Information and communications technology (ICT) – collectively refers to the technologies, both hardware and software, that enable

humans to
communicate with one another. It is any form of technology that enables you to communicate.
Four main periods of ICT: (Evolution of ICT)
1. Premechanical
2. Mechanical
3. Electromechanical – these two (4) greatly affect our lives today.
4. Electronic Periods

The Premechanical Period:

-3000 BCE to 1450 BCE
-Humans started communicating with one another using words and pictograms curved in rocks.
-Then they started to write symbols substitutes for pictures to depict Ideas, Objects, and Animals.
-When paper was finally produced from the papyrus plant, storing of information was revolutionized.
-Gave birth to books. (bounded)
- Libraries were considered the first data centers in history.

-A Sumerian pictogram dating back 3,100 BCE shows the earliest form of communication among humans.
-The abacus considered to be the first counting device, was introduced in the 2nd century BCE. Evidence suggests that the Romans might have
introduced abacus to China, as trade relations have existed between the Romans and the Chinese through the silk road.

- The most popular device created in this period is said to have come from China – the abacus.
- The abacus is a manually operated device similar to the modern calculator. This was considered as the first device to process information.

The Mechanical Period.

-This period served as the bridge between our current period and the premechanical period.
-This period started from 1450 - 1840.
-During this time, the interest in automating and speeding up numerical calculations grew.
- The machines driven by mechanical means such as steam and gears dominated information processing and calculation.
-This period also concentrated primarily on development of machines that will enhance calculation speed.
-Highlight of this period is the advent of the mechanical calculator called the Pascaline, which was invented by the famous mathematician inventor
Blaise Pascal along with Wilhelm Schickard.
-Charles Babbage, a mathematician. He invented the Analytical Engine, which is considered the first programmable mechanical computer. This
invention earned Babbage the title “Father of the Computers.”
- The analytical engine, first invented by Charles Babbage in 1837, contained features such as the arithmetic logic unit, control flow and integrated
memory.

The Electromechanical Period

-The electromechanical period ushered in a new age in communications and information.

-This period started from 1840-1940.
-In this period, the use of electricity for information handling and transfer bloomed. The need and the urgency to share information with one another
in a faster yet reliable manner over long distances aroused.
-The use of the telegraph to transmit information over long distances, the information is coded in sounds of dots, spaces, and dashes.
- The US version of the commercial telegraph enables the use of the morse code, a system still used in various industries today.
-The first commercial telephone was made by Bell in 1876.
- The telegraph is considered the first electrical communications device. It was the first device to use electricity to transmit information over an
electrical media.
- First invented in 1837 by William Cooke and Sir Charles Wheatstone
-The first working model used five magnetic needles that could be pointed around sets of letters and numbers by using electric current.
- In 1844, an American inventor named Samuel Morse successfully introduced the first single-circuit telegraph, which gave rise to the Morse code.
- In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted the patent for the telephone. The telephone converts sound to electricity and enables the telephone
network to transmit it over copper wires.
-The Bombe was invented in 1939 by Alan Turing and was improved by Gordon Welchman. This device was used to decipher the code that was
generated by a similar German encryption machine, the Enigma during World War II.

The Electronic Period

-The last period in ICT history is the electronic period.

- It started in the 1940s and continues to the present.
-The highlight of the period is focused on the advent of solid state devices or electronic devices.

The four main events found in this period are:

1. The Late vacuum tubes period
2. The transistors period
3. The integrated circuits period
4. The computer processors period.

ENIAC – Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer – the first electronic and general-purpose computer marked a revolutionary period in
computer.
-ENIAC was a big machine that occupied an area of 167 square meters.
- In 1947, the transistor was invented. It is an electronic device with properties and functions similar to vacuum tubes, but it is lightweight and
faster. The transistor is the foundation of every electronic device today. The first full transistor computer was developed in 1957 and was
faster than vacuum computers.

- An American electrical engineer named Jack Kilby was credited for introducing the integrated circuit (IC) in 1958.

- The integrated circuit (IC) is a device that is composed of a group of transistors and circuit elements compressed in a single package.