The Wegematic 1000 Computing Center, 1959–1964

Abstract

The paper concerns the Alwac and Wegematic computer usage in the Nordic countries focussing on the Southern Finnish town of Turku. This topic has received little academic attention and frequently forgotten. In the paper, we examine the actions that the two universities and involved companies in the Turku region took after they had accepted the donation of a Wegematic 1000 computer. We argue that the Turku Computing Centre, created in 1960, firstly made an effort to combine scientific and educational aspects and commercial service in its activity and, secondly, participated in and benefited from establishing Nordic cooperation among the users of Wegematic computers. Therefore, we conclude that this Wegematic story is important for understanding the early phases of computerisation in Finland, at least outside the capital region of the country. We suggest the same could be true in Sweden and Norway. Further, we suggest that other Wegematic stories might be worth studying to improve our understanding of the Nordic trans-local interaction in early computing. Finally, we suggest applying a comparative method for these future studies.

A Classification of Methods and Contributions in the Historiography of Nordic Computing

“…Such an approach involves recounting the history of a particular firm [13], research or computer center [14], or university, including a history of the institutionalization of computing science and curricula development [15][16][17]. Historiographical approach to computing: This approach addresses rather theoretical questions of computing history studies and discusses, among others, the aspects of relevant historical sources, their critiques and use, possible research designs, and organizational issues.…”