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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