Lecture 3

Question 1

Why were sounds used in computing?

Answer 1

• Announcing the program was terminated
• Auditive monitoring (it works)
• Specific navigation within a program
• Part of the instruction (Knowing where in the program the computer currently is)

Question 2

Examples of sounds

Answer 2

EDSAC built by Maurice Wilkes

Question 3

UNIVAC and sound

Answer 3

The UNIVAC has a “stall speaker” button. Speaker was on by default.

Question 4

Transistor machines and sound

Answer 4

Machines built with transistors did not make sound so usually engineers put in speakers to be able to listen in.

Question 5

Sounds now

Answer 5

Used in games, software, music

Question 6

When did programming start being used as a verb?

Answer 6

1948

Question 7

Other words for programming

Answer 7

Plugging, pseudo coding, assembling, autocoding

Question 8

When did programming languages become a metaphor?

Answer 8

1960s. language which computer translated into wiring

Question 9

What did Bolter say about technology becoming ubiquitous?

Answer 9

In his 1984 book “Defining Technology”, he said that once a technology becomes ubiquitous enough, the words used to describe it start being used to describe everyday life.

Question 10

Odhner

Answer 10

St Petersburg (1873)
wide range of efficient and well-respected machines being sold all over Europe

Question 11

Atvidaberg Industrie

Answer 11

Swden (1920)
produced very successful calculating machines and eventually changed their name to Facit
Went bankrupt in 1970 and were bought by Electrolux
Failed to innovate after WW2

Question 12

Zuse KG

Answer 12

Germany
Konrad Zuse
Producing partly mechanical computing machines
Successful in obtaining contracts from the German government because they wanted to support an all-German computer
Sold to Siemens AG in 1967

Question 13

Ferranti

Answer 13

Great Britain
Commercialised the Manchester Baby
Remained in business into the 1980s

Question 14

Bull

Answer 14

France
Sold office machinery in France in the 1930s
After the war it went into electronic computers (Gamma 3 and 6)
Machines meant for serving administration and serving in automatic business
French govt bought Bull products
1962 became too difficult to compete with IBM
1968 Honeywell took over Bull

Question 15

Electrologica

Answer 15

Netherlands
A design of the ARMAC that was put into commercial use (1956)
Produced by the Mathematical Centre
The Dutch Machine
Electrologica X1 was in competition with IBM’s sales force. Functioned great, directed towards the scientific field
Successful in the science field but failed to move into the administration business
Bought by Philips in 1966

Question 16

Regnecentralen

Answer 16

Denmark (1955)
Successful range of computers that were sold with stocks (which encouraged customers to buy Regnecentralen)
Provided software adapted to the client’s needs
Taken over by International Computers Limited in 1989

Question 17

International Computers Limited

Answer 17

Great Britain (1968)
Merger of a number of smaller computer manufacturers
Successful in selling IBM-compatible systems
Still in business under the name Fujitsu who bought them in 2002

Question 18

What did Antonin Svoboda and Vaclav Hruska do together?

Answer 18

They designed the SAPO in 1951 in Czechoslovakia which could perform huge calculations. In 1957, the SAPO was produced but it was not a great success. They then released EPOS in 1959. It was built from transistors and was an improvement upon the SAPO.

Question 19

Why was Svoboda’s progress slowed down?

Answer 19

He had been to the UK and the US so the communist Czechoslovakian government did not trust him.

Question 20

IBM and the European dwarves

Answer 20

• European companies were playing a role until the 1980s
• Funded by European companies
• Their mistake was building scientific machines and not realising that administration was a huge market while IBM was already leading in that market
• 1960: 60% of machines in Europe were IBM. 90% of machines in Europe were not European