Third Generation

Third Generation Computers: (1965-1970*): Integrated Circuit based.

The third generation brought huge gains in computational power. The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. The third generation of computer is marked by the use of Integrated Circuits (IC’s) in place of transistors. A single IC has many transistors, resistors and capacitors along with the associated circuitry. The IC was invented by Jack Kilby. This development made computers smaller in size, reliable and efficient. Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

In this generation, Remote processing, Time-sharing, Real-time, Multi-programming Operating System were used. High-level language (FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68, etc.) were used during this generation.

Some computers of this generation were:

• IBM-360 series – IBM announced the System/360, a family of six mutually compatible computers and 40 peripherals that could work together. The initial investment of $5 billion was quickly returned as orders for the system climbed to 1,000 per month within two years. At the time IBM released the System/360, the company was making a transition from discrete transistors to integrated circuits, and its major source of revenue moved from punched-card equipment to electronic computer systems.
• CDC 6600 – CDC´s 6600 supercomputer, designed by Seymour Cray, performed up to 3 million instructions per second — a processing speed three times faster than that of its closest competitor, the IBM Stretch. The 6600 retained the distinction of being the fastest computer in the world until surpassed by its successor, the CDC 7600, in 1968. Part of the speed came from the computer´s design, which had 10 small computers, known as peripheral processors, funneling data to a large central processing unit.

*Please note: the exact time frame of years mentioned for each generation is subject to some scrutiny, exact dates vary from source to source. For the consistency of this project, I have used the dates from the textbook being utilized in Class: Technology In Action, Complete (10th Edition) by Alan Evans, Kendall Martin (Author), Mary Anne Poatsy (Author)