First Generation Electronic Computers (1937-1953)
Three machines have been promoted at different times as first electronic computers.
These machines used electronic switches, as vacuum tubes, instead of electromechanical relays. In standard the electronic switches would be more reliable, as they would have no moving parts which would wear out, but technology was still new at that time and tubes were comparable to relays in dependability.
Electronic components had one main benefit, however: they could ''open'' and ''close'' about 1,000 times faster than that of mechanical switches.