Assalamualaikum W.B.T..
First of all,I would like to thank Allah S.W.T. for giving me another chance to update this blog again. If not from His blessing, I might be somewhere else and might be doing something that not beneficial at all .. :) Secondly, I would like to ask for a forgiveness from readers because of not update this blog.. Hehe... Insyaallah, if Allah's will, I will always update this blog and make it better from day to day. Ok,lets we start our topic about COMPUTER..
Do you know what is exactly the meaning of the word 'computer'?? How it can exists and give benefits for us?? Although it already exists,how it can make an evolution from generation to another generation?? The most important thing is who are the person that invented the computer?? :) To answer all this questions is not as simple as that. So, lets find all the answers by exploring the real history of this computer..
Computer, the word that we always heard and being our daily use, is a programmable machine. It's already known that this machine can receives input, stores, manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format. Refer to the questions above, the word 'computer' was used for the first time in 1613, which is referred to a person who carried out calculations and computations. Then, the word was used continuously until the middle of the 20th century.
The history of this computer can be divided into 5 generations which is First Generation until the Fitfh Generation.
FIRST GENERATION...
This generation was beginning from the year 1937 until 1956 which is used a vacuum tubes. The first computer was invented by Dr. John V. Atanosoff and Clifford Berry in the year 1937. Both of them are the persons who was in charged to design and build the first electronic digital computer on that year. In 1947, the world was shocked by the new invented transistor which is functions as the transfer resistance device and transformed the computer better in proving much more reliable than before. Although this electronic digital computer was invented since 1937, but it is only comercially available in 1951 with the UNIVAC 1 (UNIVersal Automatic Computer) by Remington Rand. Then, Dr. Grace Hopper descibes how to program computer with a better software which is from detailed machine languange to a symbolic notation in her paper titled "The Education of a Computer."
SECOND GENERATION....
From 1956 until 1963, the second generation of computer was transformed from a vacuum tubes to the transistors. From above, we can see that the transistors was invented in year 1947,right? Yes,it is true but during that period, it is not spread or comercialised until the late 50's. During the first generation, the size of the computer was so big and it is to expensive compare to this generation. This is because the transistor allowed the computer to become smaller, cheaper, faster, more reliable and even more energy efficient than the vacuum tubes generation. In 1957, same year with our Independence Day, the IBM 305 RAMAC computer was invented. This computer was the first computer that used magnetic disk for external storage and it is provides storage capacity same as the magnetic tape that being used before but it is offers the advantages of semi-random access capability. At last, in 1960, COBOL, a high-level business application languange was developed by Dr. Grace Hopper.
THIRD GENERATION..
The development of computer keep continuing until the third generation which is from 1964 until 1971. This generation more focuses on the integrated circuits. Dr. John Kemeny from Dartmouth was the person that leads the development of the BASIC programming language of computer in the year 1965. At the same time, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was introduced the first mini-computer which is named PDP-8, used as an interface for time-sharing systems. In this generation also, the transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. That is why computer can be transform from tha large size to more small than before. Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Besides that, through this generation also the floppy disk was introduced by Alan Shugart from IBM who demonstrated the first regular use of 8 inch floppy disk. In 1969, the ARPANET network, a predecessor of the Internet, was established.
EXAMPLE OF THE THIRD GENERATION COMPUTER
FOURTH GENERATION....
Fourth generation was started from 1971 until present. The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What was in the first generation computer filled in an entire room, now can be fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971 by Dr. Ted Hoff from Intel Corporation, located all the components of the computer. From the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls with only on a single chip.
In 1975, the first local area network (LAN) called Ethernet was developed by Robert Metcalf at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). Five years later, Microsoft Corporation cofounder, Byll Gates, was offered to develope the operating system for IBM personal computer and with the development of MS-DOS, Microsoft achieves tremendous growth and success. At the same time, Alan Shugart once again presents the Winchester hard disk which ack as storage in personal computers.
One year later, 1981, the bad news for the entire world of computer was spreaded. The first computer virus called Elk Colner was spreaded via Apple II floppy disk which cantain the operating system. At the same period, IBM also had introduced its first computer for the home user, while Apple introduced the Macintosh three years after that. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors. As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.
