Powering up a module from the IBM 604: an electronic calculator from 1948

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The IBM 604 Electronic Calculating Punch, introduced in 1948, was a programmable calculator that used vacuum tubes, making it more powerful than earlier electromechanical equipment.
It featured pluggable modules, an innovation that simplified maintenance, allowed mass production, and became a key component in IBM's later vacuum-tube computers.
The 604 used thyratron tubes, which could handle high currents and acted as switches, staying on until power was cut, unlike standard vacuum tubes.
Despite lacking computer features like loops, memory, and stored programs, the IBM 604 was highly successful, with over 5,600 units produced, and led to IBM's subsequent computer developments.
The 604 evolved into the Card-Programmed Electronic Calculator and later influenced the IBM 650, which became the most popular computer of the 1950s.

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