First US Digital Computer

MaggieL · 07-01-2006, 04:39 PM

xoxoxoBruce · 07-02-2006, 01:00 AM

MaggieL · 07-02-2006, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I think the excuse is the "large-scale" and "automatic" clauses. The Mark I was indeed bigger than either Eniac or the ABC. But then it *was* made by IBM. :-)

Clearly not "the first US digital computer".

xoxoxoBruce · 07-02-2006, 08:35 PM

Atanasoff-Berry was an unreliable one trick pony.
They had some great ideas and a solid theoretical foundation, but for lack of expertise or maybe funding they couldn't pull it off before being called for the war effort.

There were several other similar machines around the world but they suffered the same limitations of being very specialized.

The Aiken-IBM was a full fledged computer that could handle any type of mathematical calculations.
IBM was hired as the contractor to build it because of their expertise in building business machinery (cash registers), but not because they knew anything about computers......that was all Aiken.

07-01-2006, 04:39 PM	#1
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	The first? Depends who you ask. __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

07-02-2006, 01:00 AM	#2
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Wikipedia says so. :p __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

07-02-2006, 08:35 PM	#4
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Atanasoff-Berry was an unreliable one trick pony. They had some great ideas and a solid theoretical foundation, but for lack of expertise or maybe funding they couldn't pull it off before being called for the war effort. There were several other similar machines around the world but they suffered the same limitations of being very specialized. The Aiken-IBM was a full fledged computer that could handle any type of mathematical calculations. IBM was hired as the contractor to build it because of their expertise in building business machinery (cash registers), but not because they knew anything about computers......that was all Aiken. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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