3. Age Of The Mainframe (1951-1970)

Question 1

UNIVAC 1

Answer 1

• First commercial general-purpose computer
• Delivered in 1951
• Used to forecast the 1952 United States presidential election

Question 2

After 1950 computers being to get smaller

Answer 2

• Four generations of vacuum tube computer circuits, showing the reduction in size during the 1950s

Question 3

Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992)

Answer 3

• Created first Compiler because she was tired of writing machine code by hand. Greatly improved programming speed and efficiency.

Question 4

The Transistor

“Most important invention of the 20th century”

Answer 4

• Invented by Shockley, Bardeen & Brattain in 1947
at Bell Labs
• Replaced vacuum tubes, which were bulky

Question 5

Integrated Circuit

Answer 5

• invented by Jack Kilby in 1958

* Allowed placement of many transistors onto a small surface

Question 6

Transistor and Integrated Circuit

Answer 6

• This enabled computers and other electronic devices to become smaller and cheaper to build and mainta

Question 7

A Hearing Aid

Answer 7

• The first device built with transistors, in 1953
• Zenith Royal-T “tubeless” hearing aid
• A prehistoric iPod

Question 8

The Integrated Circuit (IC)

Answer 8

• Invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in 1957.
• Enabled many transistors to be grouped into a single
package.
• Lowered cost and decreased space compared to using individual transistors.
• First commercial use of the IC was in a pocket calculator in 1961.
• Today exceeding 10 billion transistors in a single package of approximately 25 square centimetres.
• Still the building blocks for all electronics today.

Question 9

IBM System / 360

Answer 9

• Introduced in 1964
• Family of computers, with compatible architecture, covering a wide price range
• Established the standard for mainframes for a decade and beyond

Question 10

Punch Card

Answer 10

• Student programmers using the IBM 026 keypuncher

Question 11

Going To The Moon

Answer 11

• Apollo space program depended on computers to calculate trajectories and control guidance
• Trajectories calculated using IBM mainframes
• Onboard guidance computer had less processing power than
modern appliances, but had auto-pilot capabilities

Question 12

Margaret Hamilton

Answer 12

• Led the team who coded programming for the guidance computer
• Considered a pioneer in software engineering

Question 13

International Business Machine (IBM)

Answer 13

• Known for commercializing early computing machines (1890s), mainframe computers (1960s), and modern servers (present)
• Also developed methods for process information to improve computing performance

Question 14

Lynn Conway

Answer 14

• 1964: designed supercomputer architecture on the Advanced
Computing Systems project
• 1968: transitioned and started new identity
• Later joined Xerox PARC, wrote defining textbook on chip design

Question 15

Gordon Bell: “The Minicomputer” Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)

Answer 15

• Developed first “mini” computers, 1960-83
• Brought computing to small business
• Created major competition for IBM, Univac, who only built mainframes
• Made Boston area first “silicon valley”

Question 16

DEC PDP Series

Answer 16

• Offered mainframe performance at a fraction of the cost
• PDP-8 introduced at $20,000 vs. $1M for a mainframe
(early 1960s dollars)

Question 17

Specialized Supercomputers

Answer 17

• First developed in the late 1970s
• High-performance systems used for scientific applications (weather forecasting, code breaking)
• Advanced special purpose designs
• Cray Research, Control Data, NEC, IBM and others

Question 18

IBM Blue Gene Supercomputer (Supercomputers Today)

Answer 18

Used for hydrodynamics, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, climate modeling and financial modeling