How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap Heap

Posted on by Jerry

I am a sucker for history and historical artifacts. The IT industry does not tend to have a lot of items most people would consider relics but this “Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer” (ENIAC) has to qualify if ever a computer related device did. According to the article, the machine could “execute 5,000 instructions per second”. That is dismal compared to today’s computers and even our smart phones. The article points out “an iPhone 6, by contrast, can zip through 25 billion instructions per second”.

What really caught my eye was this account:

“Craft, who was the person most responsible for tracking down what remained of ENIAC, was on the verge of ending her search when an Army functionary dug up documents indicating that some panels had once been shipped from the Aberdeen (MD) Proving Ground to Oklahoma’s Fort Sill, home to the Army’s field artillery museum.”

I went to basic training at Fort Sill! What a cool connection. I might need to make my way back there now. God knows I have not had any reason to up until now!

An ENIAC technician changes a tube.

Read the full article here.

2,247 thoughts on “How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap Heap”

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