1. A Brief Introduction to the History of Computing - 3 ANU Faculty of Engineering and IT Department of Computer Science COMP1200 Perspectives on Computing Chris Johnson April 2003

2. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets2 Intro to history of computing – 4.3  Moore’s Law: driver of 3 rd and 4 th generations  What computers were used for, who made them: Operating systems, applications and the market  4 generations of computer systems and manufacturers

3. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets3 2. Moore’s Law The density of transistors on a chip (i.e. the number per unit area) doubles every 18 months  1964: Gordon Moore (Intel) observed the fact and fitted the “law” to the figures to that date  literally “exponential growth”  is it still true 40 years later?  what does doubling every 1.5 or 2 years actually imply?

4. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets4 2. Moore’s Law Number of transistors on one chip - Intel 80x86 family processors 1972 2,500 1978 30,000 1983 100,000 1986 300,000 1990 1,000,000 data from Intel

5. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets5 2. Moore’s Law data from Intel 1,000,000 2500 log scale

6. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets6 2. Moore’s Law  what are all those extra transistors used for in processors? in memory (RAM) chips?

7. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets7 3. 3 rd & 4 th generation: von Neumann architecture with virtual memory and cache Secondary storage use for online file storage I/O controllers Virtual memory Online file storage fast cache memory ALU registers pipelines Memory

8. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets8 3. 4th generation (my numbering)

9. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets9 1. Big Ideas - the stored program computer Why is the ability to store the program in memory significant? (2): the 3 rd and 4 th generations

10. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets10 4.3 History of computer systems, applications and markets  4 generations operating systems and software tools applications system configurations the size of the market manufacturers generation1 1945-59 generation 2 1959-1964 generation3 1964-1981 generation 4 1981-----

11. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets11 1st. generation 1945-59  vacuum tubes  storage: magnetic core, mercury delay line, magnetic drum  I/O: paper tape, punch cards, line printer  software: no operating system assembly program, library 1951 symbolic assembler language invented (Grace Hopper) to improve on programming by numeric codes  one user at a time

12. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets12 1st. generation 1945-59 - configuration

13. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets13 1st. generation 1945-59 - applications  accounting (typically decimal computers)  business stock control  general substitute for punched card business data processing: personnel, payroll  military (binary computers): calculation of artillery tables  decryption  air traffic/air defence displays

14. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets14 1st. generation 1945-59– the market (started 1951)  most made by existing business equipment manufacturers  IBM 1951-55 IBM 701 (scientific), IBM 702 (commercial): 50 of each 24 computers installed in 1956 1956-61 sold 1,100 IBM 350 RAMAC Random Access Memory Accounting Machine - with a notable 5MByte disk storage unit  Remington Rand -> Sperry Rand - 24 sold in 1956  USA: RCA, GE, Philco, Burroughs, NCR, Honeywell  a few companies in UK and France  top-end: SAGE air traffic control/air defence system: 8k x 32 bit words, 75KHz, 100 radar display consoles 1952-62: 46 computers installed

15. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets15 2 nd generation – 1959-1964  discrete transistors replace vacuum tubes in CPU  magnetic core memory  I/O: punched cards, high speed line printer  removable disk packs

16. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets16 2 nd generation – 1959-64 Operating system and software tools  Batch operating systems: professional operators, sequential execution of jobs controlled by operator switches, using magnetic tapes loaded by operator from library  single job at a time  systems software: assembler, compilers  High level languages FORTRAN(from 1954-7); Algol (1960); COBOL (1961); LISP (1960)

17. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets17 2 nd generation – 1959-1964 configuration

18. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets18 2 nd generation – 1959-1964 applications  more business operations  airline reservation system SABRE: IBM 7090, 1100 users, leased phone lines, transaction based  more scientific calculations: computational modelling  military...

19. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets19 2 nd generation 1959-1964 markets - growth  example: IBM 1400 series (1401 - 7010) (1959-1965) 1.4k to 16k memory 6 bit characters, decimal arithmetic chain printer: 600 lines per minute (10 lines/second) 14,000 machines sold (IBM original estimate: 1,000)  Manufacturers “a fierce shakeout” - IBM and the seven dwarfs (1964) IBM Sperry Rand RCA GE Burroughs->Sperry Rand/Unisys NCR Honeywell Control Data Corporation CDC a few in UK (Ferranti->ICL), France (Bull), Germany (Nixdorf), Italy (Olivetti)

20. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets20 3 rd generation 1964-1981  integrated circuits in CPU: Moore’s Law takes off  magnetic core memory,  solid state (RAM) memory from 1970  magnetic disk secondary store, virtual memory  magnetic tape offline storage  high speed line printer  remote data terminals VDU, 24 x 80 characters, fixed char. set; short range serial line (1200, 2400, 9600 bps)

21. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets21 3. From 3 rd to 4 th generation  3 rd generation from approx 1964 mainframe computers first, then minis  minicomputers: e.g.DEC PDP/8, PDP/11, Birth of UNIX operating system1975  microcomputers PET TRS-801979  Apple II, VisiCalc spreadsheet1979 4 th generation............................  IBM PC, Microsoft DOS1981

22. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets22 3 rd generation 1964-81 mainframe, minicomputer, microcomputer  mainframe: enterprise scale, multiple boards in CPU, room-sized; 24-60 bit words; ~100 users (supercomputer 10x cost, 10x speed)  mini: compact, solid state, fairly rugged, suits equipment rack 1972 DEC PDP-8: 12 bit word; DG Nova, DEC PDP-11: 16 bit, VAX: 32 bit. 20-30 circuit boards for CPU initially, down to 4-5 Cheaper than mainframes e.g. $100,000 1970; ~10 users  micro: very compact, single chip processor: 8 bit to 16 bit; slower than minicomputers, much cheaper again: $2,000-10,000; 1 user 1971-79  pocket calculator replaces slide rule ~1970

23. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets23 3 rd generation 1964-81 operating system and software tools  multiprogramming O/S: concurrent processing and I/O, “time-sharing” multiple jobs apparently simultaneously  database management systems  time-sharing terminals, multiple users [early 70s]  interactive programming environments: debugger programs  interactive data entry, transaction systems

24. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets24 3 rd generation – 1964-81 - software  rapid development of high level languages 1965 revised COBOL 65 (ANSI standard COBOL in 1968) 1966 FORTRAN 66 (FORTRAN IV) ANSI standard - >F77, F95 1967 Algol W -> Pascal 1972 1971 PROLOG programming in logic 1972 C BASIC  1968 NATO Software Conference identifies “the software crisis”: human inability to create and manage programs-> software engineering

25. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets25 3 rd generation 1964-1981 - configuration

26. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets26 3 rd generation 1964-81 applications  more business operations  databases  scientific calculations, mathematical, industrial modelling, weather forecasting  minicomputers industrial and other equipment control data concentrators - front ends to mainframes  microcomputers digital watches, games, calculators (special purpose systems) embedded systems, hobby systems  military... embedded micro computers – digital avionics  computer networks

27. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets27 3 rd generation 1964-81 – the market Mainframes  e.g. IBM System/360 family 1965-71 not time-shared 18,000 machines sold  System 370 1971-88 upward compatible from 360 series time-shared (multiproccessing) semi-conductor memory 80,000 sold

28. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets28 3 rd generation 1964-81 – the manufacturers  IBM and the BUNCH (approx 1968) [not 7 any longer] IBM Burroughs->Sperry Rand/Unisys UNIVAC NCR Control Data Corporation CDC - supercomputers Honeywell a few in UK (ICL), France (Bull), Germany (Siemens)  the minis (approx 1970) [new companies, electronics cos] DEC Digital Equipment Corporation Data General Varian Hewlett-Packard... and others  the micros Apple (and Apricot and Acorn and...) Xerox Commodore... many others

29. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets29 4 th generation 1981-  1981 IBM PC – a 16 bit personal computer for office desktops; command line operating system MS-DOS. “Word processing” becomes a software application for PC not a dedicated box  productivity software: word processor, spreadsheet, paint and draw  1984 Apple Macintosh: WIMP  1985 Microsoft Windows for PC  2000 common processor chips drive nearly all large and small computers

30. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets30 4 th generation 1981 – mainframes, personal computers  applications become centred on Graphical User Interface, need for memory and processor speed grow enormously  mainframes continue as main computers – re-invented as servers to enterprise networks of personal workstations and PCs  mid 1980s: local computer networks transform the personal to the enterpise network; the Internet for email  mid 1990s: the World Wide Web on the Internet transforms the personal computer from a local information management and processing tool to a communication tool

31. Intro to history of computing: systems, apps, markets31 4 th generation – the market Biggest manufacturers of servers, workstations, desktops, laptops: a very volatile market, year by year [in 2001:  Compaq (includes DEC) [1 million servers; 14 million PCs worldwide; 12% of Australian PC market]  Dell [700k servers; 11% Australian PC market  IBM [660,000 servers]  Hewlett-Packard [10%] now merged Compaq 2002  Sun [360,000 workstations; 9% Australian PC market]  Apple [4% of Australian PC market]  NEC [6 million PCs world]  many other small companies: 48% Australian PC market, 25% servers, 80 million PCs figures from Gartner Group press release web pages The software market is now where the big money flows – Microsoft, Oracle There are very few chip manufacturers. They produce millions.