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First computer. ENIAC
First electronic computers used vacuum tubes, and they were huge and complex. The first general purpose electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer).
It took up 167 square meters, weighed 27 tons, and consuming 150 kilowatts of power. -
Second computer. IBM 1401
It started replacing vacuum tubes in computer design. Transistor computers consumed far less power, produced far less heat, and were much smaller compared to the first generation, albeit still big by today’s standards. -
Third computer. IBM System/360
The invention of mircochips. Making circuits out of single pieces of silicon, which is a semiconductor, allowed them to be much smaller and more practical to produce.They were much smaller, and cheaper than first and second computers, also known as mainframes. -
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
ossibly the most significant of those shifts was the invention of the graphical user interface, and the mouse as a way of controlling it. Doug Engelbart and his team at the Stanford Research Lab developed the first mouse, and a graphical user interface, demonstrated in 1968. They were just a few years short of the beginning of the personal computer revolution sparked by the Altair 8800 so their idea didn’t take hold. -
Forth computer. Altair 8800
First microchips-based central processing units consisted of multiple microchips for different CPU components. The drive for ever greater integration and miniaturization led towards single-chip CPUs, where all of the necessary CPU components were put onto a single microchip, called a microprocessor. The first single-chip CPU, or a microprocessor, was Intel 4004. -
Second Microcomputers.Commodore PET2001
As microcomputers continued to evolve they became easier to operate, making them accessible to a larger audience. They typically came with a keyboard and a monitor, or could be easily connected to a TV, and they supported visual representation of text and numbers on the screen. Famous early examples of such computers include Commodore PET, Apple II, and in the 80s the IBM PC. -
Portable Computers
The first laptop that was commercialized was Osborne 1 in 1981, with a small 5″ CRT monitor and a keyboard that sits inside of the lid when closed. Later portable computers included Bondwell 2 released in 1985, also running CP/M, which was among the first with a hinge-mounted LCD display. Compaq Portable was the first IBM PC compatible computer, and it ran MS-DOS, but was less portable than Bondwell 2.
