Quote:
Originally Posted by cockerpunk
probably did. the main problem with tubes as a computer is 1. they are big and heavy 2. they generate lots of heat and most importantly 3. they break a lot. the first computers had 10s of thousands of tubes, and had run times measured in hours, because the likelihood that one tube, somewhere, in the building of tubes was broken, was pretty good.
in a world where we can put a transistor every 80 nm, its hard to justify tubes in almost any sense other then if you love how not mathematically perfect they are (audio)
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First digital ones used actual mechanical relays. "Computer bug" phrase came from an actual bug caught in a relay.
As far as EMP, you can put a Faraday cage around things you want to protect.