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Early computers had limited memory and used punch cards for input. They were built to solve specific problems and had minimal processing capacity. The Atanasoff-Berry computer introduced concepts still used today. Without early computers, modern technology may not be as advanced.
Memory is the lifeblood of many computers manufactured today. Operating systems and other applications built to enhance the user experience and provide instant access to word processing and Internet browsers require increasing amounts of memory to create the user experience that many of us are used to.
It wasn’t always like this; however, early computers were often very large and had minimal processing capacity. The input mechanism was a series of paper tabs that the user had to punch through to represent the data the computer was to process. These early computers were built to work on specific problems or solve certain types of equations and not much else.
Early computers used punch cards for input and had very limited memory for processing. The average memory in early computers was between three and forty-five kilobits. Memory was used to store data in processing the linear equations and the results were then printed out in binary format.
Compared to the computers available today, early computers don’t look very technologically advanced, but at the time these early computers were created they were engineering marvels. Many of the concepts created during the construction of the first computers are still used in modern computer technology.
The Atanasoff-Berry computer, considered the first computer ever, introduced three concepts – using binary digits to represent all data, computing calculations with electronic rather than mechanical components, and separate processing and storage – used in computers available today. The ABC had a whopping 3000 bits of memory which allowed it to process sixty items at once. Other early computers had more memory, some going up to forty-five kilobits, which allowed them to process many more words of data in a shorter amount of time, increasing the overall processing speed of the system.
Memory in early computers was one of the few little things about them, compared to what we have available today. The size of these early computers was very large, usually as large as a desk or even a room.
Over the past fifty to sixty years, the technology introduced in early computers has been overshadowed by start buttons, word processors, and wireless phones that do everything from making calls to browsing the Internet with seemingly endless gigabits of memory at their disposal. Without early computers and their ability to do simple calculations, the technology we use today may not be as advanced as it has become.
