The name of the first computer in the world. When did the very first computer appear? Principles of operation of computers by Konrad Zuse

04.10.2023 -

It is no longer possible to imagine life without a computer, it has become so deeply integrated into the spheres of activity. The computer is used by both first grade students and developers of new technologies; it helps optimize the work process and stores a huge amount of information, although outwardly it is a compact device. Computer technologies have helped facilitate the process of data processing and protect personal information from public access.

True, with such significant advantages of computers, there is also something that worries people extremely, this mainly concerns parents. The emergence of computer games, especially with improved graphics, causes addiction in children, most often of school age. In this case, parents are forced to literally “wage war” with the computer or even abandon it altogether, returning the child to the real world.

But computers were not always distinguished by speed of information processing, high-quality graphics and compact dimensions. So let's remember what the first computer looked like when the PC was invented, and what the first computer game was.

The first computer in the world

The very first programmable computer was introduced to the world on February 14, 1946 in the United States of America - ENIAC. It weighed 30 tons and contained 18,000 vacuum tubes. True, the speed of the machine was only 5,000 operations per second. In total, this computer model worked for 9 years.

Of course, before 1946, work was underway to create computers, and even suitable options were presented, but they were not brought to practical use.

For example, in 1912, the Russian scientist A. Krylov developed a machine for solving differential equations.

Then, in 1927, the first analog computer was invented in the United States, and in 1938, German engineer Konrad Zuse created a programmable mechanical digital model of the Z1 computer, but it was a trial one and underwent a number of upgrades. Already in 1941, the 3rd version of the machine appeared - Z3, which more closely resembled a modern computer than others, but still required modifications.

In 1942, the creation of the ABC electronic digital computer also continued in the United States, but the model was not completed because the developer, John Atanasoff, was drafted into the army. The unfinished model was studied by John Mauchly and began to create his own computer, ENIAC, and in 1946 the scientist completed many years of work. Mauchly's ENIAC was a computer that performed tasks assigned to the computer and had the binary number system on which modern computers are built.

The first computer was developed to solve problems in war conditions and was used by the United States Army. The main goal was to automate calculations during bombing by artillery and aviation. And if earlier numerous departments were created for calculations using slide rules, then with the creation of computers the need for calculations in such a slow and complex way disappeared.

History of the creation of a personal computer (PC)

Of course, the creation of computers was the first impetus for the creation of personal computers, but still each of them had an individual direction in development.

As already noted, computers were created primarily for the needs of the army, moreover, their prices were inflated ($4000-5000), and the sizes of the computers were too large. Therefore, the idea of creating a personal computer appeared quite soon. Already in 1968, the Soviet engineer A. A. Gorokhov thought about creating a “Programmable Intellectual Device”, which contained a motherboard, a video card, an input device and memory. However, Gorokhov did not receive funding, and the project remained only in drawings.

Determining the exact date of the appearance of the PC in practice turned out to be difficult, since not only scientists, but also amateurs sought to create it, after microcircuits and microprocessors became publicly available in the 70s of the 20th century. But it is reliably known that in 1975, the first serial PC was presented to the world - the Altair 8800. True, outwardly it was a construction kit made up of individual blocks and circuits, but still, according to its characteristics, experts classify it as a personal computer.

In 1976, a PC was released aimed at mass sale and use - Apple I. Only a monitor was not included with the new personal computer; otherwise, all the components of the modern model were already present in the Apple computer. Already in 1977, this drawback was eliminated, and the company began to produce models with its own monitors.

In 1981, another computer company, IBM, introduced a new PC model, the IBM 5150, and also this year the first personal computer in the Soviet Union, the NTs-8010, appeared. But none of these models included a computer mouse. It appeared only as part of a new PC developed by Apple in 1983 - the Apple Lisa.

True, this model was so expensive that it was not widespread. Given the previous failure, in 1984 Apple released an improved Macintosh model, which became so successful that its device was used as the basis for a modern personal computer.

