Hardware Technology (1) 
                                Topics
                              Introduction
    The Educational Manager: Role and Managerial Challenges
                        Information Systems Concepts

  Development of Information Systems
Database Management Systems (DBMS)
Software Technology
Telecommunications & Networking
Law and Ethics
Case Studies
Evolution of the Computer
  - first generation
   - second generation
   - third generation
   - fourth generation

Types of Computers
   - mainframes
   - supercomputers
   - personal computers

Computer Systems
   - input 
   - output


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Evolution of the Computer
It has been suggested that the world's first computer is the "abacus" used by the Chinese, but the first electronic computer was completed in 1946. The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) which was built by Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr., at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. It was composed of 18,000 vacuum tubes, occupied 15,000 square feet of floor space and weighed more than 30 tons. Its performance was impressive for its day - the ENIAC could perform 5000 additons or 500 multiplications per minute.                                         
First Generation Computers
1946-1959 - use of vacuum tubes
1954 - introduction of IBM 650

Second Generation Computers
Invention of the transistor which were smaller, more reliable and less expernsive and gave off less heat than vacuum tubes. IBM's popular 7000 series of large-scale computers

Third Generation Computers
Introduction of the integrated circuit which packed in many transistors.
April, 1964 - IBM System/360 was introduced with larger and upgradable memory using the IBM OS; an operating system to control the actions of the computer.

Fourth Generation Computers
Not sure when the the fourth generation began but we are in it. Notable is the increase in memory size and processing speed. 
1971 introduction of the first microprocessor by Intel Corporation, and the rest is history!. (see Table)
Chip       Introduction   No. of          Speed
                  date         transistors

4004                    1971                    2,300 [0.06 MIPS]
8008                    1972                    3,500
8080                    1974                    6,000 [0.6 MIPS]
8086                    1978                  29,000
8088                    1979                  29,000
i286                     1982                134,000  [1 MIPS]
i386                     1985                275,000  [5 MIPS]
i486                     1989             1,200,000  [20 MIPS]     
Pentium              1993             3,100,000  [100 MIPS]
Pentium Pro       1995             5,500,000  
Pentium II          1997             7,500,000  [266 MIPS]*
Pentium III         1999             9,500,000 [500 MIPS]*
Pentium 4           2000           12,000,000 [1500 MIPS]*

MIPS - millions of instructions or operations per 
              second
* For Pentium II, III & 4 - megaHertz (millions of 
                                           cycles per second)
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Types of Computers
Generally speaking, the differences between the types of computers are defined by a combination of cost, computing power and purpose for which a machine is built. The following are the types of computers identified and their differences are at times fuzzy:
= Microcomputers
= Minicomputer / Midrange systems
= Mainframes
= Supercomputers

1) Microcomputers
Micocomputers are called personal computers, micros or simply PCs and cost between RM2500 to RM6000. 

2) Minicomputer
3) Mainframes
4) Supercomputers


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The ENIAC, University of Pennsylvania
Kilobyte      = 1000 bytes (1 thousand)
Megabyte    = 1,000,000 bytes (1 million)
Gigabyte     = 1,000,000,000 (1 billion)
Terabyte      = One trillion bytes
References:
History of the Apple Computer
Select a computer and examine the features and specifications. Compare to the computers available today.
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