History Section 2 Flashcards
Why was the ENIAC first developed?
to efficiently create lots of firing tables
why could the differential analyzer not be used in making firing tables?
they broke down too much
Who proposed the ENIAC?
Goldstein, Mauchly, and Eckert
what does ENIAC stand for?
Electronic numerical integrator and computer
was the Eniac a computer or a calculator?
computer. it had decision branching
Who later became the lead team for the ENIAC/EDVAC?
Jon von Neumann
what were the three goals for the EDVAC?
- larger memory, store numbers, and perform arithmetic in binary
- store programs and data in one memory
- instructions in binary
Who gained credit for the “first draft of a report on the EDVAC”
Jon von Neumann
what was the name of the Pennsylvania University summer school?
Moore School Lectures
what computer did von Neumann make at IAS?
the IAS computer
what is von Neumann architecture?
the basis of modern computers (from ENIAC/EDVAC and Moore school lectures)
where were the first two von Neumann architecture computers built?
England
What did Fredrick Williams invent?
Williams tubes
what computer did Fredrick Williams and Max Newman make?
the Manchester Baby
what was the significance of the Manchester Baby?
first successful stored-program computer (not really functional beyond that tho)
What did the EDSAC use (as opposed to Williams tubes)?
mercury delay lines
who made the EDSAC?
Maurice Wilkes
what does EDSAC stand for?
electronic delay storage automatic computer
what business did Eckert and Mauchly make?
EMCC
what machine did EMCC develop?
UNIVAC
how much did the first UNIVAC cost?
$900,000
why did EMCC make BINAC?
to quickly make a small computer that could raise more money for the UNIVAC
who bought EMCC?
Remington Rand (got them into computers)
What did the UNIVAC use for programmability?
magnetic tapes
What publicity stunt did Remington Rand pull with the UNIVAC?
they had it calculate the winner of the Eisenhower election
how was the IBM 701 developed?
von Neumann was a consultant, so it was like the IAS computer, and it used Williams Tubes. As powerful as the UNIVAC
how is IBM 702 different from 701?
it did business processing rather than scientific stuff
what made the IBM 650 better than the 701/702?
it used magnetic drums for memory
who acquired Remington Rand?
Sperry Gyroscope. Renamed Sperry Rand
what did CDC develop?
highly specialized scientific computers
what competitors remained at the end of the 1980’s in the computer industry?
IBM, Sperry Rand, Burroughs, NCR, RCA, Honeywell, General Electric, CDC (8)
who had 65% of the market in the 60’s?
IBM
who left the computer business at the end of the 60’s?
RCA and General Electric
what was the first high level programming language?
FORTRAN
who made fortran?
IBM
what was the first computer that could use FORTRAN?
the IBM 704
What UNIVAC compiler evolved from B-0?
FLO-MATIC
what was the big difference between FLO-MATIC and FORTRAN?
flo-matic was for business and FORTRAN was for science (still more popular)
what business oriented programming language did the US government make?
COBOL
how is LISP still used?
in programming AI
what computer first merged business and science computers?
the IBM System/360
the IBM System/360 was __________ compatible
backwards and forwards
how was the System/360 compatible?
microprogramming
how was the OS/360 release?
delayed multipke times and the program was super buggy and continuously patched
who owned the ENIAC patent and tried to claim royalties on all electronic computers?
Sperry Rand
what companies combined to make Unysis?
Sperry Rand and Burroughs
What is the “stored program concept”?
refers to the computer storing both the program’s data and instructions on the same memory