The world's first game on a computer

The first computer game appeared in 1962, the developers were programmers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the idea belonged to Steve Russell and Martin Graetz, who, when they met, agreed on the basis of their passion for science fiction. The game was created in their free time, first the programmers wrote the program itself, and then brought it to life within a month.

As a result, the first computer game was created, called Spacewar. It was a battle between 2 spaceships that fired missiles at each other. The game was created on the basis of the PDP-1 processor, which performed 100,000 operations per second and had 9 KB of RAM.

The first computer game "Spaceawars"

The game proceeded as follows: a map was displayed on the display, representing the starry sky on which warships were located. Opponents controlled them using keyboards and joysticks. The number of missiles to be fired was strictly limited, and there were only 2 ways to maneuver away from the enemy - spinning around the stars, avoiding the shot, or making a hyperjump - during which the ship disappeared from the battlefield for a second and suddenly appeared at another point on the map.

Steve Russell and Martin Graetz play "Spaceawars"

Although Spaceawars was also the first commercial game, it did not bring any income to the creators, although it did bring fame and honor in the narrow circles of programmers. But subsequent similar computer games have already become popular and bring great profits to the creators. By the way, one of the versions of Spacewar is still housed in the collection of the Computer Museum History Center in California.

Today, research shows that computer games, when properly selected and used correctly, even have a positive effect on the development of children. The developers pay attention to games aimed at developing logical thinking and coordination, and winning such games develops the child’s self-confidence in the future.

But as already noted, not all computer games lead to the development of strong qualities in a child, and excessive hobby definitely has a negative impact on both health and psyche. It is, of course, wrong to completely abandon games, but it is worth stocking up on alternative ways to attract the attention of children in order to interest them in the outside world.

The first computer, the first personal computer and even the first computer game were captured in photographs and have survived to this day; they are easy to find on the Internet in the public domain. A large number of interesting and informative films on this topic have also been made, for example, a film from Discovery, which is posted on the YouTube channel.

In modern society, it is difficult to imagine life without such a unique thing as a computer. Models and types of modern computers surprise us with their capabilities, compact dimensions, design... But first computers were not like that at all.

Modern PCs, thanks to certain programs, can work wonders in absolutely any sphere of social activity. Graphics, editing text, audio and video files, 3D modeling, broadcasting images and many other functions now seem to be commonplace for machine operation. However, this was not always the case. To present a complete picture, we propose to consider the most well-known facts from the history of electronic computers.

Photo: www-mynet-com-demo.sitemod.io

Performing various calculations has long played a vital role. For these purposes, various devices were used. However, the first representative of computing devices was the abacus, which first appeared in the Middle Kingdom. Other ancient states used analogues of the Chinese invention.

Ancient Greek abacus is a processed plank with grooves for stones. In ancient Rome, they began to use a device made of marble. In Rus', abacuses were used for this purpose, which are still kept in the homes of some grandmothers today. Perhaps it's just a tribute to memory or habit.

Many centuries later, the first prerequisites for improving technology and the emergence of new computing devices appeared. So, in 1642, the initiator was the French mathematician B. Pascal. Thanks to his work, the first arithmetic machine was manufactured. Its operating principle is based on gears. The device made it possible to add even decimal numbers, which was definitely a breakthrough in this area. The inventor was proud of his brainchild and argued that the manipulations performed by the machine are closer to thought than, for example, the actions of animals.

Photo: znaimo.com.ua

The minds of the entire Old and New World were focused on the issue of creating computing devices. In 1673, another new product of that time was presented in Germany. The German mathematician Leibniz created a machine with a more complex algorithm of actions. His brainchild was already able to perform basic mathematical calculations.

The year 1823 was marked by the emergence of a new project. It is associated with the name of Charles Babbage, who put forward the idea of creating a universal calculating machine, which would be based on a clear automated algorithm - a program. Perhaps, thanks to England, a new period in the development of computer technology began. However, despite all efforts to achieve the goal, the idea was not destined to come true.

