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First Computers

The first substantial computer was the giant ENIAC machine by John W. Mauchly an J.

!resper Ec"ert at the #ni$ersity of !ennsyl$ania. ENIAC %Electrical Numerical Integrator

an Calculator& use a wor of '( ecimal igits instea of binary ones li"e pre$ious

automate calculators)computers. ENIAC was also the first machine to use more than

*+((( $acuum tubes+ using nearly ',+((( $acuum tubes. -torage of all those $acuum tubes

an the machinery reuire to "eep the cool too" up o$er '/0 suare meters %',(( suare

feet& of floor space. Nonetheless+ it ha punche1car input an output an arithmetically

ha ' multiplier+ ' i$ier1suare rooter+ an *( aers employing ecimal 2ringcounters+2 which ser$e as aers an also as uic"1access %(.(((* secons& rea1write

register storage.

The e3ecutable instructions composing a program were emboie in the separate units of

ENIAC+ which were plugge together to form a route through the machine for the flow of

computations. These connections ha to be reone for each ifferent problem+ together

with presetting function tables an switches. This 2wire1your1own2 instruction techniue

Eniac Computer

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was incon$enient+ an only with some license coul ENIAC be consiere programmable4

it was+ howe$er+ efficient in hanling the particular programs for which it ha been

esigne. ENIAC is generally ac"nowlege to be the first successful high1spee electronic

igital computer %E5C& an was proucti$ely use from '67/ to '688. A contro$ersy

e$elope in '60'+ howe$er+ o$er the patentability of ENIAC9s basic igital concepts+ the

claim being mae that another #.-. physicist+ John :. Atanasoff+ ha alreay use the sameieas in a simpler $acuum1tube e$ice he built in the '6;(s while at Iowa -tate College. In

'60;+ the court foun in fa$or of the company using Atanasoff claim an Atanasoff recei$e

the acclaim he rightly eser$e.

!rogression of

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The $acuum tube+ use up to this time in almost all the computers an calculating

machines+ ha been in$ente by American physicist >ee 5e Forest in '6(/. The $acuum

tube+ which is about the si?e of a human thumb+ wor"e by using large amounts of

electricity to heat a filament insie the tube until it was cherry re. @ne result of heating

this filament up was the release of electrons into the tube+ which coul be controlle by

other elements within the tube. 5e Forest9s original e$ice was a trioe+ which coul

control the flow of electrons to a positi$ely charge plate insie the tube. A ?ero coul then

be represente by the absence of an electron current to the plate4 the presence of a small

but etectable current to the plate represente a one.

:acuum tubes were highly

inefficient+ reuire a great eal

of space+ an neee to be

replace often. Computers of the

'67(s an 8(s ha ',+((( tubes

in them an housing all these

tubes an cooling the rooms

from the heat prouce by

',+((( tubes was not cheap. The

transistor promise to sol$e all

of these problems an it i so.

Transistors+ howe$er+ ha their

problems too. The main problem

was that transistors+ li"e other

electronic components+ neee to

:accum Tubes

Transistors

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be solere together. As a result+ the more comple3 the circuits became+ the more

complicate an numerous the connections between the ini$iual transistors an the

li"elihoo of faulty wiring increase.

In '68,+ this problem too was sol$e by Jac" -t. Clair ilby of Te3as Instruments.

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Project

In

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Computer Fundamentals

Submitted By:

Clarisa Mae Urro

Submitted To:

Ms. Kate Arce

Project

In

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Computer Fundamentals

Submitted By:enny !li"a

Submitted To:

Ms. Kate Arce