FIRST GENERATION: 1946-1959 is the period of first generation computer. J.P.Eckert and J.W.Mauchy invented the first successful electronic computer called ENIAC, ENIAC stands for “Electronic Numeric Integrated And Calculator”. Few Examples are:ENIAC, IBM-701, IBM-650. These were very big in size, weight was about 30 tones. These computers were based on vacuum tubes. It could store only a small amount of information due to the presence of magnetic drums. Limited programming capabilities and punch cards were used to take inputs.
SECOND GENERATION: 1959-1965 is the period of second-generation computer. Second generation computers were based on Transistor instead of vacuum tubes. Few Examples are: IBM 7094, Assembly language and punch cards were used for input.
THIRD GENERATION: 1965-1971 is the period of third generation computer. These computers were based on Integrated circuits. IC was invented by Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby In 1958-1959. IC was a single component containing number of transistors. Few Examples are: IBM 360, IBM 370. Instead of punch cards, mouse and keyboard are used for input. They used an operating system for better resource management and used the concept of time-sharing and multiple programming. These computers reduce the computational time from microseconds to nanoseconds.
FOURTH GENERATION: 1971-1980 is the period of fourth generation computer. This technology is based on Microprocessor. Graphics User Interface (GUI) technology was exploited to offer more comfort to users. Few Examples are: IBM 4341
FIFTH GENERATION: The period of the fifth generation in 1980-onwards. This generation is based on artificial intelligence. The aim of the fifth generation is to make a device which could respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization. This generation is based on ULSI(Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having ten million electronic component. Few Examples are:Desktop,Laptop, NoteBook, UltraBook.