To create such a device, a special programming language was developed. Its author is Ada Lovelace, after whom it was named. To produce the device, special components were needed that were impossible to purchase at that time. However, by 1940, it was still possible to create a similar computer operating on an electromechanical relay and on the principle of mathematical logic.

Photo: dost.baria-vungtau.gov.vn

The 40s of the 20th century were marked by a rapid leap in history computer engineering. In parallel with the release of software for calculations, the world's first electronic computer appeared, the operation of which was based on radio tubes.

In the USA, John Mauchly and J. PresperEckert the following year, after the end of World War II, presented a new invention called Eniac, in the creation of which John von Neumann participated. Thanks to his merits, the main components of the computer were adopted. They continue to form the basis of modern computers.

Initially, the computer was created for the needs of the army. It was supposed to be at the disposal of the armed forces in order to calculate the ballistic trajectory of projectiles and create new ballistic tables. All kinds of resources and departments were involved in the development of the project to speed up the process. However, it was approved only in 1943. In this regard, the model was released in the post-war period. But despite this, the computer has proven itself well in many civilian industries.

Photo: vilne.org.ua

Work on the creation of computers was also carried out in other countries. Thus, in England, a prototype of a computer appeared in 1949. The USSR presented two versions of the miracle of technology at once: in the 50th year of the 20th century, a small electronic computer appeared, and two years later, a larger variation of it appeared.

The first computers required a lot of effort to operate - a large number of workers serviced only one machine. Moreover, the maintenance of such equipment implied large financial costs due to the frequent failure of electronic tubes, which were expensive and located on devices in large quantities. In addition, the dimensions of the first computers were so large that they occupied an entire room. Therefore, they became available only to a few organizations.

By 1948, a solution was found to replace vacuum tubes with more compact transistors and memory-providing circuits operating on magnetic cores. This innovation made it possible to significantly reduce the size of the machine. Already in the 60s, a more compact version of the PDP-8 technology was introduced. It was produced by DigitalEquipment.

Photo: encontreaquinoreca.com

Another innovator was an employee of Texas Instruments. At work, he came up with the idea of creating an integrated circuit from semiconductors. Jack Kilby decided to place all the elements of the circuit on one board. Having put forward his proposal to his superiors, he received approval.

The first prototype looked nondescript and was a thin product made of germanium with built-in elements of an electrical circuit that served to convert direct current into alternating current. The connections of the parts were made using hanging wires, for the manufacture of which metal was used. This model was made by hand by the inventor, but it made an impression and, after some modifications, serial production was planned.

The company was in no hurry to patent the invention. Only on February 6, 1959, the patent was completed. Oddly enough, there were many rumors surrounding the development of computer technology - due to great competition, everyone was in a hurry to be the first to announce their inventions. For Texas Instruments, such a competitor was RCA.

However, Robert Noyce from California, a representative of Fairchild Semiconductor, also proposed a similar idea and in the spring of the same year he rushed to patent his invention. Here, unlike Kilby, the connection of the system components in the circuit was thought out in more detail. Despite many disputes, or perhaps to avoid them, in 1966 both inventors recognized equal rights in the use of copyright.

Photo: deluxebattery.com

Integrated circuits are the most important step towards computer personalization. To implement this plan, it remained to solve the issue of reducing the size of the processor. Based on the same chip, inventor Hoff created a miniature copy of the brain of a large computer. However, unlike its predecessor, the microprocessor's capabilities were very modest.

The process of improvement has begun. Intel began manufacturing processors for new computers. Since 1970, the invention has undergone a number of changes. In the shortest possible time, the Intel-4004, which processed only 4 bits of information, was replaced by the Intel-8008 and Intel-8080 - 8-bit.

In 1974, several companies decided to invent a new mini-computer using the modern Intel-8008 processor. They argued that this machine would perform the actions that a mainframe computer was capable of. The year 1975 was marked by the appearance of the first new PC, the Altair-8800, running “under the guidance” of the Intel-8080 microprocessor.

Photo: csef.ru

It is worth noting an important fact: chronologically, Altair was not the earliest device among representatives of computer technology. Already in 1974, two models of computers Scelbi-8H and Mark-8 were released. However, due to historical injustice and lack of financial support, these models remained in experimental status and were not put into production.

