Often historians and scientis alike like to compare the technological developmentd to generations of computers. Below you'll find one of them.
| Generation | Time slots | Principal technology | Principal Architecture | Main player |
| Zeroth Generation | 1920's-1950's | Electro-mechanical | Relais | Konrad Zuse |
| First Generation |
1940's-1960's | Vacuum Tubes |
Mainframes Examples include ENIAC, the Mark 1, and the IAS computer. |
Lee De Forest |
| Second Generation |
1960's-mid 1970's | Transistor | Mainframes | William Shockley |
| Third Generation |
late 1960's-1970's | Integrated Circuit |
Mainframes Minicomputers |
Jack Kilby, Robert Noyce |
| Fourth Generation |
1970's-today | Microprocessor
|
Mainframes Minicomputers Microcomputers |
Ted Hoff |
| Fifth Generation | 1990's -today | Beginning use of artificial intelligence. |
| 1 | |