First Generation of Computers

What is a computer?

The most basic answer is a machine that computes data. Its four major functions are;

Input – we input data we want processed.

Process – the computer organizes the data we input.

Output – displays the organized information.

Storage – stores the organized information.

Below is an overview of the first four generations of computers.

First Generation of Computers

First Generation computers used vacuum tubes and magnetic drums for data storage. They were very large, each machine could only do the task it was manufactured for, their failure rates were high and their reliability was low. Vacuum tubes created a large amount of heat that sometimes caused these computers to break down.

Courtesy of the-eniac.com

ENIAC – Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer was designed by John Presper Eckert and John W Mauchly in a joint project between the University of Pennsylvania and the US Government. It was a general purpose computer made up of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 7,000 resistor, cost half a million dollars (nearly 6 million dollars by today’s calculations) and consumed so much power (150-160 kW) that it was rumored to dim the lights of Philadelphia when it was turned on. It was unveiled in 1946 and its purpose was to calculate artillery firing tables for the Unites States Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratories.

Courtesy of ftp.arl.army.mil

EDVAC – Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer – designed by John von Neumann as a part of a team from the University Pennsylvania that included the designers of ENIAC. This computer operated on a binary language, could store programs as well as data and unlike the ENIAC it allowed for all of the computers functions to come from a single source.

Courtesy of blog.computedby.com

UNIVAC – Universal Automatic Computer – was designed for business and administrative purposes. UNIVAC was also designed by Eckert and Mauchly and in 1951 was sold to the US Census Bureau. The fifth UNIVAC built helped CBS predict the 1952 presidential election.

Glossary