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desired output. The input was given through punched cards, which were used to record
and store data or information.

The First Electro-Mechanical Computer

Mark I — In 1944, Prof. Howard Aiken built the first electro-mechanical computer, known

as Mark I. This machine was 51 feet long, weighed 5 tons, and used a typewriter for input
and punched cards for output. The Mark I is considered the first real computer in history.

The First Electronic Computers
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer)

John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert developed the
ENIAC, the first successful electronic digital computer. It was

made operational in 1946. ENIAC was a massive machine,
measuring 10 feet wide by 100 feet long and occupying
1,800 square feet. It could perform 5,000 additions per
second.

EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)

The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
(EDVAC) is a modern type of computer that came into

existence with John von Neumann's development of
software. He began the practice of storing both data and
instructions in binary code within the computer's memory.

In a consulting role, von Neumann collaborated with
Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, and the EDVAC was
built using binary code in 1950 as an improved version of

the ENIAC. The concept used by EDVAC to store different
programs on punched cards was a major step that led to the advancement of computers.

UNIVAC-I

The Universal Automatic Computer I (UNIVAC I) was the world's first commercially available
computer. It was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly in 1951. The UNIVAC I
was also the first computer capable of handling both numeric and text data. It was notably
the first to be equipped with a magnetic tape unit and to utilize buffer memory.

Personal Computer

In 1981, IBM introduced its first Personal Computer (PC). Three years later, in 1984, they
introduced an advanced version called the PC-AT, which stands for Personal Computer

7 Computer — 5