First Generation of Computers; origin, history and evolution

The use of the computer has changed our lives, we could say that as much as fire or the wheel, each of them being the protagonists of their moment. So much so that the invention and the development of these machines is divided into generations. Today we will see how the First Generation of Computers was.

Think that what for you now is one more element of your room, a few decades ago was a discovery that changed the way we workr, of living, coming to offer us countless and irretrievable comforts that no one wants to sacrifice.

Thus, the history of computing deserves special interest and this time we will tell you how it starts by making you know what this first stage of computers consisted of, how it was developed and what were the personalities and, of course, the most outstanding machines. See all generations of computers full.

What characteristics define the first generation of computers?

This period covers from 1940 to 1952, always considering the commercial, recognition or launch dates of the pieces. If, in another way, we attend to the base in the functioning of the apparatuses, this extends until 1958Well, it is true that it was until that year that the main characteristic of this revolution was maintained as a standard.

Its features, by the way, are few and simple:

• Suppose the change from manual and semi-manual calculating machines to the start of automatic and digital work calculation and computation.
• These machines were built with vacuum valve systems. We find vacuum tubes to replace the mechanical, relays, punched cards, magnetic core memories…
• Its size was colossal, as was its power consumption.
• The language used to program them was machine languagethe simplest of the invented, a system of codes that a circuit could interpret.
• Its purpose was specific (academic and military, basically) and were designed to order.

What was the evolution and history of the 1st generation of computers?

The origin of computing is attributed to the Analytical Engineof the mathematical inventor C. Babbage. His design spoke of give orders to a machine to do calculations as well as data storage.

Although there were similar ideas all over the planet and discoveries were being made at the same time, the truth is that, Historically, the first computing machine recognized as such is the ENIAC.which stems from the previous idea and which was precedent, in turn, of the first commercial design computer, the UNIVAC I.

With this milestone, moreover, the compiler was introduced in this model to be able to interpret two different languages. Another great advance that he incorporated was his system of magnetic tapes, interpretable in two directions and with the obvious addition of being able to detect errors with great ease.

When the stored program computers the sector begins to tremble in the face of a “fervent” demand, of a few dozen, since this meant not having to reprogram the machine by hand (which was to disassemble it almost completely and reassemble it with the corresponding differentiated parts programmed for the purpose in question) but to be able to use it for different purposes, making it much more versatile and interesting for a growing audience.

Best inventors of the first generation of computers

Of course, behind all this evolution there were great people who made it all possible:

• Von Neumann: Pioneer in the use of binary arithmetic in electrical computers. In conjunction with other great thinking minds developed concepts that caused a sensation and that are even still useful today, as is the case with the “core concept”.
• J. Presper and J. Mauchly: Engineer and physicist respectively, they formed a company and were the builders of the UNIVAC I, an automatic computer which had an important census work.
• Howard Aiken: It was the engineer who designed the ASCC electromechanical equipment, which, initially, worked to solve part of various differential equations. His computing ability caused a lot of interest at IBM, which ended up funding a project to redesign the computer, the Harvard Mark I.

He continued to work on the successor models, introducing more and more electronic components (until the construction of the first electronic computer) and other elements such as drum or magnetic core memory.

He got two awards the Harry H. Goode Medal in 1964 and the IEEE Edison Medal in 1070which reflected and appreciated his continued pioneering contributions to large-scale digital management and education.

What prominent computers appeared in the 1st generation of computers?

As for the machines that saw the light in these years, we have to highlight the following:

Z1 Computer

Was the first combined type machine (electromechanical), completed in 1938. It caused problems on a physical level but was fully functional. It was overshadowed by the bad reputation of the German nationality of its inventor, Konrad Zuse.

colossus

A set of 10 machines created with the sole purpose of decrypting messages from the Germans during world war II. These were destroyed by order of Churchill but, with more than a decade of work, one of them was rebuilt and is currently on display in London. Physically, it is interesting to note the use of 15,000 vacuum tubes.

ABC

The Atanasoff Berry Computer was the first automatic type electronic digital computer. It was developed between the years 1937 and 1942.

Its two creators managed to make this machine capable of solve equations with 29 unknowns with complete accuracy. It may not seem like much today, but at the time it was undoubtedly an unprecedented feat.

Mark I

In this case we find a machine that combines electronics and mechanics that came from the hand of the well-known IBM and being director of the Howard Aiken project. It is worth mentioning that it was designed with a clear inspiration in the analytical engine.

It measured nothing more and nothing less than 15 meters in length and its height reached 2.4 meters, conforming by 800000 pieces. had rstorage wheels, electromagnetic relays, rotary switches and calculators working in parallel. It wasn’t that fast though. as expected, it was really successful, to the point of being built the Mark II and the Mark III.

ENIAC

His name was Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer and it was designed between 1943 and 1946. The idea was that it would serve as calculation element to work on artillery fire during the war but this ended before.

It is without a doubt, the first notable electronic computer, validating the use of electronic elements for large-scale computational usecapable of solving mathematical problems of various kinds and more than 100,000 simple operations per second.

It could be reprogrammed (rather rewired) with ease, which made it “multipurpose”, something of obvious appeal during the time. Thus, it is considered one of the first for general purposes. It was even bigger than the previous one, matching it in length but with a depth of 9 meters. It included 40 panels. Its weight was over 30 tons.

manchester baby

This is designed jointly by several scientists who work at the University of the city that gives it its name, back in the year 1948. It was a revolution because it was the first to work with a program that was stored in the data space and that, therefore, could be used as such.

UNIVAC I

The Universal Automatic Computer, from 1951, came from the same hands as the ENIAC but, on this occasion, what was intended to be achieved with it was a machine for commercial use to process large amounts of data (it was the first, actually).

It stands out, from its design, the inclusion of mercury delay lineswhich made it possible to reduce the number of vacuum tubes considerably to 5,000, which also allowed the size of the apparatus to be reduced.

Regarding its capacity, we have over a thousand complex calculations per second and hundreds of thousands in the case of simpler operations.

LEO

Leo is a computer that, despite not introducing anything new on a physical level or in terms of programming or use of elements, has gone down in history for being used in solving business problems, which at the time meant a greater rapprochement with the population and an injection in terms of researchbeginning what would be a bestial development process, lasting decades and decades and in which we are still immersed.