Towards the Fifth Generation of Computers

Abstract

The development of electronic computer technology is the story of a process that began in the early 1940s and which is accelerating now, in the 1980s, towards more advanced systems and technologies. Over the period from the early 1940s to the present, observers have been able to identify clear-cut stages in the development of computer technology and systems. These stages have been named ‘generations’, where each computer generation had certain unique characteristics or properties. Four generations have been identified.