Computer Pioneer Harry Huskey Dies At Age 101 (bbc.co.uk) 46
Big Hairy Ian quotes the BBC:
Engineer Harry Huskey, who helped build many of the first ever computers, has died aged 101. Dr. Huskey was a key member of the team that built the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) which first ran in February 1946. ENIAC is widely considered to be one of the first electronic, general purpose, programmable computers. Dr. Huskey also helped complete work on the Ace -- the Automatic Computing Engine -- designed by Alan Turing.
U.C. Santa Cruz also remembers Huskey's work on the Bendix G-15 in 1954, "a 950-pound predecessor to today's laptops" which is sometimes hailed as the first personal computer (since it didn't require a separate technician to run) -- though each one cost over $50,000. The idea of an "electronic brain" was still so new, it led Huskey to an appearance on Groucho Marx's radio show You Bet Your Life, where Groucho warned him that "They're pretty tricky those machines! I wouldn't trust 'em... They'll turn on your like a mad dog, doctor!"
U.C. Santa Cruz also remembers Huskey's work on the Bendix G-15 in 1954, "a 950-pound predecessor to today's laptops" which is sometimes hailed as the first personal computer (since it didn't require a separate technician to run) -- though each one cost over $50,000. The idea of an "electronic brain" was still so new, it led Huskey to an appearance on Groucho Marx's radio show You Bet Your Life, where Groucho warned him that "They're pretty tricky those machines! I wouldn't trust 'em... They'll turn on your like a mad dog, doctor!"
101? (Score:5, Funny)
He only lived to the age of 5???
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101?
He only lived to the age of 5???
No... Back then we only used 2 digits for the years... Sadly, he was only 1... It's amazing how much he accomplished in such a short time!
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At least he died at a binary-valid age.
And WTF is a "5"?
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The space race provided a major push for miniaturization of computers, but computers existed well before the space race.
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and they were the first to make an all-IC computer for the Minuteman missile, before NASA.
False; MIT IL ordered the Fairchild chips in 1962 and built a Block I AGC computer in 1963, Minuteman's IC-based D-37C computer was built in 1964. But in 1963, Apollo was consuming 60% of the world's combined IC production.
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And Fairchild, once they started manufacturing the first integrated gates, then actually credited NASA/MIT for teaching their engineers how to do proper QA for larger batches.
Not to mention the fact that your reasoning renders the Minuteman claims obsolete since Minuteman people didn't invent ICs either. (But they and the Apollo people were the only ones willing to pay for them at the time.)
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Never heard of the guy... (Score:2)
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You're always going on here about your college experience and your work experience [...]
I got an A.S. degree in computer programming at a community college. The focus was on the practical and not theoretical. Many students were expected to get a job as a Java programmer or web developer. Historical context in most programming textbooks was a few lines at best.
[...] and how well you know the craft and all of that jazz [...]
Some people here assumed that I'm a professional programmer/developer/architect when I am not. I'm just a virtual ditch digger in IT Support. Without my dedicated work behind the scenes, the programmer/developer/architect at my job would
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A search on Amazon for Harry Huskey returned books by Harry Huskey as the first results.
Thanks for pointing that out.
I don't know what you searched for, but I suspect you need more practice doing it.
Looks like I searched for "Harry Husky," which was what Amazon offered as an alternative for "Harry Huskey" on the page with his book.
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I've heard about Colossus. I've also heard about Guardian.
Never let these two systems talk together otherwise we'll be in a lot of trouble.
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Colossus was a special purpose calculator built to decode messages. It wasn't a general purpose computer and wasn't Turing complete.
"- it had no program inside itself. A person used plugs, wires and switches to change the program. This is how it was set it up for a new task.
Colossus was not a general-purpose machine. It was designed for only one code breaking task. That task was counting and Boolean operations.
It was not a general Turing-complete computer, even though Alan Turing was at Bletchley Park. This
Bendix G15 (Score:2)
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*Ahem*... Drum memory [wikipedia.org].
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His parents had a sense of humor. (Score:2)
Harry Huskey would be a great porn name. Just say'in.
I liked the G-15 (Score:3, Interesting)
To have complete control of a computer all by yourself was a thrill. Did a little simple lens design on a G-15 as a summer job for Kodak as a high school student back in '61. Liked its paper tape better than punched cards cause program commands didn't get scrambled when dropped.