Manchester computersThe Manchester computers were an innovative series of stored-programelectronic computers developed during the 30-year period between 1947 and 1977 by a small team at the University of Manchester, under the leadership of Tom Kilburn. They included the world's first stored-program computer, the world's first transistorised computer, and what was the world's fastest computer at the time of its inauguration in 1962.
ComputerProgrammable machine that processes dataComputers and computing devices from different eras—left to right, top to bottom: Early vacuum-tube computer (ENIAC)Mainframe computer (IBM System/360)Smartphone (LYF Water 2)Desktop computer (IBM ThinkCentre S50 with monitor)Supercomputer (IBM Summit)A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation).
Point-contact transistorThe point-contact transistor was the first type of transistor to be successfully demonstrated. It was developed by research scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at Bell Laboratories in December 1947. They worked in a group led by physicist William Shockley. The group had been working together on experiments and theories of electric field effects in solid state materials, with the aim of replacing vacuum tubes with a smaller device that consumed less power.
DiodeA diode is a two-terminalelectronic component that conducts electric current primarily in one direction (asymmetric conductance). It has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A semiconductor diode, the most commonly used type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material with a p–n junction connected to two electrical terminals. It has an exponentialcurrent–voltage characteristic.
Integrated circuitElectronic circuit formed on a small, flat piece of semiconductor materialA microscope image of an integrated circuit die used to control LCDs. The pinouts are the dark circles surrounding the integrated circuit.An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a compact assembly of electronic circuits formed from various electronic components, such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors, and their interconnections.
TransistorA transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. It is one of the fundamental building blocks of modern electronics. A transistor is composed of semiconductor material, often with at least three terminals for connection to an electronic circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals.
Vacuum tubeDevice that controls current between electrodesLater thermionic vacuum tubes, mostly miniature style, some with top cap connections for higher voltagesA vacuum tube, vac tube, electron tube, thermionicvalve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
University of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university in Manchester, England, with its main campus south of the city centre on Oxford Road. It is a red brick university, a product of the civic university movement of the late 19th century. The current institution was formed in 2004 through the merger of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) and the Victoria University of Manchester.Standard Telephones and CablesStandard Telephones and Cables Ltd (later STC plc) was a British manufacturer of telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications, and related equipment. During its history, STC invented and developed several groundbreaking new technologies including pulse-code modulation (PCM) and optical fibres.
Magnetic-core memoryIn computing, magnetic-core memory is a form of random-access memory. It predominated for roughly 20 years between 1955 and 1975, and is often just called core memory, or, informally, core. Core memory uses toroids (rings) of a hard magnetic material (usually a semi-hard ferrite). Each core stores one bit of information. At least two wires pass through each core, forming a two-dimensional X-Y-wired array of cores.
Printed circuit boardA printed circuit board (PCB), also known as a printed wiring board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. PCBs are used to connect or "wire" components to one another in an electronic circuit.
History of computing hardware (1960s–present)The history of computing hardware starting at 1960 is marked by the conversion from vacuum tube to solid-state devices such as transistors and then integrated circuit (IC) chips. Around 1953 to 1959, discrete transistors started being considered sufficiently reliable and economical that they made further vacuum tube computers uncompetitive.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.