Talking about computers means going around the last century. Although the first electromechanical computing machine was born in 1938, this time we want you to know more about what happened in later years , in what is known as the « Second Generation of Computers «.
This period of our history extends only for six years but it shows us, without a doubt, significant advances for the sector, many of them essential for the subsequent development of concepts and computing machines.
We are going to tell you what this era meant for history, by what elements it is characterized, how it developed and who were the main men and machines of the moment. See all computer generations in full.
Index:
What characteristics define the second generation of computers?
Half as long as the first generation , it occupies only six years of our history, from 1958 to 1964 .
What characterizes it includes:
- The first and main feature is the introduction of transistors , which were invented some years before, in the architecture of computers, being the substitutes for valves of vacuum . A vacuum tube occupied the same as 200 transistors.
- This aspect leads us to another of the significant aspects of the computers of these years: their size. This replacement allowed to build considerably smaller machines .
- They also produced less heat, so ventilation needs decreased.
- This also has an impact on consumption of energy, which happens to be less.
- These use more advanced languages than what was known so far (machine language, which was binary). They are called “ high level ” and, in effect, we saw more than one in the different devices that went on the market.
- Processors are designed much more easily thanks to the microprogramming , a concept that was developed in 1959.
- The magnetic core memories are widely used, almost completely replacing rotating drums .
- The set of previous features and others such as their increasing reliability and power make them more commercial devices, closer to society.
- COBOL , the first high-level programming language that, despite being designed in the previous generation, does not go to the market until several years later.
- The minicomputers .
- More features are included, such as printing capacity.
- The specific function programs become much more m s salable and, of course, also computers.
- The use of these machines extends , covering storage, inventory management, registration, accounting , payroll …
What was the evolution and history of the 2nd generation of computers?
This is from the year 1958 , being the milestone that characterizes it and that begins the introduction of transistors to replace the vacuum valves, something we see in previous years but without patents.
We begin with the development of two LARC supercomputers , whose use was exclusive to the atomic energy sector, one of them being installed in California and another being assigned to the US Navy, which designed with her the first flight simulator.
The computers that follow one another improve considerably to the previous ones , one after the other, most of them being of great importance, each one in one aspect. No one manufactures an apparatus equal to that of the competition.
FORTRAN appears from IBM, considered the first high-level general-purpose programming language , which was part of one of the main machines of the generation, the IBM 1401.
It is interesting to know that it is at this point, in 1962, that the world’s first known video game appears, called Spacewar !
This era ends with the launch of IMB 360, a series of computers of different characteristics that only shared software , being a bombshell for being useful to a wide audience and becoming, according to the model , more accessible.
It is fair to say that IBM was the leading company , by a win, during these six years, still creating the BUNCH group, a group of corporations united to try to shade it (unsuccessfully). The last years of this time are witness to what would be an attempt at a minicomputer, a computing device of a size considerably smaller than seen so far.
Best inventors of the second generation of computers
Of course, getting all of the above would not have been possible without a few brains that, no doubt, have gone down in history in their respective fields and in computing in general.
Gene Amdahl
We start with someone who does not stand out as an inventor but still deserves recognition in this post because he was the chief architect of the first series of sliding machines of the same software but with different specifications and sizes, which stood out, precisely, for its design and variable architectures but perfect for each and every one of the machines.
This man, founder of four successful companies in the sector, was awarded in 1983 for his contributions in the design, manufacture and application of high performance computers. In 1987 he also receives the Eckert-Mauchly prize for computational innovation. Two years later receives an award as an entrepreneur in the computer sector. All this means that, in 1992 , Computerworld magazine considers it one of the 25 people who changed the world .
In addition to the above, it gives its name to a law ( Amdahl’s law ) that is nothing more than a formula to corroborate that, from one point, there was no point in including more processors to a parallel system.
J. Bardeen, W. Brattain and W. Shockley
Equally meritorious are these three men, the first physical-electrical engineer and the following physicists, invented the transistor , which was announced in 1948 but it took four years to see the light . That is, they are the responsible for the second generation of computers .
This milestone and the excellent work they did in the study of semiconductors made the three receive shortly thereafter, in 1956, the Nobel Prize in Physics .
Maurice Wilkes
To this computational researcher we owe the microprogramming , a concept that was completed in 1951 but was not used operatively on a market computer, the EDSAC 2 until the year 1958 .
Other ideas that were implemented very well and that further improved the recognition of this man were macros, symbolic labels for code or function libraries , essential for any programming language.
The Royal Society decides to make him a member of his in 1956. Upon returning to England in 1993, he was given the title in honor of Doctor of Science . It appears in the Year Honors List of the year 2000.
What featured computers appeared in the second generation of computers? span >
Of course, we have certain machines that were the full protagonists of these years:
IBM 1401
It was launched in 1959, being a mainframe transistor base machine that worked with the well-known punch cards . It had a general purpose and its 12,000 units sold have made it a success, considering, in fact, the most successful in the history of computing .
Its other aspect to highlight was the 4000-character magnetic core memory , extended, shortly thereafter, to 16000.
IBM 1620
A 1959 mainframe, also based on transistors, as is logical, which had, in principle, with a single perforated paper tape that, shortly thereafter, was replaced by perforated cards . It had a magnetic core memory of 60000 decimal digits .
Its use was scientific and, unlike all the previous ones designed for this purpose, it was considered the first economic computer.
PDP-1 h3>
Programmed Data Processor-1 is a machine that, on the other hand, comes from DEC. This was the first one that was used in the laboratory by its personnel and not by specialized computer technicians. His goal was to help in scientific research.
It is launched in 1960 and, in addition to that, it is a point in the history of computing because it is the used to run what was the first videogame as well as becoming a basic element in the hacker culture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He used punched paper tape to store information , inspiring some text editing software.
360 Series
This was a whole family of computers that ran the same software but mounted different specifications for speed (from 0.034 MiPS to 1.7) and capacity (from 8 Kb to 8 MB) and, consequently, being of a different price.
They appear in 1964, being a whole revolution , because they could reach a “huge” number of users, giving them, in addition, different uses, both commercial and scientific.
Its design is also important , being the inspiration of future devices and being considered, therefore, also as the starting point of what would be the next generation of computing .
IBM Strench
This is the first supercomputer built with this transistor system that characterizes the second generation of computers.
It appears in 1961 and, despite not meeting expectations, was the fastest for three years. Far from having the expected success, it showed a difference between the expected and the real yield that its price was divided in two to be able to sell it.
Even so, is considered one of the most important machines when generating several technologies that were really successful, being used for many years, such as the logic of the modular transistor system, the interruptions generalized, memory protection, multiprogramming or channeling instructions .