Are you curious how much the world’s first computer weighed? PHP editor Xinyi will delve into this fascinating issue. Scroll below to learn about the surprising weight of this groundbreaking machine and its significant impact on the history of computing.
The world’s first computer weighed 30 tons.
The world's first electronic computer was named "ENIAC" and was successfully developed by Eckert and others at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946.
On February 14, 1996, the first computer was born. It consists of 17,468 electron tubes, 60,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and 6,000 switches. It weighs 30 tons, covers an area of 160 square meters, consumes 174 kilowatts of power, and costs US$450,000. This computer can only perform 5,000 addition operations per second, which is only equivalent to an Electronic Numerical Integration Computer (ENIAC, "ENIAC").
The first electronic computer was equipped with more than 18,000 electron tubes and a large number of resistors and capacitors. It was the first time that electronic circuits were used to perform calculations. "Eniak" can do 5,000 additions per second, or 400 multiplications. If the fastest electromechanical computer at the time was used to calculate a 40-point ballistics, it would take two hours, while the "Eniak" only took 3 seconds. This was indeed a remarkable achievement at the time. However, "Eniac" is not perfect yet. In fact, it has no memory, only a register made of electron tubes, which can only store 10 numbers. When you need to convert other problems, you have to re-solder the connections, which is very time-consuming. Since the birth of the first electronic computer, although it is only about 40 years old, it has experienced "four generations" of changes. The first generation is a tube computer, the second generation is a transistor computer, and the third generation is an integrated circuit computer. The fourth generation is the large-scale integrated circuit computer. We are currently transitioning to the fifth generation - thinking machines, thus showing people the bright future of humans creating machines that "think"
The world’s first personal computer was the IBM5150 produced by IBM. In 1981, IBM launched the world's first personal computer. On August 12, 1981, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA, launched the 5150 new computer, and the new market of "personal computers" was born. The IBM5150 looks like a beige "big box". Each IBM 5150 computer weighs about 11.34 kilograms. The keyboard alone weighs about 2.7 kilograms. It has only 16 kilobytes of memory and is equipped with Microsoft's Disk Operating System (DOS), spreadsheet software Visicale and text input. The software Easywriter is equipped with a 16-bit, 4.77MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor, 64K of memory, and can use cassette tapes to download and store data. It can also be equipped with a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. In 1982, the IBM 5150, the "originator" of the information age, appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was selected as the "Man of the Year". The magazine wrote: "In the news of the year, this is the most fascinating topic. It represents a process, a process that continues to develop and is widely accepted and welcomed. This is why the Times is in the midst of a storm. We chose such a news figure in today’s world, but this is not a character at all, but a machine.”
A behemoth that occupies several large rooms
The world's first general-purpose computer: Time: February 14, 1946 Name: "ENIAC" Birthplace: University of Pennsylvania, USA. Inventors: Americans John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert.
Computers play a vital role in modern society, but what exactly was the world’s first computer? This issue has always attracted people's attention and curiosity. In this article, we will explore the traces of history and uncover the mystery of "the world's first computer."
Before talking about the world’s first computer, we need to understand the early computing tools. In ancient times, people used tools such as abacus to perform simple mathematical operations. With the advancement of science and technology, people began to try to use mechanical devices to perform more complex calculations.
In 1833, British mathematician Charles Babbage designed and built the famous Difference Engine, which is considered the world's first true mechanical computer. This Difference Engine was revolutionary because it could perform numerical calculations of polynomial functions and is considered the prototype of contemporary computers.
Alan Turing proposed the famous Turing machine concept in the 1930s, which is considered the cornerstone of modern computer theory. Turing's theory laid the theoretical foundation for the later development of electronic computers and is known as the father of computer science.
In the 1940s, the world's first electronic computer, ENIAC, appeared. ENIAC was designed and manufactured by John Prespan and John Eckersley of the University of Pennsylvania. It is the world's first large-scale general-purpose electronic digital computer and has a milestone significance.
