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Difference between revisions of "vacuum tube computer"

(→‎Vacuum Tube Systems)
(→‎Vacuum Tube Systems)
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| [[ENIAC]] || || [[University of Pennsylvania]] || 17,468 || 1946 || [[relay]]s/[[vacuum tube]]s hybrid
 
| [[ENIAC]] || || [[University of Pennsylvania]] || 17,468 || 1946 || [[relay]]s/[[vacuum tube]]s hybrid
 
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|-
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| [[manchester small-scale experimental machine|SSEM]] || || [[Victoria University of Manchester]] || || ||
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| [[manchester small-scale experimental machine|SSEM]] || || [[Victoria University of Manchester]] || || 1948 ||
 
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|-
 
| [[BINAC]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 700 || 1949 ||
 
| [[BINAC]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 700 || 1949 ||
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|-
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| [[EDSAC]] || [[Maurice Wilkes]] || [[University of Cambridge]] || 3,000 || 1949 ||
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|-
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| [[Manchester Mark I]] || || [[Victoria University of Manchester]] || 1,300 || 1949 ||
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| [[CSIRAC]] || [[Trevor Pearcey]] || || 2,000 || 1949
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| [[SEAC]] || || [[NIST]] || 747 || 1950
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| [[SWAC]] || || [[NIST]] || 2,300 || 1950
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| [[UNIVAC 1101]] || || [[engineering research associates|ERA]] || 2,700 || 1950
 
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| [[UNIVAC I]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 5,200 || 1951 ||
 
| [[UNIVAC I]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 5,200 || 1951 ||
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| [[Whirlwind I]] || || [[MIT]] || 12,500 || 1951 ||
 
| [[Whirlwind I]] || || [[MIT]] || 12,500 || 1951 ||
 
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| [[Whirlwind II]] || || [[MIT]] || 50,000 || 1951 || Never completed, later became AN/FSQ-7
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| [[Whirlwind II]] || || [[MIT]] || 50,000 || 1951 || Never completed, AN/FSQ-7 a direct derivative
 
|-
 
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| [[IAS Computer]] || || [[institute for advanced study|IAS]] || || 1952 ||
 
| [[IAS Computer]] || || [[institute for advanced study|IAS]] || || 1952 ||

Revision as of 06:58, 18 December 2015

A vacuum tube computer is a computer system built primarily using vacuum tubes and vacuum tube logic. Vacuum tube switching replaced the earlier relay computers from the 1940s. Vacuum tube computer gained traction during the 1950s through the early 1960s. By the mid 1960s discrete logic computers superseded vacuum tubes.

Overview

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Early relay computers were rather slow - operating at just 1Hz ((or one switching operation each second). They were cheap and readily available due to their widespread use in telephone systems. Vacuum tubes prove to be a significant improvement over electromechanical relays - operating 1000 times faster. However the performance advantage came at the cost of decreased reliability and maintainance. Tube failure was frequent, running hot and burning out rapidly.

Vacuum Tube Systems

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

System Developer Company/Institution Tube Count Year Complete Notes
ABC John Vincent Atanasoff Iowa State University 300 1940
Colossus Mark 1 Post Office Research Station 1,600 1943
Colossus Mark 2 Post Office Research Station 2,400 1944
ENIAC University of Pennsylvania 17,468 1946 relays/vacuum tubes hybrid
SSEM Victoria University of Manchester 1948
BINAC EMCC 700 1949
EDSAC Maurice Wilkes University of Cambridge 3,000 1949
Manchester Mark I Victoria University of Manchester 1,300 1949
CSIRAC Trevor Pearcey 2,000 1949
SEAC NIST 747 1950
SWAC NIST 2,300 1950
UNIVAC 1101 ERA 2,700 1950
UNIVAC I EMCC 5,200 1951
Whirlwind I MIT 12,500 1951
Whirlwind II MIT 50,000 1951 Never completed, AN/FSQ-7 a direct derivative
IAS Computer IAS 1952

See also


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