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Computer - First Generation: History

The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and memory, which generated a lot of heat and frequently broke down, making the computers large, expensive to operate, and unreliable. They used batch processing and punch cards/tape for input/output. While pioneering digital computing, first generation computers also had disadvantages including their large size, high energy usage, tendency to overheat, and lack of reliability.

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27 views1 page

Computer - First Generation: History

The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and memory, which generated a lot of heat and frequently broke down, making the computers large, expensive to operate, and unreliable. They used batch processing and punch cards/tape for input/output. While pioneering digital computing, first generation computers also had disadvantages including their large size, high energy usage, tendency to overheat, and lack of reliability.

Uploaded by

Anyelo Sanchez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Computer - First Generation

History
The period of first generation was from 1946-1959. The computers of first generation used vacuum
tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central Processing Unit). These
tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of heat and the installations used to fuse frequently.
Therefore, they were very expensive and only large organizations were able to afford it.

In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was used. Punch cards, paper tape, and
magnetic tape was used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine
code as the programming language.

Characteristics
 Used vacuum tubes for circuitry.
 Electron emitting metal in vacuum tubes burned out easily.
 Used magnetic drums for memory.
 Were huge, slow, expensive, and many times undependable.
 Were expensive to operate.

Pioneers
1. Blaise Pascal - Pascalina.
2. Gothfried Wilhelm Leibniz - La "máquina de Leibniz"
3. Charles Babbage - La máquina diferencial.

Advantages
1. Made use of vacuum tubes which are the only electronic component available during those
days.
2. Use of vacuum tube technology made possible to make an electronic digital computer.
3. These computers could calculate in milliseconds.

Disadvantages
1. The computers were very larger in size
2. They consumed a large amount of energy.
3. They heated very soon due to thousands of vacuum tubes.
4. They were not very reliable.
5. Air conditioning is required.

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