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Information and Communication Technology Applications

(v) UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Calculator). It was the first computer to handle both numeric
Notes and textual information as shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: UNIVAC I

Various historical events happened during 1946 to 1954 are described in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: History of Computers During the Year 1946–1952

Year Invention

1946 First electronic general purpose computer: ENIAC
1947 Invention of Williams Tube by modifying a cathode-ray tube to
display dots and dashes which represented binary ones and zeros,
by Sir Frederick Williams of Manchester University.
1947 Successfully testing of the point-contact transistor, by William
Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen.
1949 Manchester Mark I computer having 1300 vacuum tubes, invented
by Frederick Williams and Tom Kilburn.
1950 SEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer), built by the
National Bureau of Standards in Washington to test component
and systems.
1951 First stored program computer is EDVAC.
1952 First commercial computer UNIVAC.

2.1.4 Second Generation Computers (1953–1964)

The first generation of computers became out-dated, when in 1954, the Philco Corporation developed
transistors that can be used in place of vacuum tubes. The second generation of computers
(1953–64) was marked by the use of transistors in place of vacuum tubes. Transistors had a number
of advantages over the vacuum tubes. As transistors were made from pieces of silicon, so they were
more compact than vacuum tubes. The second-generation computers, therefore, were smaller in
size and less heat generated than first generation computers. Although they were slightly faster
and more reliable than earlier computers, they also had many disadvantages. They had limited
storage capacity, consumed more power and were also relatively slow in performance. Like first
generation computers, they also required regular maintenance and their components had also to be

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