Hardware

The term hardware covers all of those parts of a computer that are tangible objects. Circuits, displays, power supplies, cables, keyboards, printers and mice are all hardware.
History of computing hardware
First Generation (Mechanical/Electromechanical)
Calculators
Antikythera mechanism, Difference Engine, Norden bombsight
Programmable Devices
Jacquard loom, Analytical Engine, Harvard Mark I, Z3
Second Generation (Vacuum Tubes)
Calculators
Atanasoff-Berry Computer
Programmable Devices
ENIAC, EDSAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC I
Third Generation (Discrete transistors and SSI, MSI, LSI Integrated circuits)
Mainframes
System/360, BUNCH
Minicomputer
PDP-8, PDP-11, System/32, System/36
Fourth Generation (VLSI integrated circuits)
Minicomputer
VAX, AS/400
4-bit microcomputer
Intel 4004, Intel 4040
8-bit microcomputer
Intel 8008, Intel 8080, Motorola 6800, Motorola 6809, MOS Technology 6502, Zilog Z80
16-bit microcomputer
8088, Zilog Z8000, WDC 65816/65802
32-bit microcomputer
80386, Pentium, 68000, ARM architecture
64-bit microcomputer
x86-64, PowerPC, MIPS, SPARC
Embedded computer
8048, 8051
Personal computer
Desktop computer, Home computer, Laptop computer, Personal digital assistant (PDA), Portable computer, Tablet computer, Wearable computer
Server class computer
Theoretical/experimental
Quantum computer
Chemical computer
DNA computing
Optical computer
Other Hardware Topics
Peripheral device (Input/output)
Input
Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick, Image scanner
Output
Monitor, Printer
Both
Floppy disk drive, Hard disk, Optical disc drive, Teleprinter
Computer busses
Short range
RS-232, SCSI, PCI, USB
Long range (Computer networking)
Ethernet, ATM, FDDI