History of computing hardware: Difference between revisions

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{{History of computing}}

The history of computing hardware spans the developments from early devices used for simple calculations to today’stoday's complex computers, encompassing advancements in both analog and digital technology.

The first aids to computation were purely mechanical devices which required the operator to set up the initial values of an elementary [[arithmetic]] operation, then manipulate the device to obtain the result. In later stages, computing devices began representing numbers in continuous forms, such as by distance along a scale, rotation of a shaft, or a specific voltage level. Numbers could also be represented in the form of digits, automatically manipulated by a mechanism. Although this approach generally required more complex mechanisms, it greatly increased the precision of results. The development of transistor technology, followed by the invention of integrated circuit chips, led to revolutionary breakthroughs. Transistor-based computers and, later, integrated circuit-based computers enabled digital systems to gradually replace analog systems, increasing both efficiency and processing power. [[MOSFET|Metal-oxide-semiconductor]] (MOS) [[large-scale integration]] (LSI) then enabled [[semiconductor memory]] and the [[microprocessor]], leading to another key breakthrough, the miniaturized [[personal computer]] (PC), in the 1970s. The cost of computers gradually became so low that personal computers by the 1990s, and then [[mobile computing|mobile computers]] ([[smartphone]]s and [[tablet computer|tablets]]) in the 2000s, became ubiquitous.

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The '''Industrial Revolution''' (late 18th to early 19th century) had a significant impact on the evolution of computing hardware, as the era's rapid advancements in machinery and manufacturing laid the groundwork for mechanized and automated computing. Industrial needs for precise, large-scale calculations—especially in fields such as navigation, engineering, and finance—prompted innovations in both design and function, setting the stage for devices like '''Charles Babbage's Difference Engine''' (1822).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139103671 |title=Passages from the Life of a Philosopher |date=2011-10-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139103671 |isbn=978-1-108-03788-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511696374 |title=On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures |date=2010-03-04 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511696374 |isbn=978-1-108-00910-2}}</ref> This mechanical device was intended to automate the calculation of polynomial functions and represented one of the earliest applications of computational logic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hutton |first=D.M. |date=2002-08-01 |title=The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/k.2002.06731fae.009 |journal=Kybernetes |volume=31 |issue=6 |doi=10.1108/k.2002.06731fae.009 |issn=0368-492X}}</ref>

Babbage, often regarded as the "father of the computer," envisioned a fully mechanical system of gears and wheels, powered by steam, capable of handling complex calculations that previously required intensive manual labor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tropp |first=Henry S. |date=December 1975 |title=<i>''The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers</i>''. Brian Randell |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/351520 |journal=Isis |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=572–573 |doi=10.1086/351520 |issn=0021-1753}}</ref> His Difference Engine, designed to aid navigational calculations, ultimately led him to conceive the '''Analytical Engine''' in 1833.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=W. |first1=J. W. |last2=Hyman |first2=Anthony |date=April 1986 |title=Charles Babbage, Pioneer of the Computer. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2008013 |journal=Mathematics of Computation |volume=46 |issue=174 |pages=759 |doi=10.2307/2008013 |jstor=2008013 |issn=0025-5718}}</ref> This concept, far more advanced than his Difference Engine, included an '''arithmetic logic unit''', control flow through conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Campbell-Kelly |first1=Martin |last2=Aspray |first2=William |last3=Ensmenger |first3=Nathan |last4=Yost |first4=Jeffrey R. |date=2018-04-20 |title=Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429495373 |doi=10.4324/9780429495373|isbn=978-0-429-49537-3 }}</ref> Babbage’sBabbage's plans made his Analytical Engine the first general-purpose design that could be described as '''Turing-complete''' in modern terms.<ref>{{Citation |last=Turing |first=Alan |title=Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950) |date=2004-09-09 |work=The Essential Turing |pages=433–464 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198250791.003.0017 |access-date=2024-10-30 |publisher=Oxford University PressOxford |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198250791.003.0017 |isbn=978-0-19-825079-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Martin |date=2018-02-28 |title=the Universal Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781315144726 |doi=10.1201/9781315144726|isbn=978-1-315-14472-6 }}</ref>

