History of Computing 1

History of Computing 1

Foundation Computing

If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.

Robert X. Cringely

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Quiz What is the difference between Insert and

Overstrike modes?

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Quiz (2)Which shortcut combination should be

used to cut and paste text?a.Ctrl-Alt-Delb.Ctrl-x followed by Ctrl-vc.Ctrl-c followed by Ctrl-vd.Win-e

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Quiz (3)What should you do if you’ve accidentally

deleted highlighted text?a.Panicb.Call Microsoft for helpc.Post a message to the bulletin boardd.Use the shortcut Ctrl-z or the undo command

immediately

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History of ComputingWhy should we study the history of

computing?The past shapes the present and the

present will affect the future.Studying the history of computing gives an

appreciation of what technology we have now, and what may come in the future.

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Hist. of Computing TimelineGenerations

1. Mechanical (Before 1945)2. Vacuum Tubes (1945 – 1954)3. Transistors (1954 – 1963)4. Integrated Circuits (1963 - 1973)5. Personal Computers (1973 – ???)6. Parallel Computers, Networking7.Mobile Computing

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Quote of the dayIf the automobile had followed the same

development cycle as the computer, a Rolls Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.

Robert X. Cringely

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Mechanical Computers Counting Boards

Grooved wooden boards with pebbles

Oldest 300BC Abacus

Used in ancient Rome and Greece

Modern abacus used in Asia after 1200AD

Slide Rule John Napier (1600s)

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Mechanical Computers (2)

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French mathematician, physicist and religious

philosopher Probability theory, Pascal’s Triangle Pascaline (1642) – he was very young!

Adding/subtracting machine with automatic carryfailed to be a great commercial successImproved the design, built total of 50 of these

Unit of pressure (Pa) named after him and a programming language!!!

Animation of the Pascaline: http://perso.orange.fr/therese.eveilleau/pages/truc_mat/textes/

pascaline.htm

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Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) French silk weaver and inventor Jacquard Loom

Weaving machineControlled by recorded patterns

of holes in a string of cardsInvention was fiercely opposed

by the silk-weavers Loom was declared public property in 1806 He was rewarded with a pension and a royalty

on each machine

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Charles Babbage (1792-1871) English mathematician Sought to eliminate the high error rate in the

calculation of mathematical tables (human error)

Idea of a programmable computer Difference Engine (1823)

Programmable calculatorCalculated polynomialsProduced table of logarithms 1 -108 000

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Analytical EngineWith store (modern memory) and mill

(modern CPU)Not completed until after his death – lack

of fundingCould perform any kind of calculationPunch cards similar to Jacquard Loom

"The Father of Computing"


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Augusta Ada King (1815-1852) Ada Lovelace (Countess) Worked with Babbage, wrote notes on

how to calculate Bernoulli numbers with the Analytical Engine

These notes are recognized as world’s first computer program

Controversial: Who wrote these notes – Babbage or Lovelace?

Programming language ADA named after her

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George Boole (1815-1864) English/Irish mathematician Creator of Boolean logic (basis of all modern

computer arithmetic) His work was obscure outside philosophical circles

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70 years after his death, an MIT master’s student read about his work

He wrote in his thesis about utilizing the properties of electrical switches to do logic

Became the basic concept that underlies all modern electronic digital computers

Possibly the most important, and also the most famous, Master's thesis of the century


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Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) American statistician Created the punched cards and

associated machinery used for the 1890 US census. (based on Jacquard’s method)

Founded Hollerith Tabulating Company which later became IBM

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More informationRead more here:

http://www.computerhistory.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Quiz

What is the first thing you should do before searching for information on the WWW?

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Quiz (2)

How would you exclude a keyword from a search on the WWW?