The MITS company, which released the IBMAltair-8800, supplied new machines by mail in the form of component parts, that is, for further operation it was necessary to independently solder all the components of the device. When assembled, the machine was a block with toggle switches and light indicators. To work with it, it was necessary to study the binary coding system in the form of combinations of ones and zeros. In addition, the amount of RAM was only 256 bytes.

The inventor of this miracle was Ed Roberts. However, he could not even imagine that his invention would be in widespread demand among the population. Roberts expected to deliver up to 200 units per year to the market, but this figure was exceeded on the first day of orders.

Photo: preobr.vaonews.ru

The original invention lacked many devices, such as a disk drive. However, this did not prevent the invention from being in great demand. Later, IBM owners began to independently supply the computer with additional components, for example, a monitor. Paul Allen and Bill Gates composed "Basic" in 1975. This interpreter made it possible to significantly facilitate the user’s communication with the computer.

Over time, computers began to be produced complete with input/output devices. The use of programming languages has also made it possible to create specialized programs that perform specific tasks. For example, in 1978, the well-known text editor WordStar was released.
It was observed that in many areas of activity the new machines coped well with the tasks performed by mainframe computers. Demand for the improved Altair has increased significantly. Along with this, large computers, as well as their mini-versions, began to be needed less. This fact caused concern to the main manufacturer and supplier of computers at that time - International Business Machines Corporation.

Photo: rcp.ijs.si

As an experiment, the company decides to produce personal computers. Since there was little time to develop something completely new, and it would cost a lot of money, a decision was made to use ready-made blocks and components.

In August 1981, the IBMPC was introduced. There were fears that there would be a demand for it, but despite this, the company simply did not have time to produce the first computers that were already similar to modern ones.

The then latest 16-bit microprocessor Intel-8088 was used as the main component of the computer. Thanks to this, the amount of RAM was increased to 1 MB. Another innovation was the use of software from Microsoft.

Modern technologies do not stand still. Every day more and more new models appear on the market. The first computers are now gathering dust in museums. However, all the superiorities of computer technology now available are the merit of many years of work and experience.

That's all for us . We are very glad that you visited our website and spent a little time to gain new knowledge.

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The computer era came into our lives relatively recently. Literally 100 years ago, people did not know what a computer was, although its most distant predecessor, the abacus, appeared in ancient Babylon 3000 BC.

The first person to come up with the first digital computing machine was Blaise Pascal in 1642. It all started with this discovery...

In geometric progression, humanity strived for the computer era, creating more and more new computers that performed more and more complex functions. And in 1938, the first trial mechanical programmable machine Z1 was created, on the basis of which in 1941 the same person created the first computer Z3, which has all the properties of a modern computer. The man who created this first mechanical computer was the German engineer Konrad Zuse.

Who invented the first electronic computer?

In 1942, American physicist John Atanasov and his graduate student Clifford Berry developed and began installing the first electronic computer. The work was not completed, but had a great influence on the creator of the first electronic computer, ENIAC. The person who invented the ENIAC computer, the first electronic digital computer, was John Mauchly, an American physicist and engineer. John Mauchly generalized the basic principles of computer construction based on the experience of developing machines, and in 1946 the real electronic computer ENIAC appeared to the world. The development leader was John von Neumann, and the principles and structure of the computer he outlined later became known as von Neumann.

So the questions about what year the computer was created, where the first computer was created and who created the first computer can be answered in different ways. If we are talking about a mechanical computer, then Konrad Zuse can be considered the creator of the first computer, and the country in which the first computer was invented is Germany. If we consider ENIAC to be the first computer, then John Mauchly, accordingly, created the first computer in the USA.

The first computers were still far from the ones we use now - personal computers. The first computers were huge, often occupying large areas, the size of a three-room apartment and weighing up to 28 tons! Personal computers (PCs) appeared much later.