The '''Analytical Engine''' was programmed using '''punched cards''', a method adapted from the Jacquard loom invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, which controlled textile patterns with a sequence of punched cards.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=d'Ucel |first1=Jeanne |last2=Dib |first2=Mohammed |date=1958 |title=Le métier à tisser |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40098349 |journal=Books Abroad |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=278 |doi=10.2307/40098349 |jstor=40098349 |issn=0006-7431}}</ref> These cards became foundational in later computing systems as well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heide |first=Lars |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.3454 |title=Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion, 1880–1945 |date=2009 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |doi=10.1353/book.3454 |isbn=978-0-8018-9143-4}}</ref> Babbage’sBabbage's machine would have featured multiple output devices, including a printer, a curve plotter, and even a bell, demonstrating his ambition for versatile computational applications beyond simple arithmetic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bromley |first=A.G. |date=1998 |title=Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, 1838 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/85.728228 |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=29–45 |doi=10.1109/85.728228 |issn=1058-6180}}</ref>

'''Ada Lovelace''' expanded on Babbage’sBabbage's vision by conceptualizing algorithms that could be executed by his machine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toole |first=Betty Alexandra |date=March 1991 |title=Ada, an analyst and a metaphysician |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/122028.122031 |journal=ACM SIGAda Ada Letters |volume=XI |issue=2 |pages=60–71 |doi=10.1145/122028.122031 |issn=1094-3641}}</ref> Her notes on the Analytical Engine, written in the 1840s, are now recognized as the earliest examples of computer programming.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Howard |first1=Emily |last2=De Roure |first2=David |date=2015 |title=Turning numbers into notes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2867731.2867746 |journal=Ada Lovelace Symposium 2015- Celebrating 200 Years of a Computer Visionary on - Ada Lovelace Symposium '15 |___location=New York, New York, USA |publisher=ACM Press |pages=13 |doi=10.1145/2867731.2867746|isbn=978-1-4503-4150-9 }}</ref> Lovelace saw potential in computers to go beyond numerical calculations, predicting that they might one day generate complex musical compositions or perform tasks like language processing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haugtvedt |first1=Erica |last2=Abata |first2=Duane |title=Ada Lovelace: First Computer Programmer and Hacker? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/1-2--36646 |journal=2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings |date=2021 |publisher=ASEE Conferences |doi=10.18260/1-2--36646}}</ref>

Though Babbage’sBabbage's designs were never fully realized due to technical and financial challenges, they influenced a range of subsequent developments in computing hardware. Notably, in the 1890s, '''Herman Hollerith''' adapted the idea of punched cards for automated data processing, which was utilized in the U.S. Census and sped up data tabulation significantly, bridging industrial machinery with data processing.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Blodgett |first=John H. |title=Herman Hollerith, data processing pioneer |date=1968 |publisher=Drexel University Libraries |doi=10.17918/00004750 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17918/00004750}}</ref>

The Industrial Revolution’sRevolution's advancements in mechanical systems demonstrated the potential for machines to conduct complex calculations, influencing engineers like '''Leonardo Torres Quevedo''' and '''Vannevar Bush''' in the early 20th century. Torres Quevedo designed an electromechanical machine with floating-point arithmetic,<ref>{{Citation |last=Torres y Quevedo |first=Leonardo |title=Essays on Automatics |date=1982 |work=The Origins of Digital Computers |pages=89–107 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |access-date=2024-10-30 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |isbn=978-3-642-61814-7}}</ref>, while Bush’sBush's later work explored electronic digital computing.<ref>{{Citation |title=6 Vannevar Bush, from "As We May Think" (1945) |date=2021 |work=Information |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7312/hayo18620-032 |access-date=2024-10-30 |publisher=Columbia University Press |doi=10.7312/hayo18620-032 |isbn=978-0-231-54654-6}}</ref> By the mid-20th century, these innovations paved the way for the first fully electronic computers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haigh |first1=Thomas |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |title=A New History of Modern Computing |last2=Ceruzzi |first2=Paul E. |date=2021-09-14 |publisher=The MIT Press |doi=10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-36648-9}}</ref>

