APPLICATION

OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
 Lesson 1:
Information Technology: Past, Present and Future

• Four periods that characterized by a principal technology

used to solve the input, processing, output, and
communication problems of the time.

A. Pre-mechanical period
B. Mechanical period
C. Electromechanical period
D. Electronics period
A. The pre-mechanical period is the earliest age of information
technology between 3000 B.C. And 1450 A.D.

1. Alphabets
• Phoenicians – 2000 B.C. the early alphabet developed
• Cuneiform – 3000 B.C system of writing developed by the ancient
Sumerians of Mesopotamia
• Latin script or Roman Script – an alphabet
based on letter of the classical Latin
alphabet.
2. Paper and Pens: input technologies.
• Sumerians' input technology was a stylus that could scratch marks in
wet clay.
• About 2600 B.C., the Egyptians write on the papyrus plant
• Around 100 A.D., the most popular kind of paper made by the Chinese
who made paper from rags.

3. Books: Permanent Storage Devices

• Religious leaders in Mesopotamia kept the earliest "books"
•The Egyptians kept scrolls
•Around 600 B.C., the Greeks began to fold sheets of papyrus
vertically into leaves and bind them together into a book-like
form.
4. The First Numbering Systems
• The first numbering systems were invented between 100 and 200 A.D.
by Hindus in India who created a nine-digit numbering system.
• Around 875 A.D., the concept of zero was developed.

5. The First Calculators: The Abacus.

Ò Around 3000 BC to 1000 AD ABACUS was the 1st
information technologies developed it allows people to
record, store, and communicate information and knowledge
and to perform simple calculations with numbers.
B. The mechanical period as the time between 1450 and
1840.

1. The First Information Explosion.

• In 1450, Johann Gutenberg invented the
movable metal-type printing press.
2. The first input, processing and output devises used
• Slide rule
• Pascaline.
• Step Reckoner
• Difference Engine
• Analytical Engine
C. The electromechanical period as the time between 1840
and 1940.
• Emerging technologies in this period are:
• These are the beginnings of telecommunication
• The telegraph was created in the early 1800s.
• Morse Code was created by Samuel Morse in 1835
• The telephone was created by Alexander Graham Bell in
1876
• The first radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894
• Tabulating Machine
• Mark I
D. The electronic period as the time between 1940 and present.

• The first all-electronic computer was the ENIAC (Electronic

Numerical Integrator and omputer).
• EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Computer) was built using
binary code in 1950.
 Four Generations of Digital Computing

1. The First Gen: Vacuum tubes as the main logic elements.

Punch cards to input and externally store data. Rotating
magnetic drums were used for internal storage of data and
programs. Programs are written in Machine language.
Assembly language requires a compiler.
2. The Second Generation (1959-1963): Vacuum tubes
replaced by transistors as main logic element. Punch
cards were replaced with magnetic tape, and rotating
magnetic drums were replaced by magnetic cores for
internal storage. During this time high-level
programming languages were created such as FORTRAN
and COBOL.
3. The Third Generation (1964-1979): The third generation
replaced transistors with integrated circuits, magnetic tape was
used throughout all computers, and magnetic core turned into
metal oxide semiconductors. An actual operating system showed
up around this time along with the advanced programming
language BASIC.
4. The Fourth Generation (1979- Present): The fourth and
latest generation brought in CPUs (central processing units)
which contained memory, logic, and control circuits all on a
single chip. The personal computer was developed (Apple
2). The graphical user interface (GUI) was developed.
 Emerging technology trends

1. Network convergence the convergence of television, radio,

the internet, and the telephone system into a single, integrated
network.
2. Network computer a low-cost, stripped-down version of a
personal computer that will allow users to connect to the
internet.
3. Wireless mobile computing a new generation of wireless
digital devices that combine computing and two-way
communication capabilities.
4. Inexpensive supercomputer the desktop computer of the
future.
Examples of how information technology transforming
lives
By way of communication
The way to do work.
New products designed with the help of a supercomputer.
How to learn?
How to play?
The way we travel.
What we can do by ourselves?
Our ability to move around
Our ability to predict the world around us
Information technology new jobs and careers
Learning Activity:
• Summarize the history of computer. Make a timeline
fill in the name of the computer corresponding the
period of time and identify the feature of each
computer.