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1st Generation - Vacuum Tubes
The first generation computers were huge, slow, expensive, and often undependable. The computers used thousands of vacuum tubes, which took up a lot of space and gave off a great deal of heat just like light bulbs do. They gave off so much heat that they had to be cooled by gigantic air conditioners. However even with these huge coolers, vacuum tubes still overheated regularly. It was time for something new. -
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Second Generation - Transistors
The transistor functions like a vacuum tube, in that it can be used to relay and switch electronic signals. The transistor was faster, more reliable, smaller, and much cheaper to build than a vacuum tube. One transistor replaced the equivalent of 40 vacuum tubes. -
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Third Generation - Integrated Circuits
Transistors were a tremendous breakthrough in advancing the computer. Millions of transistors (circuits) are compacted in a small space. The integrated circuit, or as it is sometimes referred to as semiconductor chip, packs a huge number of transistors onto a single wafer of silicon. -
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Fourth Generation - Microprocessors
The invention of the microprocessor (a single chip that could do all the processing of a full-scale computer). By putting millions of transistors onto one single chip more calculation and faster speeds could be reached by computers.
Intel invented a chip the size of a pencil eraser that could do all the computing and logic work of a computer. The microprocessor was made to be used in calculators, not computers. It led, however, to the invention of personal computers. -
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Fifth Generation - Artificial Intelligence
Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language.