Happy Birthday, UNIVAC I

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Posted by Hemos on Monday June 14, 2004 @04:29AM from the that's-a-lot-of-candles dept.

Daniel Goldman writes "Today is the 53rd birthday of the UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I). The UNIVAC I was delivered to the Census Bureau in 1951. It weighed some 16,000 pounds, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1,000 calculations per second. It was the first American commercial computer, as well as the first computer designed for business use. The first few sales were to government agencies, the A.C. Nielsen Company, and the Prudential Insurance Company. It could retain a maximum of 1000 numbers and was able to add, subtract, multiply, divide, sort, collate and take square and cube roots. Its transfer write/read to and from magnetic tape was 10,000 characters per second."

5 of 241 comments (clear)

As a self-appointed representative of ... by burgburgburg · 2004-06-14 04:31 · Score: 0, Troll

the Mentat League, I'm appalled at your celebration of this thinking device. The people who died during the Butlerian Jihad did so to destroy such mechanisms.
Re:Retarded Mods by Rick.C · 2004-06-14 05:09 · Score: 0, Troll

I thought we were supposed to protest the moderation system and mod jokes as "informative" because "information wants to be fun". Now that effort gets a -1 Retard, -1 Stupid, and -1 Cretin.
I find this whole Slashdot experience very confusing.

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You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford
Re:In Soviet Russia... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-06-14 07:01 · Score: 0, Troll

Ever think the US would be importing computer technology from Russia?
Or Japan or Germany? I mean, when the day comes America is importing electronics from Japan or cars from Germany we'll... erm, I'll get my coat.
Re:In Soviet Russia... by Pharmboy · 2004-06-14 08:14 · Score: 0, Troll

Sovtek also makes tubes. You can guess where they are located. I can't remember if GrooveTube makes their tubes in the US still or in Mexico. There are a few others, but all in Europe, I believe.

This is based upon my experience with guitar amps, keep in mind, but the tubes in guitar amps are pretty standard fare, 6V6, 6L6, EL84, EL34, 12AX7, 12**7s, etc. Even the better amps use tubes in the rectifier, but I can't remember the model numbers off the top of my head. A good guitar amp with have one power tube (6V6/6L6/EL34) for each 20 to 30 watts of output and 3 to 5 12AX7s for the preamp. EL84s are used mainly for Class A amps (pentode, etc) rather than A/B amps (switching amps).

Also, Macintosh stereo amps, and other audiophile grade amps. Back around 89, I worked in a FM radio station in Texas that still used tubes for their output, 100,000 watts on stick over 1000 feet tall! Was still fairly common then.

But there are still several applications for tubes, where digital/ic just doesn't hold up.

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Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:In Soviet Russia... by Cmdr+TECO · 2004-06-14 08:47 · Score: 0, Troll

This document describes the Univac I:
The tube types used throughout the entire system include the 25L6, 6AN5, 7AK7, 6AU6, 6BE6, 6SN7, 6X5, 6AK7, 28D7, 807, 829B, 2050, 5545, 5651, 5687, 6AL5, 6AK5, 6AH6, 5V4, 5R4, 4D32, 3C23, 8008. The system includes the computer, power supply, supervisory control, printer and 8 Uniservos. Approximately 50% of the tube complement are 25L6's.

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echo 33676832766569823265328479713269.8639857989Pq | dc