UK's Oldest Computer To Be "Rebooted" 153
Smivs writes with this interesting piece of computer history, excerpted from the BBC: "Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, is being sent to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley where it is to be restored to working order.
The computer, which was designed in 1949, was built and used by staff at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire. It first ran in 1951 and was designed to perform mathematical calculations. It lasted until 1973.
When first built the 2.4m x 5m computer was state-of-the-art, although it was superseded by transistor-based systems.
The restoration project is expected to take a year. Although not the first computer built in the UK, the Harwell had one of the longest service lives.
Built by a team of three people, the device was capable of doing the work of six to ten people and ran for seven years until the establishment obtained their first commercial computer. 'We didn't think we were doing anything pioneering at the time,' said Dick Barnes, who helped build the original Harwell computer."
obligatory Simpsons quote (Score:5, Funny)
...finally! (Score:4, Funny)
Obligatory Bill Gates misquotation (Score:2, Funny)
64 vacuum tubes ought to be enough for anyone.
A joke my Dad told... (Score:5, Funny)
Okay.. I know that the premise of this joke is totally wrpng and UK scientists were computing pioneers, but it reminds me my favorite joke my father ever told me:
Q: Why didn't the British never make a computer?
A: They couldn't figure out a way to make it leak oil.
(I think the joke is incorrect... probably on both counts).
Re:Vaccum Tubes? (Score:5, Funny)
I think many vacuum tubes are being manufactured in Russia right now, I know this from buying guitar amplifier tubes so I suspect that is where they will be sourced.
That does raise the question of whether a computer built with vacuum tubes gives mp3 files a warmer sound.
Or maybe not. ;-)
Modern Times (Score:4, Funny)
"[...] the device was capable of doing the work of six to ten people [...]"
Interesting to see how it changes over time. Today, considering the majority of jobs, you either cut off social networking access or you'll need six to ten people to do the work of two or three.
Re:One word (Score:5, Funny)
With apologies to john Lennon
Re:A joke my Dad told... (Score:3, Funny)
Are there really people here who don't get the joke?
Yes. But don't worry: I'm getting off your lawn.
On a related note... (Score:2, Funny)
Micro$oft recently released Harwell OS 7, which uses all of the available registers to create a waving M$ flag using the Harwell's front panel lights. Unfortunately, it has since been determined that the new OS really requires two Harwell computers wired in a parallel configuration to perform adequately. The M$ product manager for the Harwell OS stated: "The hardware requirements on the side of the box clearly state that one Harwell computer is the MINIMUM requirement, not the optimum configuration."
Re:Turing (Score:3, Funny)
He's in a grave. Is he not supposed to rot?