In This
Exhibit:
 Intro: Development of programmable machines |
 Sharp handheld calculator |
 accoustic coupler |
 Return to the Main Hall of the museum. |
Calculators Driving Technology
 |
Calculating machines from Babbage's time to the end of his century worked in very similar ways. While calculating machines were already used in offices by the late 1800's, they were still mechanical, not electric, and limited to functions like addition and subtraction. From 1903 - 1940, companies were perfecting electromechanical calculators that were powered by small motors rather than hand cranks. |
These improvements to business calculators
were quickly integrated into the development of computers that could solve
more complex problems. John V. Atanasoff and one of his students
are credited with building the first all-electronic computer in 1940, inspired
by a mechanical calculator that could solve differential
equations.
| World War II motivated governments around the world to invest heavily in the development of computers that could do the calculations used in airplane design and military code breaking. The machines of this era were called First Generation computers and included historic examples like the ENIAC and the UNIVAC. Just like in calculators, gears and shafts had been replaced by fully electrical parts like vaccuum tubes. But even the electrical components were so big that the computers themselves took up entire rooms. |  UNIVAC 1107 |
The most dramatic changes in computer technology
have consistently decreased their size and increased their speed and
versatility. First Generation computers were followed by Second and
Third generations of improvements during which transistors replaced vaccuum
tubes and software and operating systems came into use. Present-day
computers belong to the Fourth Generation, which was launched by another
technological crossover from the calculator industry.
|
The Integrated Circuit, patented
in 1964 by Jack Kilby, was used as the basis for new electronic calculator
designs that would be tiny compared to the size standards of the
day. In 1970 Ted Hoff of Intel engineered the first
microprocessor specifically for use in handheld calculators. This
technology made calculation cheap and microprocessors like the Intel 4004
and its successors and imitators became the hearts of the computers built
in the 1970's by companies like Commodore, IBM, and
Apple.
Photo at left: TI -2500, one of the first
handheld calculators produced. |