The period of first generation was from 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 the installations used to fuse frequently. Therefore, they were
very expensive and only large organizations were able to afford it.

In this generation, mainly batch processing operating system was used. Punch cards, paper tape, and
magnetic tape was used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used machine
code as the programming language.

First Generation

The main features of the first generation are −

Vacuum tube technology

Unreliable

Supported machine language only

Very costly

Generated a lot of heat

Slow input and output devices

Huge size

Need of ACNon-portable
Consumed a lot of electricity

Some computers of this generation were −

ENIAC

EDVAC

UNIVAC

IBM-701

IBM-650

FIRST GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

During the period of 1940 to 1956 first generation of computers were developed. The first generation
computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous,
taking up entire rooms. The vacuum tube was developed by Lee DeForest.

A vacuum tube is a device generally used to amplify a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in
an evacuated space. First generation computers 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.

CHARACTERISTICS

1) First generation computers were based on vacuum tubes.

2) The operating systems of the first generation computers were very slow.

3) They were very large in size.

4) Production of the heat was in large amount in first generation computers.

5) Machine language was used for programming.

6) First generation computers were unreliable.

7) They were difficult to program and use.

UNIVAC, EDVAC, EDSAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first generation computing devices.

UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first commercially general

purpose electronic computer. John Eckert and John Mauchly at the Moore
School of Engineering, Pennsylvania developed it in 1951. It was used for the
analysis of 1952 Presidential Election in the United States. It was 8 feet high, 15 feet long and weighed 5
tons. It contained 5600 tubes, 18000 crystal diodes, and 300 relays. A magnetic tape was used for data
input and output.

EDVAC

Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC)

John Mauchly and J.P. Eckert also proposed the development of EDVAC. The
conceptual design for EDVAC electronic computer to use the stored program
concept introduced by John Von Neumann. Unlike the ENIAC, it used binary
number rather than decimal. The University of Pennsylvania built the EDVAC
for the U.S. Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory at the Aberdeen Proving
Ground. EDVAC had almost 6000 vacuum tubes and 12000 diodes. It consumed 56kW of power. It
covered 490 feet square of floor and weighed 7850kg.
 EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) was developed by a
group of scientists, headed by Professor Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge
University, England, in 1949. It was also based on the stored program concept
and one of the first to use binary digits. The input and output were provided
by a paper tape. It could do about 700 additions per second and 200
multiplications per second. The machine occupied a room, which measured
5/4 meters.

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) was designed by

John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert in 1946 at the Moore School of
Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania. It was the first electronic
computer. ENIAC was initially built for the United States military to calculate
the paths of artillery shells. It contained 18000 vacuum tubes, 7200 crystal
diodes, 1500 relays, 70000 resistors, 10000 capacitors and around 5 million hand-soldered joints. It
weighed nearly 30 tons and consumed 160 kW of power. Input was possible from an IBM card reader
while an IBM punch card was used for output.