Bill, I was thinking of something newer, like a 5-year-old machine that would still be a couple of orders of magnitude faster than a modern laptop.
Steve ==================== On Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 2:14 PM, Bill Hibbard <[email protected]> wrote: > Check out the IBM Pluggable Sequence Relay Calculator > (Aberdeen Machine): > > http://www.columbia.edu/cu/**computinghistory/aberdeen.html<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/aberdeen.html> > > Until 1947 the fastest calculating unit, but not really > programmable. My dad grabbed a chunk of one off the scrap > heap: > > http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~**billh/aberdeen/aberdeen.html<http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/aberdeen/aberdeen.html> > > Bill > > > On Fri, 19 Apr 2013, Steve Richfield wrote: > > Matt, >> >> On Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 8:05 AM, Matt Mahoney <[email protected]>** >> wrote: >> >> Perhaps I could interest you in ENIAC. Specs: >>> >>> Computation rate: >>> 5000 10-digit additions or subtractions per second. >>> >>> >> WOW, that is even faster than the IBM-650 that was my first vacuum tube >> computer, after a couple of relay-based computers, including an IBM-407 >> and >> one of my own construction that was at the time of its construction the >> fastest computer on the planet for computing game theory solutions. USAF >> General Curtis LeMay even gave me an award for it. >> >> The IBM-650 used a rotating magnetic drum for its 2,000 word main memory, >> that rotated at 200 revolutions per second. Careful placement of >> instructions could often execute 5 per revolution, but any sort of random >> access was slowed down to one per revolution. The net effect was that >> instructions took from 1-5ms each to execute. >> >> After the IBM-650 came an IBM-709, another vacuum tube computer that >> computed at about ENIAC's speed. >> >> The following ENIAC speeds were from software: >> >> 357 multiplications per second. >> >>> 40 divisions per second. >>> 3 square roots per second. >>> >>> Memory: 20 10-digit registers when built in 1946, later increased to >>> 100 words of magnetic core memory in 1953. >>> >>> >> Yea, there was an option for 60 words of core memory for the IBM-650, but >> they didn't have it on the machine that I used. >> >> >>> Software: none. Programs were written by plugging wires into a >>> switchboard. >>> >> >> >> Yea, that is how the 407 worked. With this, relays of that era could often >> run as fast as vacuum tubes that followed, by doing pretty much everything >> in parallel. The IBM-407 would typically process 150 cards per minute, >> including all computations!!! >> >> >> A stored program capability was added in 1948. >>> >>> MTBF: initially a few hours, increased to 2 days in 1948 using >>> high-reliability vacuum tubes (17,458 of them). >>> >>> >> Don't believe that 2 days. That was only temporarily with nearly new >> tubes. >> >> Then, as computers got bigger and cheaper, like the IBM-709, MTBF >> deteriorated to ~90 minutes. Every large program had checkpoints to be >> able >> to restart after the computer crashed. >> >> >>> I/O: Card reader and punch. >>> >>> Size: 8 x 3 x 100 feet. >>> >>> Weight: 30 tons. >>> >>> Power: 150 KW. >>> >>> Cost: $500,000 in 1946 ($5.9 million today). >>> >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**ENIAC<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC> >>> >>> I knew a fellow Herb Berke who obtained two IBM-709s, and used one for >>> >> parts to keep the other running. I once spent an afternoon listening to >> his >> repair stories, some of which were transferable to modern day >> microcomputers!!! >> >> For example, if anything went wrong with the CPU, the computer came down >> hard. However, whenever the I/O controller stopped working, he would >> typically find ~5 bad tubes in it!!! He explained that before dying, that >> the I/O controller would usually slow the computer down, probably by >> making >> errors and recovering from them. >> >> The same situation now exists in modern-day "glue chips" that interface >> CPUs to the rest on a modern-day laptop. Many of them operate with ongoing >> malfunctions that impair but don't stop operation. >> >> Brings back memories... >> >> Steve >> >> >> >> ------------------------------**------------- >> AGI >> Archives: >> https://www.listbox.com/**member/archive/303/=now<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> >> RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/**member/archive/rss/303/** >> 3603840-9a430058<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/3603840-9a430058> >> Modify Your Subscription: >> https://www.listbox.com/**member/?&;<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> >> >> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com >> >> > > ------------------------------**------------- > AGI > Archives: > https://www.listbox.com/**member/archive/303/=now<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/**member/archive/rss/303/** > 10443978-6f4c28ac<https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/10443978-6f4c28ac> > Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/** > member/?&id_**secret=10443978-ebee85ab<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com > -- Full employment can be had with the stoke of a pen. Simply institute a six hour workday. That will easily create enough new jobs to bring back full employment. ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
