History of Computer Hardware

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cm0002@lemmy.world

Two men examining paper tape from the early British computer WITCH, 1950s (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 days ago by cm0002@piefed.world to c/hoch@lemmy.sdf.org

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The computer, which weighs 2.5 metric tons (2.8 short tons), was built and used at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Berkshire. Construction started in 1949, and the machine became operational in April 1951. It was handed over to the computing group in May 1952 and remained in use until 1957.

It used 828 dekatrons for volatile memory, similar to RAM in a modern computer, and paper tape for input and program storage. A total of 480 relays were used for sequence control and 199 valves (electronic vacuum tube) for calculations. The computer stands 2 meters high, 6 meters wide, and 1 meter deep with a power consumption of 1.5 kW. Output was to either a Creed teleprinter or to a paper tape punch. The machine was decimal and initially had twenty eight-digit dekatron registers for internal storage, which was increased to 40 which appeared to be enough for nearly all calculations. It was assembled from components more commonly found in a British telephone exchange.

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

"Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh, my God. It even has a watermark"

[–] vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 5 days ago

It was assembled from components more commonly found in a British telephone exchange.

Modern computing has something to learn from this, I think. Common general physical components, interoperability, less centralized production. Unfortunately what we have is also pleasure machines. It's almost inconceivable to remove that their part from our daily lives and remain again exclusively in the real world with strange sounds, wind, sun, rain, voices and uncertainty of action. The computer (smartphone) being just another device as bright ergonomically as a stationary phone.

How do you even escape such a trap. People don't go to casino every day, because it costs lots of money, is possibly dangerous and, compared to other things, perhaps boring. Today's utilitarian computing is as bright in feeling as a casino, doesn't seemingly cost as much, and doesn't require going anywhere, it comes to you.

[–] GorGor@startrek.website 1 points 6 days ago

[–] practisevoodoo@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

The machine still exists and functions. Has been part of the tour each time I've been to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.

Harwell Dekatron Computer aka W.I.T.C.H. — The National Museum of Computing https://share.google/9uPJPZIobkZxcq15z