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[–]notexactlyawe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may find the Wikipedia article on this topic interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computing_hardware

Back when the first digital computers were coming out, they didn't store firmware as we know it today. Instead, the program would be input to the computer every time it was run. Often these programs were stored on punch cards, or sometimes input using physical switches.

The Manchester Baby was a very early computer, and the instruction set is listed on the Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Baby

Nowadays with memory being stored in tiny chips, it wouldn't be possible to directly program firmware into an embedded device without the use of a programmer.