memory of the first computers.?

Question

about how much memory did the first computers have?

Answer 1

The first computer I had contained a whoppin' 16k of memory!!!

It was a Texas Instruments TI994A...

Answer 2

In 1985 or so my Kaypro II with CP/M had 64 k which was more than adequate. I don't know if CP/M could have made use of more memory, probably not. The office that I subsequently worked in (1988 or so) had Tandy machines with I think 32 K. It took a lot of effort to convince the office manager to break loose and buy some real laptops.

Answer 3

It is difficult to answer this question because (1) you haven't specified what type of computer you want to know about, and (2) it will be difficult to pin down what the first "computer" was.

However, on Wikipedia I found the following information:

In June 1951, the UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) was delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau. Although manufactured by Remington Rand, the machine often was mistakenly referred to as the "IBM UNIVAC". Remington Rand eventually sold 46 machines at more than $1 million each. UNIVAC was the first 'mass produced' computer; all predecessors had been 'one-off' units. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power. It used a mercury delay line capable of storing 1,000 words of 11 decimal digits plus sign (72-bit words) for memory. Unlike IBM machines it was not equipped with a punch card reader but 1930s style metal magnetic tape input, making it incompatible with some existing commercial data stores. High speed punched paper tape and modern-style magnetic tapes were used for input/output by other computers of the era.

Answer 4

The first hard drive was 5 meg, consisted of 5 platters about 40 inches wide and the drive itself weighed around 300 pounds. Before hard drives, computers stored data on reel to reel tapes.

Answer 5

Not alot.....My first computer was an ABACUS....remember using it in my cot to count how many bombs were falling (1944)