How Did the First Computers Store Data?

The first computers stored data using switches and magnets. Imagine a big box full of tiny lights that could be on or off, like a nightlight you can turn on or off with your finger. That’s how they remembered numbers and letters in the beginning.

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A computer could remember numbers by turning on or off a set of lights like in a board game.
Magnetic tape is like a record player, it plays back information by reading tiny magnetic dots.
Early computers used as many as 18,000 vacuum tubes to store and process data.

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Categories: Technology · computing,history of technology,data storage