By tracing back history, we can see that the birth of the world’s first computer went through a long historical accumulation and the efforts of many pioneers. From the earliest mechanical calculation tools to the later electronic digital computers, each step laid a solid foundation for the development of modern science and technology.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope that through this article you will have a deeper understanding of the development of the world's first computer.
In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed the BASIC programming language for the first microcomputer, MITS Altair, which was Microsoft's first product.
The world’s first electronic computer was a giant: it weighed more than 30 tons, covered an area of about 170 square meters, and contained 18,000 electron tubes in its belly. It was invented by Mochilai and Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania on February 14, 1946.
In the mid-1940s, the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, led by Molich and Eckert, developed an "electronic numerical integrator" for the calculation of artillery ballistic trajectories for the Aberdeen Ballistic Research Laboratory of the U.S. Army Department of Ordnance. and Computer" (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator referred to as ENIAC).
This computer called "Eniak" covers an area of 150 square meters, has a total weight of 30 tons, uses 18,000 electron tubes, 6,000 switches, 7,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 500,000 lines, and consumes electricity. It has a capacity of 140 kilowatts and can perform 5000 additions/second. This behemoth was unveiled in the United States on February 15, 1946. The advent of this computer marked the beginning of the computer age.
The predecessor of the computer is a thing called an "adder", which was invented by a French mathematician "Pascal" and later gradually improved... a "difference engine" that can do the four arithmetic operations of +-*/ "
In 1801 AD, the Frenchman Joseph Jacquard invented the punched cardboard card. This introduces two important concepts to the development of future computers:
First, information can be coded on punched cards...that is, writing programs
John von Neumann Phase
Second, information can be stored On the cards, and when these cards are combined in a series, they can be used as a series of instructions, that is, a program.
Then a person appeared: in history we call him the "Father of Computers" - Charles Babbage
He made a more powerful machine called the Analytical Engine, The machine is conceptually very similar to a modern computer.
These inventions are tools used to assist calculations. They do not yet have the function of memory and data storage, so they cannot be called "computers"
It was not until 1946 that Mauchly and Eckert in the United States invented the first generation of computers - ENIAC,
The first-generation computer was as big as two classrooms, which was very different from the size of computers commonly used today.
Computers at that time used integrated circuits composed of vacuum tubes to perform calculations, and the storage medium of the memory was a punched card.
So, the invention of the computer was the result of the joint efforts of a group of scientific researchers, but the design ideas of the mathematician von Neumann played a key role in it, so von Neumann is called the father of modern computers.
The first digital computer was designed by a British mathematician named Charles Babbage. Babbage first thought of using machinery to calculate mathematical tables from 1812 to 1813. Later, he built a small computer that could perform certain mathematical operations with 8 digits. The world's first general-purpose electronic computer "ENIAC" was born in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. The inventors are Americans John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert.
The history of laptops describes the efforts in the 1970s and 1980s to build small, portable personal computers that combine the components, inputs, outputs and capabilities of a desktop computer in a small chassis. Before laptop/notebook computers were technically feasible, similar Ideas had been proposed, most notably Alan Kay's Dynabook concept, developed at Xerox PARC in the early 1970s. One of the first reasonably portable computers was the Xerox NoteTaker, again developed at Xerox PARC, in 1976. However, only 10 prototypes were built. Reference link
The inventor of the first crane has not been verified. But the orange used for irrigating farmland in ancient China was the prototype of the jib-type crane.
14世紀には、人力と動物の力で駆動する旋回ジブ型クレーンが西ヨーロッパに登場しました。 19 世紀初頭には橋形クレーンが登場し、シャフト、ギア、スプレッダーなどのクレーンの重要な摩耗部品が金属材料で作られ始め、水力で駆動されるようになりました。
The above is the detailed content of How much did the world's first computer weigh?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!
![[Web front-end] Node.js quick start](https://img.php.cn/upload/course/000/000/067/662b5d34ba7c0227.png)
