Evolution of Computing: From Mechanical Origins to AI

History of Computers: The Mechanical Age

Initially, what could be called Generation 0 consisted of mechanical calculating machines. An evolution of these mechanical machines, which still exist today, includes the following components:

• Input Devices: Facilitate the necessary instructions for operations and data entry.
• Memory: Stores entered data and intermediate results of operations.
• Control Unit: Monitors the execution of operations in the proper sequence.
• Arithmetic-Logic Unit: Responsible for carrying out the operations for which the machine has been scheduled.
• Output Devices: Transmit the results of calculations externally.

Punched Cards

Herman Hollerith conceived punched cards to hold information of people surveyed and built a machine for census takers that could read and tabulate the information.

The Electronic Age of Computers

Mechanical computers posed certain problems, as working speed was limited to the speed of moving parts. Components of information transmission by mechanical means (gears, levers, etc.) were unreliable and unwieldy.

Generations of Computers

1st Generation (1946–1955)

Computers were based on electronic vacuum tubes. Their size was very large, and maintenance was complicated. Applications were primarily scientific and military. They used machine language for programming, and large programs sometimes took days to run. They had no operating system and used punched cards to store information.

2nd Generation (1955–1964)

This era saw the replacement of the vacuum tube with the transistor. These were composed of silicon, with a base of a few tenths of a millimeter and a height of about 150 microns. This innovation was a substantial reduction in size, which increased computer power, speed, and reliability.

3rd Generation (1964–1974)

Computers based on integrated circuits revolutionized the world of informatics. The first integrated circuit appeared in 1958, with commercial release starting in 1961. Integrated circuits are components where electronic elements (resistors, transistors, diodes, and capacitors) are encapsulated in one piece and interconnected. This led to the miniaturization of computers and a remarkable increase in speed.

4th Generation (1974–1983)

Computers appeared with the entire CPU on a single integrated circuit called a microprocessor. The protagonists of this stage were personal computers. Floppy disks began to be used for storage.

5th Generation (1983–Present)

Japan launched a national program for 5th-generation computers with the explicit objective of producing machines able to communicate in everyday language, rather than specialized control languages or code.