Generations of Computer

Solved Question Answers

1) Who developed the first Vacuum Tube Diode?

Ans: Sir John Ambrose and Fleming developed the first Vacuum Tube Diode. 

2) State any four limitations of First Generation of Computers. 

Ans: Any four limitations of First Generation of Computers are given below. 

a) They used to generate a lot of heat.

b) They used to consume a lot of electricity.

c) They were not highly reliable.

d) They have less storage capacity, processing speed was very slow, lack of I/O devices etc.

3) Name the inventors of Transistors. 

Ans: The inventors of Transistors are Walter Houser Brattain, John Bardeen and William Bradford Shockley. 

4) What is Integrated Circuit (IC)? Who developed the first Integrated Circuit?

Ans: Integrated Circuit is the small electronic device made out of a semiconductor material which was used as the main electronic component of Third Generations of Computers.

The first Integrated Circuit was developed by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor corporation. 

5) What is a microprocessor? Name the first microprocessor developed by American Intel Corporation.

Ans: A microprocessor is an integrated circuit that contains the entire central processing unit of a computer on a single chip and is being used as the main electronic component of Fourth Generations of computer. 

The first microprocessor developed by the American Intel Corporation is Intel 4004 and was developed in 1971 A.D. 

6) What do you mean by Artificial Intelligence (AI) ?

Ans: Artificial Intelligence is the branch of computer science that deals with designing intelligent computer systems that may passes reasoning, learning and thinking capabilities resembling those of a human being. Artificial Intelligence will be used in the Fifth Generations of Computer. 

7) What is Generations of Computer? What electronic component characterized each of the four Generations of Computer?

Ans: The development of main electronic components of computer in different time periods is known as Generations of Computer. 

The electronic component that characterized each of the four generations of computers were the fundamentally changes that took place in the way of doing tasks, resulting in increasingly smaller in size, their cost, their performance, efficient and reliable devices. 

8) What is the hardware and software technology of first generation of computers? Write any two examples of first generation of computers. 

Ans: The hardware technology used in first generation of computers are given below.

The first generation of computers used Vacuum Tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory. The input to the computer was given through punch cards and paper tapes. The output were displayed as printouts. 

The software technology used in first generation of computers are given below.

Machine level language was used to program computers. Machine language uses 0s and 1s (Binary Digits) for coding of the instructions. The first generations of computer could solve one problem at a time. 

Examples of First Generation Computer

• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
• UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer)

9) What are the major features of second generation of computers? Write any two examples of second generation of computer.

Ans: Major features of second generation of computer are given below. 

• These generations main electronic component was replaced to Transistors instead of Vacuum Tube. 
• They consumed less electricity and produced less heat as compared to the first generation of computers.
• They were faster, cheaper smaller and more reliable than the first generation of computer.
• They could be programmed using Assembly language.
• These computers had faster primary memory and larger secondary memory compared to first generations. 

Examples of Second Generation Computer

• IBM 1620
• IBM 1401

10) What were the advantages and disadvantages of third generation of computers? Write any two examples of third generation of computers.

Ans: Advantages of third generation of computers are given below.

• These generation of computers main electronic component was replaced to Integrated Circuit through which heat generation and electricity consumption was very less.
• These generation of computers were smaller in size, faster and more reliable than the previous generations of computers.
• These computers had faster and larger primary memory and secondary memory.
• Extensive use of high level languages became possible. So, it was more user friendly than previous generations.
• These generation computers were suitable for widely use in different scientific researches as well as business application.
• For the first time mouse and keyboard were introduced for taking input. 

Disadvantages of third generation of computers are given below.

• Air conditioning was required to cool down the heat generation.
• Highly sophisticated technology was required for the manufacturing of IC chips.

Examples of Third Generation Computer

• ICL 1900 series
• IBM 370 series

11) What are the major development that took place in the fourth generation of computers?

Ans: Major developments that took place in the fourth generation of computers are given below. 

• Microprocessor was introduced as their main electronic components due to which heat generation and electricity consumption was very less as well as size of the computer was very small. 
• These computers were highly reliable and accurate.
• They had a larger memory capacity and high functional speed.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI) enabled users to learn and to work with computers very easily as it was more user friendly compared to previous ones.
• These computers can be used as general-purpose computers. 

12) What are the special features of fifth generation that makes it different from other generations? 

Ans: The special features of fifth generation computers that make it different from the other generations are given below. 

• These generation computers will be using super conductor technology (AI or Bio-chips).
• These generation computers will use intelligent programming and knowledge based problem solving techniques. 
• These generation computers can understand spoken words and imitate human reasoning. 
• These generation computers can respond to its surroundings using different types of sensors.
• Newer and more advanced as well as more powerful applications, including multimedia applications, will make the computer system more useful in every occupations. 
• Quantum computation and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. 

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