LIVING IN THE I.T.

ERA
A period that has a particular quality or character. We are living in an era in which technology is
developing very rapidly.....

Prepared by
Prof. KT. V. FORTUNY, MSICT
Prof. ROBINSON E. JOAQUIN. MIT
Prof. ANN CAMILLE M. MAUPAY, MIT
Prof. MARK ANTHONY S. MERCADO, MIT
Prof. CHARITO M. MOLINA, MIT
The First Generation of Computer
(1945-1959)

Week 9-10
Introduction/overview

Week 9 to 10 is an overview of Information Technology with regards to the different discoveries and
inventions during the first generation of computers and the people that were behind it.
Learning Goals/objectives

At the end of the lessons, the student will be able understand and expand their:

• The ability to learn the different invented computers with use of vacuum tube.
• Insight on the first generation of computers discoveries inspires the second generation of computers.
6.1 Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
ENIAC

ENIAC, in full Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, the first programmable

general-purpose electronic digital computer, built during World War II by the United
States. American physicist John Mauchly, American engineer J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and
their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of
Pennsylvania led a government-funded project to build an all-electronic computer. Under
contract to the army and under the direction of Herman Goldstine, work began in early
1943 on ENIAC. The next year, mathematician John von Neumann began frequent
consultations with the group.

ENIAC was something less than the dream of a universal computer. Designed specifically
for computing values for artillery range tables, it lacked some features that would have
made it a more generally useful machine. It used plugboards for communicating
instructions to the machine; this had the advantage that, once the instructions were thus
“programmed,” the machine ran at electronic speed. Instructions read from a card reader
or other slow mechanical device would not have been able to keep up with the all-
electronic ENIAC. The disadvantage was that it took days to rewire the machine for each
new problem. This was such a liability that only with some generosity could it be called
programmable.
6.1 Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator 
EDSAC

The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was originally built in in

the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory by a team lead by the late Professor
Sir Maurice Wilkes immediately following the Second World War.
It is generally accepted that the EDSAC was the first practical general purpose stored
program electronic computer. Other, earlier machines were either dedicated to a single
task (e.g. Colossus and code breaking) or were purely experimental (e.g. the Manchester
University "Baby" Small Scale Experimental Machine).

Construction was led by Bill Renwick, appointed by Wilkes as Chief Engineer. A team
quickly grew around Wilkes and Renwick as they refined the design and gradually
brought EDSAC to life. Another important contributor at this stage was David Wheeler,
Wilkes' research student, who was responsible for many of the features that made the
machine practical for ordinary users.
EDSAC ran its first program on 6th May 1949 and was soon pressed into service to
support research in the university. It provided a computing service for over nine years,
until it was superseded by EDSAC 2, built by the same team.
6.1 Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
EDVAC

This computer was called by acronym EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer) and its public presentation was carried through in 1947.
This machine should be abel to hold any programme in memory that was fed to it. This
would be possible because EDVAC was going to have more internal memory than any
other computing device to date. In other words a multipurpose computer.

The idea being that given a tube of mercury, an electronic pulse could be bounced back
and forth to be retrieved at will--another two state device for storing 0s and 1s. This
on/off switchability for the memory was required because EDVAC was to use binary
rather than decimal numbers, thus simplifying the construction of the arithmetic units.
6.1 UNIVersal Automatic Computer I
UNIVAC I

The UNIVAC I was the world's first commercially available computer.

The first UNIVAC I was delivered on June 14, 1951. From 1951 to 1958 a total of 46
UNIVAC I computers were delivered, all of which have since been phased out.
In 1947, John Mauchly chose the name "UNIVAC" (UNIVersal Automatic Computer) for
his company's product.

UNIVAC was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly (designers of the ENIAC).
Their company, the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, was purchased by Sperry-Rand.
The UNIVAC handled both numbers and alphabetic characters equally well. The UNIVAC I
was unique in that it separated the complex problems of input and output from the
actual computation facility. Mercury delay lines were used to store the computer's
program. The program circulated within the lines in the form of acoustical pulses that
could be read from the line and written into it.
6.1 IBM 701
IBM 701

Fifty years ago -- on April 29, 1952 --- IBM President Thomas J. Watson, Jr., informed his
company's stockholders at the annual meeting that IBM was building "the most
advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world." Known as the Defense
Calculator while in development, the new machine emerged from the IBM Poughkeepsie
Laboratory later that year and was formally unveiled to the public on April 7, 1953 as the
IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machines.

The first IBM large-scale electronic computer manufactured in quantity.

IBM's first commercially available scientific computer.

The first IBM machine in which programs were stored in an internal, addressable,
electronic memory.

Developed and produced in record time -- less than two years from "first pencil on
paper" to installation.

Key to IBM's transition from punched-card machines to electronic computers; and

The first of the pioneering line of IBM 700 series computers, including the 702, 704, 705
and 709.
Exercise or other learning activities
Answer the full name of the following acronyms.

1. ENIAC
2. EDSAC
3. EDVAC
4. UNIVAC I
5. IBM
Exercise or other learning activities
Answers

1. ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer

2. EDSAC - Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator
3. EDVAC - Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
4. UNIVAC I - Universal Automatic Computer
5. IBM - International Business Machines
Assignment
Answer the following & put it in the provided answer sheet.

Week 9-10: Research the vacuum tubes and create an essay with your own words and understanding and
answer the question: “Why does the vacuum tubes not used for today’s modern electronics?”

Grading: 40 points. Write 150 – 200 words essay, answer as comprehensibly as possible.

Criteria Points
Content 10
Organization of concept 10
Neatness 10
Completeness 10
Total Points 40

12
Sources:

1. https://www.britannica.com/technology/ENIAC

2. https://www.tnmoc.org/edsac

3. https://www.thocp.net/hardware/edvac.htm

4. https://www.thocp.net/hardware/univac.htm

5. https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_intro.html
Images:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC#/media/File:Eniac.jpg

2. https://images.computerhistory.org/revonline/images/500004298-03-01.jpg?w=600

3. https://www.thocp.net/hardware/pictures/edvac.jpg

4. https://www.thocp.net/hardware/pictures/univac_1951.jpg

5. https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/images/141511_Large.jpg