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.
Examples
- 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.
See also
- How Did the Internet Begin?
- How Does a Smartphone Recognize Your Face?
- Why Do We Use Passwords for Security?
- Why Do We Get 'The Runs' on Planes?
- How Does a Fridge Keep Food Cool?
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Categories: Technology · computing· history of technology· data storage · Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.