The Rise of Automation and Computation In the early 20th century, the increase in population, global trade, and scientific advancements led to a need for automation. Electro-mechanical computers were developed but had limitations such as slow switching speed and wear. The introduction of vacuum tubes provided faster switching capabilities.
From Vacuum Tubes to Electronic Computing "Colossus Mk 1" was built using vacuum tubes for code-breaking during World War II. ENIAC became the first general-purpose electronic computer with improved speed and arithmetic capabilities. However, vacuum tube-based computing faced reliability issues.
The Transistor Revolution Transistors were invented in 1947 by Bell Labs scientists Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley. They replaced bulky vacuum tubes with solid-state components that could switch states thousands of times per second at smaller sizes.The development of transistors led to smaller and cheaper computers like IBM's transistor-powered model released in 1957.