utilizes mechanical, hydraulic, or electrical energy or operation.
• Hybrid computers: These types of computers are, as the name suggests, a combination of both Analog and Digital computers. The Digital computers which work on the principle of binary digit system of “0” and “1” can give very precise results. But the problem is that they are too slow and incapable of large scale mathematical operation. In the hybrid types of computers the Digital counterparts convert the analog signals to perform Robotics and Process control.

Apart from this, computers are also categorized on the basis of physical structures and the purpose of their use. Based on Capacity, speed and reliability they can be divided into three categories of computers:

Microcomputers (Personal computers)

Microcomputers are the most common type of computers in existence today, whether in a workplace, at school or on the desk at home. The term “microcomputer” was introduced with the advent of single chip microprocessors. The term “microcomputer” itself is now practically an anachronism.
These computers include:

• Desktop computers – A case and a display, put under and on a desk.
• In-car computers (“carputers”) – Built into a car, for entertainment, navigation, etc.

A separate class is that of mobile devices:

• Laptops, notebook computers and Palmtop computers – Portable and all in one case. Varying sizes, but other than smartbooks expected to be “full” computers without limitations.
• Tablet PC – Like laptops, but with a touch-screen, sometimes entirely replacing the physical keyboard.
• Smartphones, smartbooks and PDAs (personal digital assistants) – Small handheld computers with limited hardware.
• Programmable calculator– Like small handhelds, but specialised on mathematical work.
• Game consoles – Fixed computers specialized for entertainment purposes (computer games).
• Handheld game consoles – The same as game consoles, but small and portable.

 Minicomputers (Midrange computers)

A minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the smallest multi-user systems (mainframe computers) and the largest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). The contemporary term for this class of system is midrange computer, such as the higher-end SPARC, POWER and Itanium -based systems from Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

 

 Mainframe computers

The term mainframe computer was created to distinguish the traditional, large, institutional computer intended to service multiple users from the smaller, single user machines. These computers are capable of handling and processing very large amounts of data quickly. Mainframe computers are used in large institutions such as government, banks and large corporations.

Supercomputer

A supercomputer is focused on performing tasks involving intense numerical calculations such as weather forecasting, fluid dynamics, nuclear simulations, theoretical astrophysics, and complex scientific computations. A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and the speed of today's supercomputers tends to become typical of tomorrow's ordinary computer. Supercomputer processing speeds are measured in floating point operations per second or FLOPS. Example of floating point operation is the calculation of mathematical equations in real numbers. In terms of computational capability, memory size and speed, I/O technology, and topological issues such as bandwidth and latency, Supercomputers are the most powerful, are very expensive, and not cost-effective just to perform batch or transaction processing. Transaction processing is handled by less powerful computers such as server computers or mainframes.