The original PC era spanned from 1946-1959 and utilized vacuum tubes rather than transistors. The largest PC of this era was the ENIAC which weighed 30 tons and utilized over 17,000 vacuum tubes. It consumed huge amounts of energy and generated significant heat. Programming these first computers was very difficult as the programs had to be rewired by changing the computer's plugboards. Despite weaknesses like high energy usage and low speeds, these first computers demonstrated that general-purpose computing was possible and led to improvements in later generations using semiconductors.