Inventors
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IBM 701 EDPM
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More on
the UNIVAC Computer - J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly |
• Further
Reading:
The Unisys History Newsletter- six
articles covering the history and technical data of the UNIVAC. The Paul
Revere of Computers - an excellent essay on the business history of the
UNIVAC. The UNIVAC flow chart and pictures of the UNIVAC computer. |
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By
Mary
Bellis
The Universal Automatic Computer
or UNIVAC was a computer milestone achieved by Dr. Presper Eckert and Dr.
John Mauchly, the team that invented the ENIAC
computer.
J Presper Eckert and John Mauchly,
after leaving the academic environment of The Moore School of Engineering
to start their own computer business, found their first client was the
United States Census Bureau. The Bureau needed a new computer to deal with
the exploding U.S. population (the beginning of the famous baby boom).
In April 1946, a $300,000 deposit was given to Eckert and Mauchly for the
research into a new computer called the UNIVAC.
UNIVAC
Computer
The research for the project proceeded
badly, and it was not until 1948 that the actual design and contract was
finalized. The Census Bureau's ceiling for the project was $400,000. J
Presper Eckert and John Mauchly were prepared to absorb any overrun in
costs in hopes of recouping from future service contracts, but the economics
of the situation brought the inventors to the edge of bankruptcy.
In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly were
bailed out of financial trouble by Remington Rand Inc. (manufacturers of
electric razors), and the "Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation" became
the "Univac Division of Remington Rand." Remington Rand's lawyers unsuccessfully
tried to re-negotiate the government contract for additional money. Under
threat of legal action, however, Remington Rand had no choice but to complete
the UNIVAC at the original price.
On March 31, 1951, the Census Bureau
accepted delivery of the first UNIVAC computer. The final cost of constructing
the first UNIVAC was close to one million dollars. Forty-six UNIVAC computers
were built for both government and business uses. Remington Rand became
the first American manufacturers of a commercial computer system. Their
first non-government contract was for General Electric's Appliance Park
facility in Louisville, Kentucky, who used the UNIVAC computer for a payroll
application.
UNIVAC
SPECS
The UNIVAC had an add time of 120
microseconds, multiply time of 1,800 microseconds and a divide time of
3,600 microseconds. |
Input consisted of magnetic tape
with a speed of 12,800 characters per second with a read-in speed of 100
inches per second, records at 20 characters per inch, records at 50 characters
per inch, card to tape converter 240 cards per minute, 80 column punched
card input 120 characters per inch, and punched paper tape to magnetic
tape converter 200 characters a second. |
Output media/speed was magnetic
tape/12,800 characters per second, uniprinter/10-11 characters per second,
high speed printer/600 lines per minute, tape to card converter/120 cards
per minute, Rad Lab buffer storage/Hg 3,500 microsecond, or 60 words per
minute. |
J Presper Eckert and John Mauchly's
UNIVAC was a direct competitor with IBM's computing equipment for the business
market. The speed with which UNIVAC's magnetic tape could input data was
faster than IBM's punch card
technology, but it was not until the presidential election of 1952 that
the public accepted the UNIVAC's abilities.
In a publicity stunt, the UNIVAC
computer was used to predict the results of the Eisenhower-Stevenson presidential
race. The computer had correctly predicted that Eisenhower would win, but
the news media decided to blackout the computer's prediction and declared
that the UNIVAC had been stumped. When the truth was revealed, it was considered
amazing that a computer could do what political forecasters could not,
and the UNIVAC quickly became a household name. The original UNIVAC now
sits in the Smithsonian Institution.
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Business Machines - IBM 701 EDPM
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