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I had always assumed that the first computers were like current
computers, just using relays or whatever instead of transisters, and
with vastly inferior specifications.
However, it appears that this isn't the case.
For example, I thought they all used latch circuits for memory, but
apparently not. There were things like core memory, which I'd never
heard of. Presumably it's faster and cheaper to make core memory as
opposed to wiring up thousands of latch circuits?
Another example. According to legend, there was a time when if you
wanted to run a program, you used a machine not unlike a typewriter to
punch holes into a card. You "type in" the program onto punch cards like
this, and only once the entire program and all its data has been punched
do you even go near the actual *computer*. You feed the cards into a
reader. It reads them all, and then spends the next six months running
the program. Finally, you get a stack of new punched cards representing
the results.
Does anybody know approximately when this time was?
For that matter, does anybody have a broad timeline of when various
technologies were in use? What are the dates for things like core
memory, drum memory, punch cards, magnetic tape, relays, vacuum tubes,
transistors, ICs, etc?
Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
switches rather than some other medium?
Was there ever a "punched tape" medium similar to punch cards?
Similarly, you hear people talk about the VAX, the PDP, the varouis IBM
mainframes and Cray supercomputers. Does anybody know the timeline for
these, the technologies used and the basic design and performance details?
(Sure, you can look up individual questions on Wikipedia, but the
articles tend to contain huge amounts of minute detail about specific
things. I'm trying to get a general overview of an entire era.)
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