The Evolution of Computer Information Systems

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Computers have been around for decades. They began as processes of data to create transactions. They were housed as huge pieces of machinery. The computer was a centralized design, all housed in a single location as one interconnected structure. Computers of the middle part of the twentieth century have little resemblance to the computers today, either in how they look or in their functions.

Originally computers were punch card based and were used for business data processing as early as the 1930s. in 1944, the world's first fully automatic computer was operating. Known as the MARK I, it was quickly followed by other computers such as the ENIAC and EDSAC. The ENIAC, in 1946, was named for what it did, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. In 1952 the last of these famous computers were put online. These computers were used most often for military, scientific, or mathematical purposes. They were most commonly created to solve mathematical problems, which had remained unsolved over time.

Eventually the possibility of combining computers with commercial endeavors was realized and the first business computer was built. Rand Corp. built the UNIVAC 1. The first UNIVAC 1 went to the U.S. Census Bureau and the first non-government model installed went to GE in the company's appliance plant in Louisville, KY. Core memory, standardized and higher-level language, and an operating system were the key advancements for computers with the new computer models.

Computers and computer technology is developed in generations. Currently computers are considered as 4th generation. This helps distinguish the developments of each successive generation. The first generation used tubes and was "associated with valves and electric relays." (Mukherji, 2002).

The next generation replaced tubes for transistors. They were faster and needed less space. Transistors made them more reliable and easier to ...