Third-Generation Computers

The computer’s evolution can be categorised into five generations and each of the generations has some change in features and functions from the previous generation. The period for the first generation computer was from the 1940s to the 1950s. Its main electronic component was a vacuum tube. It operated on a machine language and used to consume more electricity and generated a lot of heat. The period of the second generation computer was from the 1950s to the 1960s. The main component of this generation was the transistor. It consumed less electricity and generated less heat as compared to the first generation. The period of the third generation computer was from the 1960s to the 1970s. Integrated circuits were its main electronic component and also started the usage of keyboards and monitors. The period of the fourth generation was from the 1970s to the present. Its main electronic component is a microprocessor and very large scale integration (VLSI). It has semiconductor memory like RAM, ROM, etc. The period of the fifth generation computer is from the present to the future. Its main electronic component is Ultra large scale integration technology (ULSI) and artificial intelligence (AI). It is portable with a good storage capacity.

About third-generation computers

The third generation computers were introduced in 1965 and they stopped in 1971. This generation is upgraded compared to the other two previous generations. Third-generation computers used integrated circuits in place of transistors. With the use of integrated circuits, these computers became reliable, generated less heat, were small in size, fast, very less maintenance, and were inexpensive. It was developed in 1958 by Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby. Despite consuming less electricity still, they were a little expensive and required an air conditioner for cooling purposes. From this generation, computers were not tech things for only big businesses and higher authorities, they had changed into personal computers used by various people. With the use of small hardware, the operating system Unix was developed.

This generation reduced the usage of extra time from microseconds to nanoseconds. The computers used punch cards for the input process in the second generation computers. The process was to code the instructions you want to give the computer in the punch cards and then insert them. Due to this tiresome reason, the popularity of second-generation computers declined. So, in the third generation of computers, the usage of keyboards and monitors started instead of punch cards. With this introduction of time-sharing, remote processing, and multiprogramming OS also happened. High-level languages used in this generation are PASCAL, FORTRAN-II, ALGOL-68, COBOL, and BASIC. Storage capacity was also increased and had magnetic storage. Placed on silicon chips, the IC contains resistors, transistors, condensers, etc. The input and output process also changed in this computer generation. 

Advantages of third-generation computers 

With the introduction of third-generation computers, there were also a few benefits of it which are listed below:

• As compared to the first and second generations, the third generation computers were smaller in size
• The reliability of the computers increased with the introduction of the third generation 
• The energy consumption was less by these computers and the generation of heat was also reduced 
• The portability of these computers was more as compared to the computers of the previous generation 
• These computers have better speed and can calculate the data in nanoseconds
• Better storage capacity and used magnetic disk/tape drives 
• It used both languages both machine and assembly level
• The accuracy of these computers was improved 
• Usage of keyboards and monitors for input purposes was introduced 
• Maintenance cost was reduced 
• They were versatile, we’re able to do different types of tasks 
• It takes lesser time for computation that the previous generations 
• The processing was faster 
• The computers were less inclined toward the programming errors 
• Reduction in the rate of hardware failure

Disadvantages of the third generation computers 

With the advantages there comes drawbacks as well. The few disadvantages of these computers are listed below:

• It required air conditioning for the cooling purposes in the mainframes 
• The technology used was highly sophisticated for the manufacturing purpose of integrated circuits 
• The integrated circuits were difficult to repair 
• The computers were costly 
• The IC was very complicated and specialised workers were required for it

Conclusion

We hope the above brief explanation will help you to understand the third generation computer better. There were a few changes and newly introduced features in this generation from the previous ones which you need to keep in mind. This generation of computers was smaller in size and they were used for personal purposes, unlike in the previous generations which were only used by larger businesses. The knowledge of the history of computers will be helpful as these are very basic questions for the examinations. Learning about the alteration and newly introduced features in all generations will be easy to grasp and remember.