Computer generations and adoption: Which generation of computers most notably triggered the broad explosion of interest in information processing across businesses?

Introduction / Context:
The evolution from vacuum tubes to transistors to integrated circuits revolutionized computing. Each generation improved cost, reliability, and usability, altering how widely organizations could apply information processing to real business problems.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• First generation: vacuum tubes—bulky, hot, less reliable, expensive.
• Second generation: transistors—smaller, more reliable, but still costly and specialized.
• Third generation: integrated circuits—dramatically improved reliability and cost per computation, enabling commercial expansion.
• Fourth generation: microprocessors—further miniaturization and personal computing.

Concept / Approach:
The “explosion” in business interest is often attributed to the third generation, when integrated circuits made computing far more affordable and dependable for organizations, spurring widespread adoption of information systems beyond specialized compute centers.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Historical accounts of commercial computing show rapid growth during the IC era, preceding the personal-computer wave, which further democratized access in the fourth generation.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• First/second generation: too expensive and limited for broad business use.
• Fourth generation: amplified interest, but the initial widespread organizational uptake began earlier with third-generation systems.

Common Pitfalls:
Attributing all growth to the PC era; enterprise interest and large-scale deployments were already accelerating in the integrated-circuit mainframe/minicomputer era.

Final Answer:
third generation of computers