The creation of the first personal computers became possible only in the 1970s. Some people began to assemble computers at home for the sake of research interest, since there were practically no useful uses for computers at home. And in 1975, the first personal computer Altair 8800 appeared, which became the first commercially successful PC. The creator of the first personal computer was the American engineer Henry Edward Roberts, who was also the founder and president of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, which began producing the first PC. Altair 8800 was the “chief” of the boom in computerization of the population.

And those scientists, engineers and physicists, all those who invented the computer, who created the first personal computer and who made at least some contribution to information technology, moved us all to a new, modern and incredibly promising stage of life. Thanks to these talented people.

Today it is impossible to imagine everyday life without a computer; it performs many functions necessary for a person, such as: finding information, calculating something, creating various types of programs, etc.

Initially, the computer was a computing machine, which also had to study and store information, while giving orders to other mechanisms. Translated from English, the word “computer” means to calculate; the first meaning of the word gave the name to a person who deals with complex calculations.

The very first computer

The first computer was created in the USA by Howard Aixn in 1941. IBM Company appointed Howard to create a computer model based on the ideas of Charles Babbage. On August 7, 1944, a computer was launched for the first time, which was called “Mark 1”.

“Mark 1” consisted of glass and steel, the body was about 7 meters in length, and the height was 2.5 meters, the weight was more than 5 tons. The first computer had 765 thousand mechanisms and switches, 800 kilometers of wire.

To enter information, a special perforated tape made from paper.

This is how “Mark 1” was smoothed:

The second version of the very first computer in the world was “ENIAC”. The creator of this device is John Mauchley. The computer, created in 1942, was of no interest to anyone, but in 1943 the American military financed this project and gave it name "ENIAC". This type of device looked like this: the weight was 27 tons, the memory was 4 Kilobytes, there were 18,000 lamps and other parts, its area was 135 square meters, and there were a large number of wires around it. This machine did not have a hard drive, so it was regularly restarted, programmed manually, and switches had to be updated. "ENIAC" often failed and overheated.

This is what ENIAC looked like:

The Atanasov-Berry digital computing device was designed in 1939, at that time the mechanism was created only for linear equation calculations. In 1942, the machine was tested for the first time and worked successfully. The developer had to stop working due to conscription into the army. The author insisted that the computer be called "ABC".

The mechanism worked on the basis of binary arithmetic, the method of solution was the Gaussian method. Inner memory stored coefficients of equations, the results were on punched cards.

"ABC" had 30 identical arithmetic mechanisms, each with a series of vacuum tubes that were connected to each other. Each mechanism had three inputs and two outputs. The device changed numbers using a rotating drum, and contacts were connected here. For reversible action the machine did everything in reverse.

This version of the founding computer was closer to modern PCs. The Atanasov-Berry device could also calculate binary arithmetic and flip-flops, the only difference being that this mechanism did not have a special program for storage.

The device of John Atanasov and Clifford Berry was initially not popular; few people knew about the creation of this mechanism. That is why won the championship"ENIAC". Having studied the ENIAC device, Atanasov became increasingly convinced that many of his ideas were borrowed from this company. The author decided to defend his rights in the 1960s. Having decided the case in court, in 1973 it was established that “ABC” is the fundamental “computer”.

The first computers in Russia

The first computer in the USSR is considered to be MESM (Small Electronic Computing Machine). The developer of this computer is Sergei Alekseevich Lebedev. Work on MESM began in the late summer of 1948. In 1951, the machine was tested and then began its work to improve various industries.

The machine was a binary counting system with a fixed point before the most significant digit, the system's memory was made up of trigger cells designed for 31 numbers and 63 commands, it could perform 3 thousand operations every minute, there were 6 thousand electronic tubes in total, the volume of the mechanism was 60 square meters, the power was 25 kW.

"Spring" (electronic computer), began production in 1959, the creator of this machine considered V.S. Pauline. In 1978, the car was renamed the Kvant Research Institute. It was first tested and began operation in 1951. The mechanism had two processors, could perform 300 thousand operations every minute, had 80 thousand transistors, 200 diodes.

