First
Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes
The first computers used
vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums
for memory,
and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to
operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot
of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.
First generation computers
relied on machine language,
the lowest-level programming language understood by computers, to perform
operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on
punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are
examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was the first
commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in
1951.
This ENIAC Type Arithmetic System is regarded as the first vacuum tube arithmetic unit made in Japan. The actual ENIAC Type Arithmetic System and binary vacuum tube electronic computer are currently preserved in the Special Materials Room of the Faculty of Engineering of Osaka University.
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