COMP6005 An Introduction to Computing

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COMP6005 An Introduction to Computing

• Session One An Introduction to Computing
• History of Computers

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History of Computers

• First mechanical calculators
• 1623 William Schickard built first mechanical
  calculator
• 1642 the Pascaline by Blaise Pascal
• 1671 Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

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History of Computers

• 1801 Punch card technology
• Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed loom in which
  pattern woven controlled by punch cards
• 1833 Charles Babbage began designing an
  analytical engine based on punch cards for
  programming
• 1890 US Census Board used punch cards and
  sorting machines designed by Herman Hollerith to
  handle data from decennial census
• Holleriths company eventually became the core of
  IBM

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History of Computers

• 1835-1900s First programmable machines
• 1835 Babbage described analytical machine

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History of Computers

• 1930s-1960s Desktop calculators
• 1930s Desktop calculators able to add,
  subtract, multiply, divide
• 1948 the Curta small, portable mechanical
  calculatir approx. size of pepper grinder
• 1961 first electronic desktop calculator
  considered to be by Sumlock Comptometer (Anita
  C/VII)
• 1963 four-function EC-130 with 13-digit
  capacity 2200
• 1965 LOCI-2 by Wang Laboratories

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History of Computers

• Pre-1940 Analog computers
• Used continuously varying amounts of physical
  quantities (voltages, currents, rotational speed
  of shafts) to represent quantities being
  processed
• Not very flexible and needed to be
  reconfigured/reprogrammed manually to switch from
  one problem to another
• Most widely developed used for aiming weapons
  e.g Norden bombsight and artillery aiming for
  battleships

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History of Computers

• 1940s and early 1950s First electrical digital
  computers (First Generation)
• Electronic circuits, relays, capacitors, vacuum
  tubes replaced mechanical equivalents by 1954,
  magnetic core memory replacing most other forms
  of temporary storage
• 1940 first computing machine used remotely over
  phone line
• 1945 US-built ENIAC 1,000 times faster than
  contemporaries
• Colossus was first totally electronic computing
  device
• 1941 Z3 by Konrad Zuse becaome first functional
  program-controlled computer

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History of Computers

• 1940s and early 1950s First electrical digital
  computers (First Generation)
• 1947 invention of transistor to replace valves
• 1950 MESM became operational
• 1951 LEO I ran the worlds first regular
  routine office computer job
• 1951 UNIVAC was the first massed produced
  computer 46 machines sold at more than US1
  million each
• 1955-1957 FORTRAN developed and released
• 1955 microprogramming invented by Maurice
  Wilkes
• 1956 IBM sold its first magnetic disk system
  (RAMAC Random Access Method of Accounting and
  Control)

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History of Computers

• Late 1950s and early 1960s Second Generation
• Transistorized computers normally referred to as
  Second Generation
• Computers became smaller IBM 1620 was size of
  office desk, as opposed to IBM 650 which weighed
  over 900kg with power supply of 1350kg, both held
  in separate cabinets of approx. 1.5 metres by 0.9
  metres by 1.8 metres
• Second generation computers still expensive
  however
• Mainly used by universities, governments and
  large corporations

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History of Computers

• Late 1950s and early 1960s Second Generation
• 1959 12,000 medium scale IBM 1401 shipped most
  successful machine in computer history at the
  time
• 1960 2,000 IBM 1620 smaller, transistor based
• 1960 DEC launched the PDP-1 to be used by
  technical staff in labs and for research
• 1961 first dual processor and virtual memory
  computer released (B5000)
• 1962 IBM S/360 series able to run same software
  at different combinations of speed, capacity and
  price

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History of Computers

• Post-1960 Third Generation and beyond
• Use of computers became more popular
• Invention of microchip (integrated circuit) by
  Jack St. Clair
• Microchip later led to invention of
  microprocessor at Intel
• 1970 Microprocessor led to development of
  small, low-cost computers for ownership by
  individuals and small businesses (microcomputer)

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Timeline

• http//www.scsite.com/dc2005/index.cfm?actiontime
  chapterhome

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Links

• References
• http//www.computernostalgia.net
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer
• http//www.scsite.com/dc2005/
• Of Interest
• http//www.picotech.com/applications/colossus.html
  
• http//www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/research/pubs/books/papers
  /133.pdf

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Assignment

• Go through the online Timeline as referenced on
  the relevant slide
• Together with these slides, develop a general
  understanding of the steps that brought us to
  current day levels of computing
• Be ready to discuss in class