History of computers

First generation can be considered computers created using vacuum tubes (1946-1956). The fundamental one was Mark 1, released by IBM in 1952. Some of the first computers were created in the USA for military purposes. Initial Soviet mechanism was invented in 1951 by Lebedev, under the name MESM.

Second generation(1956-1964) came with the creation of the transistor in 1948. The modern organization of computers was proposed and implemented by John Von Neumann, after which similar devices filled the whole world. Only later, a little later, it was decided to change electric lamps to transistors. The use of operating systems began. Also in 1959, IBM released its transistor-based mechanism.

Third generation(1964-1970) is marked by the replacement of transistors with integration microcircuits. Close to today's PC was the creation integrated circuit Marchian Edward Hoffa from Intel. When the first microprocessor appeared computer power has increased, the volume of mechanisms has decreased, they take up less space, several programs are created on one system.

Fourth generation refers to the present time. The first Apple computer was created in 1976 by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, which required manual coding. The first computer in history, which was similar in appearance to today's PC, consisted of a keyboard and a screen, its volume was relatively small. When entering any data, the information instantly appeared on the screen.

4th generation computers look like multiprocessor, small-sized servers that can perform 500 million operations every minute; programs can run on multiple devices.

First games on the computer

The seminal computer game was created in 1940. "Nimatron" is the first electronic relay gaming machine. The machine was created by Edward Condon. The game is designed for two players, one of whom is the system, you need to extinguish the lamps, the one who extinguishes the last one wins.

Nimatron game

The second game in line, “Rocket Simulator,” was cathode ray tube, which is closest to current games. The game was created in 1947 by Thomas Goldsmith and Astle Ray Mann. The idea is that you need to hit the target for the “projectile” to explode.

How a computer works, computer classification

The first computer contained: a microprocessor, an input device, a random access memory device, a read only memory device, and an output device.

The first computers were used as Memory device and for calculating various types of calculations. Initially, few people were interested in this mechanism, because it was considered very expensive: it consumed a lot of energy, sometimes took up a lot of space, and it required more than one, or even a dozen, people to operate the machine.

Classification by purpose:

Mainframe computers– are designed to solve problems related to production, and are sometimes used for military purposes.

Small electronic machines– based on solving various local problems, most often used in universities.

Microcomputers– used since the 90s, for scientific purposes, study and everyday life.

Personal computers Designed for everyday use, for work, Internet access and other functions.

In fact, a computer can be classified more flexibly according to other parameters or types. The classification we have given is only one of the possible ones. In the picture you can see a more expanded version of the classification.

The history of the creation of a modern computer does not even go back a hundred years, although the first attempts to make counting easier were made by man 3000 BC in Ancient Babylon. However, today not every user knows what he looked like. It's worth noting that it had little in common with a modern personal device.

Excursion into history

Although the first computer was not introduced to the public until the end of World War II, work on it began at the beginning of the 20th century. But all the computers created before ENIAC never found practical application, nevertheless, they also became certain stages in the movement of progress.

Russian researcher and scientist A. Krylov developed the first machine that solved differential equations in 1912.
1927 USA, scientists developed the first analog device.
1938 Germany, Konrad Tzue created the Z1 computer model. Three years later, the same scientist developed the next version of the Z3 computer, which was more similar to modern devices than others.
1941 USA, the first automatic computer “Mark 1” was created under a subcontract agreement with IBM. The following models were created successively at intervals of several years: “Mark II”, “Mark III/ADEC”, “Mark IV”.
1946 USA, presented to the publicthe very first computer in the world- ENIAC, which was practically applicable in military calculations.
1949 Russia, Sergei Lebedev presented the first Soviet computer in drawings; by 1950, MESM was built and put into mass production.
1968 Russia, A. Gorokhov created a project for a machine containing a motherboard, input device, video card and memory.
1975 USA, the first serial computer Altair 8800 was created. The device was based on an Intel microprocessor

As you can see, developments did not stand still and progress moved by leaps and bounds. Very little time passed and massive, ridiculous devices were transformed into the modern personal computers we are familiar with.

