Question

Explain the differences between the different generations of computers. How did science contribute to these developments?

Answer 1

Generations of computer technology refers to the changes made in the computer technology over the time. Earlier, computer used to be a big machine with a lot of heavy wiring, whereas nowadays, a computer can be carried in hands. Initially, the changes made were limited to those made in hardware technology. However, now it includes both hardware and software developments. The table given below shows the five generations of computers:

Generation	Year	Technology
First	1946-1959	Vacuum tube based Examples: UNIVAC and ENIAC
Second	1959-1965	Transistor based These are not in use.
Third	1965-1971	Integrated circuit based These are not in use.
Fourth	1971-1980	VLSI microprocessor based Example: micro computers or personal computers include desktop, laptop, palmtop, supercomputer, etc.
Fifth	1980 to till date	Under process Example: Robot and artificial intelligence

With the evolution of technologies in the realm of science, we have been able to make such huge developments in the field of computers.

• With the discovery of semiconductors, transistors were made in 1947 at bell laboratories. These enabled the scientist to replace the large sized vacuum tubes in computers with small sized transistors.
• In 1961, the integration of thousands of transistors on a single chip was made possible. Thus, the IC based computer became smaller in size, faster, more reliable and less expensive.
• The technology of integrated circuits (ICs) improved rapidly. The LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuit and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) circuit was designed. It led to the invention of microprocessor based computers.
• Scientists are working hard on the 5th generation computers. It is based on the technique of Artificial Intelligence (AI). These computers can understand spoken words & imitate human reasoning.