Generation |
Technology |
Key Characteristics |
Examples |
1st Generation
1940s - 1950s |
Vacuum Tubes |
Large, slow, consumed lots of power, used punch cards, programming in machine language (binary) |
ENIAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701 |
2nd Generation
1950s - 1960s |
Transistors |
Smaller, faster, more reliable than vacuum tubes; used assembly language and early high-level languages like COBOL and FORTRAN |
IBM 7090, CDC 1604, UNIVAC II |
3rd Generation
1960s - 1970s |
Integrated Circuits
(ICs) |
Even smaller, faster, more reliable; transition to multi-programming and time sharing; development of operating systems |
IBM System/360, PDP-8, DEC VAX |
4th Generation
1970s - 1990s |
Microprocessors
(Single-chip processors) |
Personal computers (PCs) emerge; significant improvements in speed, memory, and cost; graphical user interfaces (GUIs), networking |
IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, Commodore 64 |
5th Generation
1990s - Present |
Artificial Intelligence, Parallel Processing |
Focus on AI, machine learning, quantum computing, and parallel processing; high-speed processing, internet-enabled |
Modern supercomputers, smartphones, AI systems like IBM Watson |
6th Generation (emerging)
2000s- (Present (still evolving) |
Quantum Computing, Advanced AI, Nanotechnology |
Potentially revolutionary advances in computing, involving quantum processors and neural networks, ultra-efficient computing |
Quantum computers (IBM Q, Google Sycamore), advanced AI models |
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