ENIAC- the very first computer in the world

I would like to pay a little more attention to this device. It was he who was awarded the title of the world's first computer, despite the fact that some models had been developed before it. This is due to the fact that ENIAC became the first computer to find practical application. It is worth noting that the machine was put into operation in 1945 and was finally disconnected from power in October 1955. Agree, 10 years of continuous service is a considerable period for the first computer that has found practical application.

How the computer was used

Initially the very first computer in the worldwas created to calculate firing tables required for artillery troops. The teams of calculations could not cope with their work, since the calculations took time. Then, in 143, a project for an electronic computer was presented to the military commission, which was approved, and active construction of the machine began. The process was completed only in 1945, so it was not possible to use ENIAC for military purposes and it was taken to the University of Pennsylvania to carry out calculations in the development of thermonuclear weapons.

Mathematical modeling became a difficult task for the first computer, so the formation of models took place according to the most simplified schemes. Nevertheless, the desired result was achieved and the possibility of creating a hydrogen bomb was proven with the help of ENIAC. In 1947, the machine began to be used for calculations using the Monte Carlo method.

In addition, in 1946, an aerodynamic problem was solved at ENIAC; physicist D. Hartree analyzed the problem of air flowing around an aircraft wing at supersonic speeds.

In 1949, Von Neumann calculated the constants Pi ande.ENIAC presented the data with an accuracy of 2 thousand decimal places.

In 1950, a computer made a numerical calculation of the weather forecast, which turned out to be quite accurate. Despite the fact that the calculations themselves took a lot of time.

The creators of the machine

It is difficult to name the sole creator of the first computer. A large team of engineers and programmers worked on ENIAC. Initially, the creators of the project were John Mauchly and John Eckert. Mauchly was a faculty member at the Moore Institute at the time, and Eckert was enrolled as a student there. They began developing a computer architecture and presented the computer project to the commission.

In addition, the following people took part in the creation of the machine:

battery development - Jack Davey;
data input/output module – Harry Husky;
multiplication module – Arthur Burks;
division module and root extraction - Jeffrey Chuan Chu;
Lead Programmer – Thomas Kite Sharples;
function tables - Robert Shaw;
scientific consultant - John von Neumann.

Also, a whole staff of programmers worked on the machine.

Device Settings

As mentioned above,the world's first computerwas completely different from modern devices. It was a very massive structure, consisting of more than 17 thousand lamps of 16 types, more than 7 thousand silicon diodes, 1.5 thousand relays, 70 thousand resistors and 10 thousand capacitors. As a result, the weight of the first operating computer was 27 tons.

Specifications:

device memory capacity – 20 number of words;
the power consumed by the machine is 174 kW;
computing power 5000 addition operations per second. For multiplication, the machine used multiple addition, so the performance dropped and amounted to only 357 operations.
clock frequency – 100 kHz;
punched card tabulator for input and output of information.

The decimal number system was used to carry out calculations, although the binary code was already known to scientists.

It is worth noting that during the calculation process, ENIAC required so much electricity that the nearest city was often left without power for many hours. To change the calculation algorithm, reconnection of the device was required. Von Neumann then improved the computer and added memory containing basic computer programs, which greatly simplified the work of programmers.

ENIAC became a zero generation computer. In its design it is impossible to guess the prerequisites for the creation of modern devices. The calculation processes were also not as productive as scientists might have wanted. Nevertheless, it was this machine that proved that it was possible to create a completely electronic computer and gave impetus to further development.

Some details todaythe very first computer in the worldare kept in the National Museum of American History. The complete structure takes up too much space to be presented for review. Despite the fact that this was one of the first attempts to create a working machine, the computer remained in working order for 10 years and at the time of its creation played a huge and irreplaceable role in the development of computer technology.

Subsequently, the machines became smaller and smaller, and their capabilities more and more extensive. The first Apple 1 was released in 1976. And the first computer game was released back in 1962. Even now, the development of computer technology does not stand still. What do you think awaits us in the future?