First Generation

First Generation Computers (1946-1958*): Vacuum Tube Based Computers

The first generation of computers utilized vacuum tubes and magnetic drums as the main components for circuitry and memory. The first generation of computers were massive, often taking up entire rooms (and were obviously non-portable). They were incredibly expensive to build, maintain and functionally operate. Not only did they use massive amounts of energy, but they generated a lot of heat which often caused costly malfunctions, and required large air conditioning units. These computers were found to be unreliable. The incredible cost made it so that they could only be afforded by very large organizations. These computers

Punched cards, paper tape, magnetic tape were the input/output devices used. Computers of the first generation relied on machine language, the lowest-level programming understood by computers. In first generation computers, the operating instructions or programs were specifically built for the task for which computer was manufactured. The Machine language was the only way to tell these machines to perform the operations. There was great difficulty to program these computers and more when there were some malfunctions. Computers such as these could only solve one problem at a time.

The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The first commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951, was the UNIVAC.

Some computers of this generation were:

• ENIAC – In February of 1946, the public got its first glimpse of the ENIAC, a machine built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert that improved by 1,000 times on the speed of its contemporaries.
  

  Start of project:	1943
  Completed:	1946
  Programmed:	plug board and switches
  Speed:	5,000 operations per second
  Input/output:	cards, lights, switches, plugs
  Floor space:	1,000 square feet
  Project leaders:	John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert

• UNIVAC I – In 1951, the UNIVAC I was delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau and was the first commercial computer to attract widespread public attention. Although manufactured by Remington Rand, the machine often was mistakenly referred to as the “IBM UNIVAC.” Remington Rand eventually sold 46 machines at more than $1 million each.F.O.B. factory $750,000 plus $185,000 for a high speed printer.
  

  Speed:	1,905 operations per second
  Input/output:	magnetic tape, unityper, printer
  Memory size:	1,000 12-digit words in delay lines
  Memory type:	delay lines, magnetic tape
  Technology:	serial vacuum tubes, delay lines, magnetic tape
  Floor space:	943 cubic feet
  Cost:	F.O.B. factory $750,000 plus $185,000 for a high speed printer
  Project leaders:	J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly

 

*Please note: the exact time frame of years mentioned for each generation is subject to some scrutiny, exact dates vary from source to source. For the consistency of this project, I have used the dates from the textbook being utilized in Class: Technology In Action, Complete (10th Edition) by Alan Evans, Kendall Martin (Author), Mary Anne Poatsy (Author)