History of Computer Development: 30 Questions

Answer 1

Here are 30 questions and answers about the history of computers:

** I. Early development (Questions 1 - 10)**

1. What was the name of the world's first digital computer? When and where was it born?
- The world's first electronic digital computer was the ENIAC, which was born on February 14, 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania.
2. What was the main component of the first computer, ENIAC? What was it mainly used for?
- It was mainly composed of a large number of electron tubes and was mainly used for scientific calculations.
3. What were the characteristics of computers in the era of vacuum tube computers?
- It used vacuum tubes as its components. It was a huge object. It used 18000 vacuum tubes, occupying an area of 150 square meters and weighing 30 tons. It consumed about 150 Kilowatts of power and could perform 5000 operations per second. Due to the large volume of the vacuum tubes, the high power consumption, and the high heat, the working time could not be too long. It used machine language and did not have system software. It used drums and small magnetic cores as storage devices, which had limited storage space. The input/output device was simple, using punched paper tape or cards.
4. What stages did the early computers go through from simple computing tools to being programmed?
- Early computers went from pure manual tools (e.g. knotted rope, abacus, slide ruler) developed into manual mechanical tools (For example, the first mechanical calculator built by the German scientist Schickard in 1623, the roller adder built by the French mathematician Pascal in 1642, and the step calculator built by the German mathematician Leibniz in 1673), and then the idea of programming (For example, from 1725 to 1801, the French textile worker Luxiu and his partners improved the punched paper tape and punched cards. In 1801, the Frenchman Jacquard invented the Jacquard loom. In 1890, the American mathematician Herman Holley developed a sorting machine that used punched cards to store data.)
5. What was the main software used in the first vacuum tube computer?
- It was mainly machine language, which was a bit of code that could be directly recognized by computer hardware without any translation or conversion process.
6. In the era of vacuum tube computers, what were the storage devices for computers?
- Using a magnetic drum and a small magnetic core as a storage device, the storage space was limited.
7. What were the important inventions of the early mechanical calculator?
- In 1623, the German scientist Schickard built the world's first known mechanical calculator; in 1642, the French mathematician Pascal invented the roller adder; in 1673, the German mathematician Leibniz created the step calculator that could perform four operations.
8. In the history of computer science, who was one of the founders of modern computer science? What were his main contributions?
- He was one of the founders of modern computer science. He proposed the concept of stored programs and laid the foundation of modern computer architecture, which is still used by computers today. He proposed quantum measurement theory and quantum logic in the field of quantum mechanics. He was one of the founders of game theory and founded the research field of cooperative games and published the groundbreaking paper Game Theory and economic behavior. He applied the principles of mathematics and logic to computer science and provided a solid theoretical foundation for the development of computer science.
9. From the early days of pure manual calculation tools to the emergence of the vacuum tube computer, how did the computing power change?
- Manual calculation tools (such as abacuses) were slow and relied on manual operation, so their computing power was limited. The vacuum tube computer could perform 5000 calculations per second. Although the computing speed was not high in modern times, it was a huge leap compared to pure manual computing tools. It could handle more complex scientific computing tasks, but it had problems such as large size, high energy consumption, and easy heat generation.
10. What was the significance of the inventions of the late 19th century to the development of modern computers?
- In 1890, the American mathematician Herman Holler developed a sorting machine that used punched cards to store data. This method of using punched cards to store data was an early exploration of data storage and processing, which laid a certain foundation for the later development of computer data processing and storage. It was an important transition from simple computing tools to the development of modern computer data processing functions.

** II. Crystalline computers and their future developments (Questions 11 - 20)**

11. What were the main components of the second-generation computer? What are the advantages compared to the vacuum tube computer?
- The second-generation of transistor-based computers used the transistor-based device. Compared to the vacuum tube computer, the crystal was smaller in size, lighter in weight, longer in life, higher in efficiency, less in heat generation, and lower in power consumption. Its overall performance was better than that of the first generation. Its computing speed was greatly improved, and its weight and size were significantly reduced.
12. What programming languages were mainly used in the era of transistor-based computers?
- It mainly uses high-level computer languages such as Fortrane, Cogol, Algo160, etc.
13. What are the applications of the crystalline computer?
- While doing scientific calculations, it also began to be applied in data processing and process control.
14. What were the main components of the third-generation integrated circuit computer? How would its appearance affect computer performance?
- The main component of the third-generation integrated circuit computer was the integrated circuit. Its appearance further reduced the size of the computer and reduced the power consumption during calculation.
15. Is there any new development in software for integrated circuit computers?
- In terms of software, they began to use the standardized programming language and the human-computer conversational Basic language, and the application field was further expanded.
16. What were the features of the fourth-generation large-scale integrated circuit computer software system?
- The software system engineering, theorialization, programming automaton, software for the network operating system and object-oriented programming, the application of microcomputers further expanded, almost all fields have its shadow.
17. What were the research fields of the fifth-generation artificial intelligence computer?
- The research fields of the fifth-generation computer generally included artificial intelligence, system architecture, software engineering, support equipment, and the impact on society.
18. What abilities would the fifth generation artificial intelligence computer have?
- It would have a learning mechanism that could simulate the work of the human visual nerve control system. It would have the ability to formally reason, associate, learn, and explain. It would be able to help people make judgments, make decisions, explore unknown areas, and obtain new knowledge.
19. How did the size and power consumption of a computer change from a crystal computer to a large-scale integrated circuit computer?
- From the transistor-based computer to the large-scale integrated circuit computer, the size of the computer kept shrinking and the power consumption kept decreasing. Compared to the vacuum tube computer, the size and power consumption of the crystal computer had been improved, while the integrated circuit computer had further reduced the size and power consumption. The improvement of the large-scale integrated circuit computer in this aspect was even more significant.
20. In the process of computer development, how did the application fields of each generation of computers gradually expand?
- The first generation of vacuum tube computers was mainly used for scientific computing, the second generation of transistor-based computers expanded to data processing and process control on the basis of scientific computing, the third generation of integrated circuit computers further expanded their application fields, the fourth generation of large-scale integrated circuit computers and microcomputers were used in almost all fields. The fifth-generation artificial intelligence computer would play a role in more fields that required intelligent judgment and decision-making. With the continuous improvement of computer power, its application field would gradually expand from simple scientific computing to life, production, scientific research, social management, and other aspects.

