Probably rate of burnout and heat. But this was common to all vacuum tube computers, not just Colossus.
The Colossus computer worked using one to two thousand thermionic valves.
a
Well, honey, the Colossus computer had 2,400 vacuum tubes, which could be considered as valves in a way. So, if you want to get technical, you could say there were 2,400 "valves" in the Colossus computer. But hey, who's counting?
The simple answer is none. The Transistor wasn't invented until 1947, some 2 years after the end of World War 2.However, what they used instead, were Vacuum Tubes (also known as thermionic valves).The first true, software programmable computer was named Colossus and was built by the British to decode secret codes being used by Germany during World War 2. The code-breaking operation was so secret that the building of Colossus was only finally made public in the early 1970's !"Colossus Mark 1 contained 1,500 electronic valves (tubes). Colossus Mark 2 with 2,400 valves was both 5 times faster and simpler to operate than Mark 1, greatly speeding the decoding process"This is a quote from this site for more informationhttp:/www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Colossus_computer#encyclopedia
The colossus computer is a very old computer. It was the first electronic, digital and programmable computer. It was made in 1943 and used to solve a problem proposed by mathematician Max Newman.
they were huge and you needed loads
Probably rate of burnout and heat. But this was common to all vacuum tube computers, not just Colossus.
The Colossus computer worked using one to two thousand thermionic valves.
Reliability and heat were the main problems. Valves were fragile devices that, due to the relatively primitive way they were manufactured, failed pretty quickly. In addition to that, they gave off vast amounts of heat. This meant they needed expensive air-conditioning systems to keep their temperature down.
The two main problems with the valves in the Colossus were their tendency to stick and their susceptibility to overheating. The design of the valves made them prone to mechanical failures, which could lead to reduced performance and reliability in the machine. Additionally, the high temperatures generated during operation exacerbated these issues, further impacting the overall functionality of the Colossus.
Colossus was a very large computer that used valves - a far cry from a modern desktop computer. It was used to help break the German's Enigma Code.
The Colossus was built using thermionic valves, thyratrons, relays and stepping switches.The Colossus Mark 1 used about 1600 valves and the Colossus Mark 2 used about 2400 valves. After the Colossus Mark 2 was in production and use the single Colossus Mark 1 was briefly shutdown and upgraded to a Colossus Mark 2. Five of the ten Colossus machines also had a device called the "gadget" that aided in a process called "rectangling", the number of additional valves added to each of these enhanced Colossus Mark 2 machines is unknown.
using valves
using valves
Reliability and heat were the main problems. Valves were fragile devices that, due to the relatively primitive way they were manufactured, failed pretty quickly. In addition to that, they gave off vast amounts of heat. This meant they needed expensive air-conditioning systems to keep their temperature down.
Because - when Colossus was built (in 1943), microchips had yet to be invented ! Microchips replaced valves and transistors in newer computers.
A variety of methods were employed, from electromechanical telephone relays (Zuse KG Z3) to thermionic valves (ABC, Colossus, etc).