Creating the Computer Industry

Pugh, Emerson W.; Aspray, William

doi:10.1109/mahc.1996.490112

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Although World War II had, in addition to the positive effects, also some negative effects on the development of computing in the U.S.-such as ending a wide variety of computing research projects (Aspray 2000)-the war also shifted emphasis from demand for cost-effectiveness to demand for function, performance, and availability at any cost (Pugh and Aspray 1996). Due to World War II both government and academic circles were able to recognize the importance of automating and centralizing computation (Croarken 1992).…”

Section: Convergences and Contingenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, although von Neumann was criticized for using anthropomorphic language with computers (Grier 1996;Stibitz 1985), using neurological terms instead of engineering terms enabled von Neumann to circumvent military security (Pugh and Aspray 1996). Second, the ENIAC was completed too late in order to demonstrate its military value during the war (Pugh and Aspray 1996). Third, the Army officials conceived the ENIAC as a general-purpose calculator instead of a specialized military machine.…”

Section: Convergences and Contingenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crossing the Newton-Maxwell Gap: Convergences and Contingencies

Tedre¹,

Sutinen²

2009

Spon. Ge.

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The shift from electromechanical computing to fully electronic, digital, Turing-complete computing was one of the most influential technological developments of the twentieth century. The social, economic, political, interdisciplinary, and cultural aspects behind that shift were significant, but are often ignored. When the contingencies and controversies behind the birth of modern computing are forgotten, the history of computing is often misrepresented as one of uncomplicated linear progress. In this article some of the sociocultural aspects of the birth of modern computing are reviewed. The significance of interdisciplinary work is discussed. The concept of the stored-program paradigm is introduced, and some sociocultural factors behind its birth are discussed. Finally, it is argued that some traits of research that are often considered to be negative, such as opportunism, eclecticism, and stubbornness, have played a positive role in the birth of modern computing technology. *

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Section: Convergences and Contingenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Convergences and Contingenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossing the Newton-Maxwell Gap: Convergences and Contingencies

Tedre¹,

Sutinen²

2009

Spon. Ge.

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“…Those circumstances were brought together by the political situation, the war effort, advancements in science and engineering, new innovations in instrumentation, interdisciplinarity, influential individuals, coincidences, a disregard for costs, and a number of other sociocultural factors [5,7,20]. Many other development steps in modern computer science-such as the birth of high-level programming languages-have also been attributed to a number of influential sociocultural factors [3,4,22].…”

Section: Technological Momentummentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of computer science

Tedre

2006

Proceedings of the 6th Baltic Sea Conference on Computing Education Research: Koli Calling 2006

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Computer science is a broad discipline, and computer scientists often disagree about the content, form, and practices of the discipline. The processes through which computer scientists create, maintain, and modify knowledge in computer scienceprocesses which often are eclectic and anarchistic-are well researched, but knowledge of those processes is generally not considered to be a part of computer science. On the contrary, I argue that understanding of how computer science works is an important part of the knowledge of an educated computer scientist. In this paper I discuss some characteristics of computer science that are central to understanding how computer science works.

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“…12 In a recent special edition of the Annals of the History of Computing commemorating "50 Years of Computing," several authors included or even focused on commercial applications in their contributions. 13, 14 Cortada,15 in particular, focused on commercial use and called for more industry-specific studies of early computer use. This paper provides the first installment of one such study focused on the life insurance industry.…”

Section: And Kennethmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1928, IBM introduced the 80-column card, which allowed more data per card (an improvement insurance and other user firms had long desired) but introduced the first definitive incompatibility between IBM machinery and Powers machinery (now produced by Remington Rand); the mechanical Powers technology could not sense the narrow, slotted holes of the new cards. By the end of the 1920s, IBM had caught up with and surpassed Remington Rand, and it stayed safely ahead (establishing a sales advantage of about eight to one in the 1930s and by 1950 controlling 90 percent of all installed punched card equipment in the United States 13 ). In line with this general trend, many insurance firms, including such giants as Metropolitan Life and U.S. Prudential as well as many smaller firms, acquired large installations of IBM tabulating equipment by the 1930s.…”

Section: Insurance and The Tabulator Eramentioning

confidence: 99%

Early interactions between the life insurance and computer industries: the Prudential's Edmund C. Berkeley

Yates¹

1997

IEEE Annals Hist. Comput.

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This paper studies how a representative of one commercial user industry, life insurance, interacted with key players in the newly forming computer industry after World War II but before any computers were sold for commercial purposes. In particular, it shows how Prudential's early computer expert and proselytizer, Edmund Callis Berkeley, viewed computer technology and its potential uses in life insurance, as well as the ways in which he influenced its development. Immediately after the war, Berkeley set out to educate his superiors at Prudential and the life insurance industry as a whole about the potential uses of computers for insurance; at the same time, he communicated that industry's needs, especially in the areas of rapid input-output and verification, to potential computer vendors. His internal efforts culminated in the contract Prudential signed for a Univac computer. Although the contract was ultimately broken, Berkeley's efforts appear to have influenced J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and John Mauchly in their development of the technology. Berkeley's activities in the 1940s reveal that interaction between vendors and representatives of potential commercial users was earlier and more intense than historical accounts of computing generally recognize and that users may exert a powerful influence on the development of technology.

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Creating the Computer Industry

Cited by 13 publications

References 1 publication

Crossing the Newton-Maxwell Gap: Convergences and Contingencies

Crossing the Newton-Maxwell Gap: Convergences and Contingencies

The development of computer science

Early interactions between the life insurance and computer industries: the Prudential's Edmund C. Berkeley

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