Computers Today

Early Life Inventions Computer History Computers Today

Computers Today

Computers have developed immensely over the years.  They have become more compact, faster, and better all round.
Many people have contributed to this like Bill Gates, and of course Charles Babbage, who first came up with the design.

There are five generations of modern computers.  These are:

1.  1945 - 1956.  This was in the second world war.  Allied Forces worked hard to develop powerful computers to decode German secret messages.  The machine they created was called Colossus and was kept a secret until decades after the war had ended.  In other countries other computers were also developed at this time.  These computers used binary digits.

2.  1956 - 1963.  At this time computers began to shrink in size due to the invention of the transistor in 1948.  The first large-scale machines to use the latest transistor technology were the early super computers known as Stretch by IBM and LARC by Sperry-Rand.

3. 1964 - 1971.  The quartz rock was developed by Jack Kilby in 1958 and by this      computing period, the amount of heat produced inside modern computers was reduced, meaning that more components could be fitted on a chip so computers could be made smaller.  CPUs (central processing units) were invented to run different programs at the same time, they also monitored and coordinated the computer's memory.

4.  1971 - present day.  Computers reduced in size and due to the increase of components on each silicon chip, we see microprocessors incorporated into many household appliances.  Computers can now be found in the majority of households in more economically developed countries.  Modern computer facilities such as the Internet can now be found on mobile phones.

5.  Present - future.  It is virtually impossible to say what may happen in the world of computers over the next few decades.  The newest idea scientists are working on is artificial intelligence. 



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