The period of first generation was 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 were prone to frequent fusing of the installations, therefore, were very expensive and could be afforded only by very large organisations. In this generation mainly batch processing operating system were used. Punched cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape were used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine code as programming language.
The main features of first generation are:
- Vacuum tube technology
- Unreliable
- Supported machine language only
- Very costly
- Generated lot of heat
- Slow input and output devices
- Huge size
- Need of A.C.
- Non-portable
- Consumed lot of electricity
Some computers of this generation were:
- ENIAC
- EDVAC
- UNIVAC
- IBM-701
- IBM-650
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