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Wilkes with the EDSAC
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Computers
Maurice Wilkes assembled the EDSAC, the first practical stored-program
computer, at Cambridge University. His ideas grew out of the Moore School
lectures he had attended three years earlier.
For programming the EDSAC, Wilkes established a library of short programs
called subroutines stored on punched paper tapes.
| Technology: |
vacuum tubes |
| Memory: |
1K words, 17 bits, mercury delay line |
| Speed: |
714 operations per second |
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Manchester Mark I
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Computers
The Manchester Mark I computer functioned as a complete system using the
Williams tube for memory. This University machine became the prototype for
Ferranti Corp.'s first computer.
| Start of project: |
1947 |
| Completed: |
1949 |
| Add time: |
1.8 microseconds |
| Input/output: |
paper tape, teleprinter, switches |
| Memory size: |
128 + 1024 40-digit words |
| Memory type: |
cathode ray tube, magnetic drum |
| Technology: |
1,300 vacuum tubes |
| Floor space: |
medium room |
| Project leaders: |
Frederick Williams and Tom Kilburn |
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People & Pop Culture
Thomas Watson Jr., speaking to an IBM sales meeting, predicted all moving
parts in machines would be replaced by electronics within a decade.
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