1. Computer Architecture in the 1950s

In the 1950s, computers were massive machines that took up entire rooms. Their architecture included racks of vacuum tubes, magnetic tapes, mechanical relays, and hundreds of meters of wiring. Examples of such machines include ENIAC, UNIVAC I, IBM 701, and other early electronic computers. The machines could weigh tens of tons, consume tens of kilowatts, and require industrial fans for cooling. Such computing centers were designed specifically for each machine, including power, ventilation, and fire safety infrastructure.

2. Programming Before Keyboards and Screens

At the dawn of the computing era, there were no screens, keyboards, or conventional operating systems. Programs were entered using punched cards — rectangular paper media in which each punched hole corresponded to an instruction or unit of data. An alternative method of programming was panel switching - manual adjustment of logic by connecting wires in specific configurations on special patch panels. Thus, changing the logic of the program required physical intervention and took a significant amount of time. The code was written in machine instructions or low-level assembler. High-level languages such as Fortran and COBOL would not appear until the late 1950s.

3. Running programs: a process requiring precision and patience

The process of running a program in the era before personal computers was strictly regulated. It required preparing the equipment: loading data from magnetic tape or punched cards, setting the register configuration, checking the power supply and the state of the components. An error in one punched card could lead to a failure of the entire program, which required a complete restart. In addition, machines were often started at night to minimize external electromagnetic interference and ensure the stability of the voltage in the network.

4. Hardware failures and “bugs” in the literal sense of the word

Most computers of those years worked on vacuum tubes, each of which had a limited service life. The failure of even one tube could lead to a complete stop of the program or damage to data. There is a well-known case from 1947, when a moth was found in a relay in one of the machines (Harvard Mark II), which caused a failure. This discovery was recorded in the work log and became the first documented entry of a “bug” - hence the modern meaning of the term. Software engineers often acted as adjusters: with a soldering iron, a screwdriver and diagnostic circuits, they eliminated hardware faults during work.

5. The value of computing and contribution to scientific and technological progress

Despite the complexity, limitations and resource intensity, even short-term operation of machines of that time made it possible to solve problems that were previously unattainable: calculating ballistic trajectories, modeling nuclear processes, analyzing climate data and cryptographic schemes. These calculations were of strategic importance in the military, aerospace and scientific fields. Programmers and engineers worked at the intersection of mathematics, physics and mechanical engineering, effectively forming a new engineering discipline – computer science.

6. From machine rooms to pocket devices

Technological evolution led to the miniaturization and complexity of computing devices. From punch cards and vacuum tube machines, humanity moved on to integrated circuits, microprocessors and personal computers. Today, devices with a computing power exceeding ENIAC by millions of times fit in your pocket.