First Generation of Computers

VACUUM TUBES

The vacuum tubes 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.

The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms.

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.