==Analog computers==

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===EDVAC===

[[File:Edvac.jpg|right|thumb|upright|EDVAC]]

[[ENIAC]] inventors [[John Mauchly]] and [[J. Presper Eckert]] proposed the [[EDVAC]]'s construction in August 1944, and design work for the EDVAC commenced at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]'s [[Moore School of Electrical Engineering]], before the [[ENIAC]] was fully operational. The design implemented a number of important architectural and logical improvements conceived during the ENIAC's construction, and a high-speed [[Delay-line memory|serial-access memory]].<ref name="Wilkes>{{cite" book | last=Wilkes | first=M. V. | author-link=Maurice Vincent Wilkes | title=Automatic Digital Computers | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | year=1956 | ___location=New York | pages=305 pages | id=QA76.W5 1956 }}</ref> However, Eckert and Mauchly left the project and its construction floundered.

It was finally delivered to the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s [[Ballistics Research Laboratory]] at the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] in August 1949, but due to a number of problems, the computer only began operation in 1951, and then only on a limited basis.

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In October 1947, the directors of [[J. Lyons and Co.|J. Lyons & Company]], a British catering company famous for its teashops but with strong interests in new office management techniques, decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. The [[LEO computer|LEO I]] computer (Lyons Electronic Office) became operational in April 1951<ref>{{cite web | last = Lavington | first = Simon | title = A brief history of British computers: the first 25 years (1948–1973). | publisher = [[British Computer Society]] | url = http://www.bcs.org/server.php? | access-date = 10 January 2010 | archive-date = 2010-07-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100705050757/http://www.bcs.org/server.php | url-status = dead }}</ref> and ran the world's first regular routine office computer [[job (software)|job]]. On 17 November 1951, the J. Lyons company began weekly operation of a bakery valuations job on the LEO – the first business [[:Category:Application software|application]] to go live on a stored-program computer.{{efn|{{harvnb|Martin|2008|p=24}} notes that [[David Caminer]] (1915–2008) served as the first corporate electronic systems analyst, for this first business computer system. LEO would calculate an employee's pay, handle billing, and other office automation tasks.}}

In June 1951, the [[UNIVAC I]] (Universal Automatic Computer) was delivered to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]]. Remington Rand eventually sold 46 machines at more than {{US$|1 million}} each (${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|1000000|1951|r=-4}}|0}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}).{{Inflation-fn|US}} UNIVAC was the first "mass -produced" computer. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed {{val|125|ul=kW}} of power. Its primary storage was [[Sequential access|serial-access]] mercury delay lines capable of storing 1,000 words of 11 decimal digits plus sign (72-bit words).

In 1952, [[Groupe Bull|Compagnie des Machines Bull]] released the [[Bull Gamma 3|Gamma 3]] computer, which became a large success in Europe, eventually selling more than 1,200 units, and the first computer produced in more than 1,000 units.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Leclerc |first=Bruno |date=January 1990 |title=From Gamma 2 to Gamma E.T.: The Birth of Electronic Computing at Bull |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4637512 |journal=Annals of the History of Computing |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=5–22 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.1990.10010 |s2cid=15227017 |issn=0164-1239}}</ref> The Gamma 3 had innovative features for its time including a dual-mode, software switchable, BCD and binary ALU, as well as a hardwired floating-point library for scientific computing.<ref name=":1" /> In its E.T configuration, the Gamma 3 drum memory could fit about 50,000 instructions for a capacity of 16,384 words (around 100&nbsp;kB), a large amount for the time.<ref name=":1" />