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Quiz (3)

How would you start an efficient search for the fixed expression what a nice day using a search engine?a. “what” a “nice day”b. “what a nice day”c. “a nice day what”d. what a nice day

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Quiz (4)

Name 4 people who influenced the mechanical era of computers/computing machines

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Hist. of Computing Timeline

Generations1. Mechanical (Before 1945)2. Vacuum Tubes (1945 – 1954)3. Transistors (1954 – 1963)4. Integrated Circuits (1963 - 1973)5. Personal Computers (1973 – ???)6. Parallel Computers, Networking

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Relays

Relays (electromagnetic switches) Faster than cranking gears Mechanical, could Jam

A BX

Y

A BX

Y

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Relays (2)Relays can be combined to create complex

logic circuitry (on/off, true/false)Z3 (1941), first relay calculator, built by

Konrad Zuse (German engineer)Programmed using punched tape

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Relays (3)The first computer bug”: moth stuck in a

relayMechanical parts, not very reliable,

alternative sought

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Vacuum TubesVacuum Tubes (Valves)

Invented 1906 Used in audio devices

(to amplify a signal) Expensive, large Used as switches Faster and more reliable than relays Produced heat and wore out

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Transistors

Transistors Invented by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at Bell

Labs (1948) Works as a switch Made from silicon (cheap

to produce from sand) Smaller, more reliable More energy efficient Breakthrough: Made computers more affordable!

A

B

C

A

B

C

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Integrated Circuits

Integrated Circuits (1958) Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments Simplest calculator requires several thousand

transistors Transistors joined on

silicon plates with metallic connectors

modern processor contains millions of transistors

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Innovators

Alan Turing (1912-1954) British mathematician,

cryptographer Theoretical computer (Turing

Machine) Tape to store data and instructions WWII Cryptography

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Innovators (2)Turing Test for Machine Intelligence

Q:

?

A:A:

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Innovators (3)

Howard Aiken (1900-1973) Large scale relay calculators (US)

Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV193919441958

23 dd+s72 words0 words

Paper Tape300ms

6000ms

194519481956

10 dd+s+e96 words0 words

Paper Tape200ms

1000ms

194819501956


4000 words4 ms

12 ms

195019521962


10 000 words1.2ms12ms

Design BeginsCompleteRetiredData WordSlow MemFast MemInstructions MemBasic Add TimeBasic Multiply Time

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Innovators (4)

John von Neumann (1903-1957) ENIAC (1946)

18,000 Vacuum Tubes30 tons5000 additions

per sec Von Neumann Architecture

for single processor computersMemory and processing unit are separate

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Personal Computers

Altair 8800 (1975) First PC Kit form Less than $500 Sold very well

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Personal Computers (2) No keyboard, monitor, permanent storage

provided Programmed by flicking switches on the front,

output through lights

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Personal Computers (3)

The Apple Computer (1976) Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs Met while working for HP Built and sold Blue Box (which could be used to

misuse the telephone system) Were found out

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Personal Computers (4) Built first prototype in Job’s garage Apple II: First pre-assembled PC (1977)

MonitorKeyboardGraphicsSound

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Personal Computers (5)

IBM PC and Compatibles Special IBM team to create affordable PC

(1981) Use parts from Original Equipment

Manufacturers (OEMs) IBM compatible computer IBM expected benefit from royalties and sales

of superior product IBM out-competed by cheaper computers built

on generic parts

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Personal Computers (6) William H. Gates III and Paul Allen

BASIC programming language compiler for Altair MicroSoft (1975) Contracted to write

software forIBM PC (1981)

MS DOS, Windows Richest in world

by mid 1990s (Gates), 7th richest (Allen)

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Famous quotes “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

Thomas J. Watson, Chairman IBM, 1943

“Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1½ tons.” Popular Mechanics, 1949

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, Chairman DEC, 1977

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Future?

Wireless computers“mobile computing”PDAs and Smart PhonesParallel Processing and Optical CircuitryQuantum Computers

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Moore’s Law Gordon Moore (1965) Co-founder of Intel At our rate of technological development, the

complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost will double in about 18 months.

The law has largely held the test of time to date

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Moore’s LawMoore’s Law first published in

"Cramming more components onto integrated circuits", Electronics Magazine 19 April 1965

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X x

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d

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Read the study bookPlease read module 3 of the Study BookFor more information,

read the corresponding chapter in the text “Foundation Computing” (if you have purchased a copy)

Surf the web – Google or Wikipedia are a good start

or ask us for help on the Bulletin Board!

You should now be ready to attempt the first part of Assignment 3!!!

Documents

History of Computing 1