Hey there,
It has been really long time since I made a technical post which is my forte. So here I am with my simplified and easy to understand post.
In technical context generation may be referred to as the varied drastic growth in technology day to day. Computers have changed in various ways (in terms of its size, power and abilities) since their inception.
The evolution of the electronic computers over time is categorized in to five generations with differences in terms of size, computing power and the technology used.
First Generation: Early 1940's to late 1950's - Vacuum Tubes
Image Source: By Unknown - U.S. Army Photo, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55124
The first generation computers were built using vacuum tubes (CPU) and magnetic drums (storage) and used machine language programming. Vacuum tubes are glass tubes without gas, with an electrode capable of controlling electron flow used to switch on or amplify the computer. These machines were as big as a room and generated lot of heat and consumed lot of electricity. ENIAC (1946) and EDVAC (1950) are the most popular machines of the first generation. These machines were capable of performing only one task at a time.
Second Generation: Mid 1950's to mid 1960's - Transistors
The second generation saw a replacement of vacuum tubes by transistors. Transistors are low cost electronic devices made up of semi conductors and metal and consume lesser power and generate less heat compared to vacuum tubes. As a result the second generation computers were faster and more reliable. Data input and output procedures became advanced. IBM 1401 is one of the famous second generation computer that used the IBM - 7094, a powerful processor.
IBM 1401 computer with one circuit card access drawer opened, on display at the Computer History Museum.Source: By ArnoldReinhold
Third Generation: Mid 1960's to early 1970's -Integrated Circuits
In this phase the transistors were miniaturized and put on the semi conductor silicon chips. The circuitry was called the IC or Integrated Circuit.This caused a huge increase in the performance and speed of the machine. For the first time the keyboard and monitors with an operating system as the interface were used. And the machine could perform multiple task with a centralized monitoring system (OS). These were smaller in size, less cost and more efficient and hence reached out to masses. The IBM-360 series, ICL-900 series, and Honeywell 200 series are the famous machines of 3rd generation.
In this phase the transistors were miniaturized and put on the semi conductor silicon chips. The circuitry was called the IC or Integrated Circuit.This caused a huge increase in the performance and speed of the machine. For the first time the keyboard and monitors with an operating system as the interface were used. And the machine could perform multiple task with a centralized monitoring system (OS). These were smaller in size, less cost and more efficient and hence reached out to masses. The IBM-360 series, ICL-900 series, and Honeywell 200 series are the famous machines of 3rd generation.
By Dave Ross - Flickr: IBM System/360 Model 30, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17268674
Fourth Generation: Early 1970's to Mid 2000's & NOW- Microprocessors:
The Intel revolutionized the IC market with it's single micro processor chip in 1971 - the Intel 4001 chip which positioned all the components on to a single chip. What occupied a whole room earlier could now fit in to the palm of a hand. In 1981 the first ever home based computer IBM was developed followed by the Mactintosh of Apple in 1984. The new chip was as powerful as the first generation ENIAC machine. Fan was also introduced to control the heat discharged. These were/ are the cheapest of all generations. All types of high level languages could be used for programming.
IBM Personal Computer with IBM CGA monitor (model number 5153), IBM PC keyboard, IBM 5152 printer and paper stand. (1988)
Source: Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F077948-0006 / Engelbert Reineke / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
Fifth Generation: 2010 and later - Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Time to ask ourselves, how much have we evolved over time? Always be a better version of yourself.
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