The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers.The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable 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 microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development,The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization. W ...more