Part A
How do computers relate to our daily life? Do you know how computer came about and how they were developed?

1. 1st Generation (1946-1959): Vacuum Tube

2. 2nd Generation (1960-1964): Transistor

3. 3rd Generation (1965-1970): Small to Medium Scale Integrated Circuit

4. 4th Generation (1971-Present): VLSI to ULSI

Part B
Origins of Computers (Before 1945)
Computers were developed from more primitive calculators, which eventually did not perform calculations quickly enough to suit our needs.
People were already using the abacus for doing calculations. The abacus may be said to be the most ancient calculator.

Development of Computers (1946 to present)
Since the birth of the first computer in 1946, the development of computer can be divided into four stages:

1. 1st Generation (1946-1959): Vacuum Tube (Back To The Top)
The first computer, which was mainly used for scientific calculations, used vacuum tubes as the main electronic component. As a computer contained thousands of vacuum tubes, the need for adequate ventilation was a constant problem. Also, each vacuum tube lasted only around 3,000 hours so computers were often not functioning as a result of damage to the vacuum tubes.

2. 2nd Generation (1960-1964): Transistor (Back To The Top)
In 1954, Philco Corporation produced the first transistor, which was applied to the electronic calculator 4 years late in 1958. This was the 2nd generation of electronic computers. Using transistors as the main component helped reduce the volume of the computers and saved significant amounts of electricity.

3. 3rd Generation (1965-1970): Small to Medium Scale Integrated Circuit (Back To The Top)
The 3rd generation computers used small to medium scale integrated circuits as the core electronic components. As integrated circuit is in fact a collection of tiny transistors that are connected together. It is much smaller in size and enhances the efficiency and performance of the computers.

4. 4th Generation (1971-Present): VLSI to ULSI (Back To The Top)
The 4th generation computers adopt the VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration) and ULSI (Ultra Large-Scale Integration) processes, which place hundreds of thousands of transistors on a single chip. It greatly expands computers’ capabilities and reduces the production cost, so that all kinds of applications can be realized in our daily lives.