** 3. Certain period or product related (Questions 21 - 30)**

21. What were the characteristics of the 2nd generation processor?
- The main frequency of the first processor of the 2nd generation of the Pentium2 was 233 megaHertz, and the addition of the new instruction class made its performance extraordinary. Intel integrated the level 2 buffer directly into the circuit board of the processor, which greatly improved its performance but made it more expensive to manufacture. It adopted the advanced slot1 architecture, followed by a variety of models such as 266, 300, 333, 366, 450, etc. It adopted the 686 architecture design of the high-energy gallop, separating the high-speed memory into the processor's printed circuit board to reduce manufacturing costs.
22. What's so special about the Barcelon266 processor?
- The Barcelon266 was an overclock artifact. It easily overclocks 532 megaHertz, while the ACE version could stably overclock 600 megaHertz.
23. What were the characteristics of the Stellar300A processor?
- The overclock performance of the Stellar300A was far less than 266, but it had a level 2 buffer, which was integrated into the core class. Although it only had a quarter of the buffer of the Pentium2 version, the buffer's performance was also improved when overclock. Moreover, the low price and the existence of a large number of stable overclocks of 450 made it a god of the generation.
24. What's the situation with the AMD7 Athlon processor?
- The K7 Athlon processor from AMDwas an imitation of Intel. Since Intel did not give permission to use the slot1 architecture, it used the slot A architecture. Other than the logo, it was almost a replica of the two generations of the Pentium. The high heat and poor compatibility made the slot A version of the K7 quickly eliminated from the market.
25. What are the models and features of the 3rd generation processor?
- The main frequency of the Pentium3G started from 400, and 450 was more common in the market. It had been using the slot1 structure to more than 1G. When the main channel of the Pentium3G was 500 trillion, the Pentium3eb high external frequency copper mine was born, and the buffer was fully integrated into the processor, greatly improving the core performance. The 600-bit and 1.13-bit versions of the Ben3 were available in both slot1 and 370 versions. The 1130-bit version of the Ben3 was recalled to the market by Intel due to a design flaw. It was extremely rare. The Ben3 with the 370 architecture had excellent performance and was very useful even without overclock. However, the Ben3 core was exposed, and there was a chance that the core would be damaged if a cooler was installed.
26. What was so special about the Japanese computer in 1964 (from the perspective of the existing information on the line)?
- From the available information, it was known that the 1964 Japanese computer circuit was incredible, but there was no more detailed information to show its uniqueness.
27. What were the contributions of different countries in the early stages of computer development?
- The United States had made many contributions. For example, the University of Pennsylvania had invented the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC. The Americans, Mokley and Eckart, invented the ENIAC. The American mathematician, Herman Holley, developed a sorting machine that used punched cards to store data. The German scientist, Schickard, built the first mechanical calculator. The German mathematician, Leibniz, created the step calculator that could perform four operations. The French mathematician Pascal invented the roller adder, the French textile worker Luxiu and his partners contributed to the idea of programming, the French Jacquard invented the loom, and the Japanese computer circuit in 1964 was unique (although the current information was limited). Different countries have made their own contributions in theoretical research, inventions, and technological improvements at different stages of computer development.
28. From the birth of computers to the large-scale integrated circuit computer stage, what were the main changes in the hardware system?
- In terms of hardware systems, computers evolved from using vacuum tubes as the main components (large size, high power consumption, easy heat generation, etc.) to transistors (small size, light weight, etc.), then to integrated circuits (further reducing the size and power consumption), and finally to large-scale integrated circuits (smaller size, higher performance). Along with the continuous improvement of the computer's size, power consumption, computing speed, stability, and other aspects of hardware performance.
29. In the development of computers, how did the development of software systems match the development of hardware systems?
- In the period of the vacuum tube computer, due to the limited hardware performance, the software was mainly machine language, and there was no system software. With the improvement of the hardware performance of the crystal computer, high-level languages such as Fortrane, Cogol, Algo160, etc. began to be used. In the period of the integrated circuit computer, there was a standardized programming language and Basic language. Large-scale integrated circuit computer software system engineering, theorization, programming automaton, the emergence of network operating system and object-oriented programming, the development of software has always relied on the improvement of hardware performance to continuously expand functions and improve efficiency, in order to better use hardware resources and meet the growing application needs.
30. What was the impact of the iconic products or technological changes in the development of computers on the popularity of computers?
- For example, the birth of the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC, was the symbolic starting point of computer development. Although it was huge, expensive, and complicated to operate, it opened the door to the computer era. The improvements in performance, volume, and power consumption of the transistor-based computer made it possible for computers to be used in more fields, laying the foundation for the initial popularity of computers. Integrated circuit computers further reduced their size, power consumption, and cost, pushing computers into a wider range of applications. The development of large-scale integrated circuit computers made microcomputers widely used, and computers began to enter people's daily life, office, and other fields. The development of the fifth generation artificial intelligence computer would further promote the popularity and application of computers in more advanced fields such as intelligent decision-making and knowledge acquisition. Every iconic product or technological change lowered the threshold of computer use or expanded the scope of application of computers, thus promoting the popularity of computers.

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