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Between the years 1642 and 1644 the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal invented a machine that could do simple mathematical operations -
It was invented in 1671 and it is a more advanced version of the Pascaline. It is refered to as the first true four-function calculator and it's creator was Gottfreid Leibniz -
This was the first machine build with the idea of storage and programming in mind. It's creator was Joseph Marie. -
The difference engine was a machine capable doing advanced mathematical operations created by Charles Babbage -
This machine shares numerous similarities with modern computers, as it consisted of four components that are the essential parts in every computer today: the mill (corresponding to a modern central processing unit [CPU]), the store (memory), the reader, and the printer (the modern input and output devices). It was also created by Babbage 14 years after they had created the Difference Engine -
Hemrna Hollerith, an american businessman, inventor and statistian designed this machine. It could automaticall sort data on punched cards as well as reading and tally. It's a predecessor of the modern computers. -
The Mark I was a huge electromechanical protocomputer build in 1930 in the Harvard University with Howard Aiken acting as the director of the project. Over the next few years more advanced version of The Mark (Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV) were created, also developed by Aiken.
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It was created by Konard Zuse to act as a general purpose mechanic computer
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In 1939 the ABC system was designed with the single purpose of solving linear equation systems. Furthermore, it was also the first electically encoded computer -
It was created by Tommy Flowers in England. It was the first programmable electronic digital computer, extensively used for cryptanalysis by british codebreakers.
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Created in 1946 by John Mauchly it was the first general-purpose electronic computer. -
Created in 1950 it was designed based on von Neumman's concept. Since then most modern compurers are build based on Neumman's design -
One of the main attributes of the first generation of computers were the immense expenses behind their creations, making them available only towards bigger companies and organizations. Due to this, their use remained strictly proffesional.
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The vaccum cubes the first generation used to have were replaced with transistors. This one change reduced their size as well as the cost of their production so much that they became affordable for smaller corporations.
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Characterized mainly by the invention of circuits and chips. This reduced the size and cost of computers even further. The processing power of computers was constantly improved, doubling about every other year. The software industry was born with the creation of the first software packages and "minicomputers"
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It was the first desktop computer that is often referred to as "the spark" which started the microcomputer revolution. -
Significant advancements in the electronics indusrty were made allowing entire subsystems to fit inside one single curcuit. In the meantime computer networks were emerging
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Characterized by immesnse advancements, such as miniaturization of devices, secondary storage media, multimedia capabilities, the Internet, virtual reality and many more, this era continues to expand and grow till this very day with new groundbreaking inventions and further improvements in already explored fields of computer science.