History of computing hardware: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:24, 13 February 2002

Revision as of 15:51, 25 February 2002

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The essentials of the EDVAC design have come to be known as the [[von Neumann architecture]]: programs are stored in memory along with the data. Unlike the ENIAC, which used parallel processing, it used a single processing unit, which permitted the subsequent advances in reliability and miniaturization that epitomize the computing revolution. The actual EDVAC project was never completed, but by the end of the 1940's computers based on the EDVAC model were being built around the world. The EDVAC was the "Eve" from which nearly all current computers derive their architecture.

The first working von Neumann machine was the Manchester "Baby" in 1948; it was followed in [[1949]] by the Manchester [[Manchester Mark I]] computer which functioned as a complete system using the [[Williams tube]] for memory. This University machine became the prototype for Ferranti Corp.'s first computer.

In [[1951]] The <b>UNIVAC I</b> delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau was the first commercial computer to attract widespread public attention. Although manufactured by Remington Rand, the machine often was mistakenly referred to as the "IBM UNIVAC." Remington Rand eventually sold 46 machines at more than $1 million each.