Although the Colossus was an advance in the development of the computer it was not general-purpose, it was designed for one purpose only, to decipher code.
3. The Developments of Computer Hardware
3.1 Transistors
One factor that had a great influence on the advancement of computing machines was the transistor. It took the place of the much larger vacuum tubes that were being used during the late 1940’s, and ever since their introduction, electronic equipment has been constantly reducing in size. It was even stated by Gordon Moore in 1965 that the amount of transistors inside a computer would, approximately, double every couple of years.
By 1956 the transistor was installed and in use within the computer. It led to a new generation of computers that were quicker, smaller, more dependable and more efficient than those computers produced before the transistor was brought in. But computers at this time however, were still extremely expensive and could only be afforded by big businesses.
3.2 Central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU) is also known as a microprocessor, it is the part of a computer that interprets and carries out instructions.
In 1945 John Von Neumann designed the Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) it had a memory that could hold a stored program and data. The main reason that this structure was possible was due to the central processing unit, which gave the potential for all computer functions to be processed through a single point.
Launched in 1971 the Intel 4004 was the first microprocessor. It wasn’t particularly powerful and could only add and subtract. Before the introduction of the Intel 4004, computers were constructed from either a set of chips or simply from a set of components. The 4004 was a part of one of the first portable electronic calculators produced.
The first home computer CPU was the Intel 8080; it was effectively an 8-bit computer on a chip and was begun in 1974. But the first microprocessor to have a large impact in the commercial sense was the Intel 8088, which was marketed in 1979. It was a part of the IBM PC that was available around 1982. Since the Intel 8088, every one of the Intel’s up to and including the Pentium 4, is based on the design of the Intel 8088. The only main difference being that the Pentium 4 can process any piece of code that the Intel 8088 could around 5000 times quicker.
3.3 Integrated Circuits
One of the main reasons that the IC was built was, although transistors were a much better alternative to the previously used vacuum tubes, the heat they produced could quite often damage the components inside the computer.
To solve this problem the quartz rock was developed by an engineer named Jack Kilby in 1958. This IC had three electronic parts on one small silicon disc. This disc was made of quartz, hence the name the quartz rock.
The 4004 was what originally took the idea of the integrated circuit to the next stage by locating all the main parts of a computer (CPU, memory, and input and output controls) onto a small chip. This made it possible for a microprocessor to be made and then programmed for several different uses, whereas before it had to be made for one specific task. And so it was now possible for people to have computers in their own homes and not just in business or by the government.
With time scientists were able to put more components onto a chip called a semiconductor. This led to the computer becoming ever increasingly smaller.
This miniaturisation, known as very large scale integration (VLSI) and Ultra-large scale integration (ULSI), was the leading factor to reducing the size and cost of computers. It also allowed the power to be greater, and efficiency and dependability improved.
By the mid-1970's the manufacturers of these computers were looking to make computers for personal use in the home. These minicomputers were made with user-friendly software packages, the most used being word processing and spreadsheet programs. In the early 1980's, it eventually led to and like the Atari 2600 which created a larger interest for personal computers.
4. Current Technology
Computers continued to decrease in size, making it possible to not only create desktop computers, but also laptops and even palmtops.
One of the most predominant features of today’s computers is the operating systems. Although there are many different brands each having their own individual style, most have a graphical user interface that controls them, using a mouse to access pop up menus. This setup makes it possible for the user of the computer to have a very limited technical understanding of computers yet still be able to use them confidently, but more importantly, competently.
A vast amount of the development of computer technology today is now geared towards improving the ability for computers to communicate data and information, i.e. networking and the internet.
Within a network there is the capability to share information, software and memory space and also to communicate with other computers that are part of the network. Most networks are connected using direct wiring, usually over a relatively short area (i.e. a Local Area Network - LAN), telephone lines (Wide Area Network - WAN) or by using radio waves.
The largest network in the world is the internet; it links computers all over the world into one huge network of information. The Internet is largely used for communicating, one of the most popular methods being e-mail.
The only way for the internet to work is through a set of protocols and procedures. These are a set of rules which govern the way in which two or more computers interact with each other. An example of this is Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) which is probably the most popular network protocol that is used.
Computer technology has advanced so much that it can now accept spoken commands and imitate the reasoning of people.
One area of development that is a big step in the progress of computers is parallel processing which replaces the work of von Neumann and his solitary CPU design with a system that can take advantage of the processing power of two or more CPU’s at once.
Another area of progress is the , which lets electricity flow around a circuit with only a small amount of resistance if any at all. This significantly betters the speed of information transfer. Examples where these developments are used today are expert systems such as those used by the military or by doctors for diagnosis.
5. Possible Developments for the Future
Looking at the way that the computer market is progressing at the moment, it is fairly safe to assume that computers are here to stay. And with the speed that the technology for them is developing there will soon be a new generation of computers available that will be even more advanced than perhaps was ever thought possible.
One of the most obvious areas that computers will continue to develop is miniaturisation, the next stage being the development of nanotechnology. This is the designing of devices that are only a nanometre in size. This will give rise to yet greater processing speeds, along with the possible application of nanotechnology being used within a biological subject, i.e. using machines inside humans to aid doctors.
Another area of progress may be in the field of expert systems. Although they already exist toady, expert systems are not in wide spread use. With time this will change as, due to the developments of newer technology, they will become more affordable and sophisticated.
A final possible future development will be the creation of a fully functioning, independent Artificial Intelligence (AI). Machines may be designed to have the ability to not just be programmed through code but to learn form experience, and begin to reason like a human being. Even though this may be in the distant future, it can present areas of worry. For example if the AI can learn things that can help society, it in theory will also have the capacity to learn things that can be destructive to society as well.
What ever is in store for computer technology in the future, one thing is for sure, it will have a huge impact on the world and the people in it.
6. References
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(S Sadagopan 2002 ‘The Promise Of Nanotechnology’)
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