This is only a small section of the ENIAC, the world's first digital computer. It employed 18,000 vacuum tubes, and had 2,000 manual switches on it that needed to be turned on in order to perform calculations. It could drain the energy out of an entire city while it was in operation.
Things have come a long way since then. Being able to appreciate the technology we have now is important, and being able to use and understand it is quintessential in this modern age. This class is the first step to achieving this goal.
Image from Google Images.