The History and Future of Computers and the Internet :: Expository Essays Research Papers

The History and Future of Computers and the Internet The early history of mechanical computers really began to take off in the mid 1940’s. Between 1943-1946 the first true general purpose electronic computer was made. Constructed at the University of Pennsylvania the computer was named the ENIAC (electronic numerical integrator and computer.) The ENIAC was developed by two important keystone species, John William Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr. The ENIAC was absolutely humongous; it stood 10 feet tall and occupied 1,000 square feet of floor space. On top of that it weighed in at 30 tons! The major problem with the ENIAC was its reliability. The ENIAC ran on vacuum tubes, and these vacuum tubes constantly burnt out causing people to replace them on an average of 50 times a day. Both Mauchly and Eckert realized that the ENIAC needed major improvement and began working on other designs. Unfortunately due to several members abandoning the project to pursue other jobs their next computer, the EDVAC never really took off. The first commercially successful computer to hit the market was in 1951. The computer was named the UNIVAC. The UNIVAC was manufactured by Remington Rand and was influenced by Eckert and Mauchly. The Univac was 943 cubic feet and ran on serial vacuum tubes. 46 UNIVAC’s were built for government and business uses. The UNIVAC was able to show its superiority over other technological advances like the IBM punch card. Although the UNIVAC was much faster than the punch card it took a year for people to fully accept the UNIVAC. The UNIVAC is also known for predicting the Eisenhower election, thus making it a household name. With the UNIVAC gaining popularity some people began thinking that the computer was the next step towards a better technological future. Tom Watson Jr. was one of the few that saw a great future in computers. After struggling to convince his father that the computer was the next step in business Watson Jr. began development on the IBM 650. While the IBM 650 wasn’t technologically better than the UNIVAC it did sell better. Tom Watson Jr. brought an IBM company which previously declared that computers will have no place in the homes of America to a thriving business. While computers seemed to be doing wonders for businesses it didn’t truly ‘hit home’ until the birth of the internet. The Birth of the Internet Many people forget why the internet was originally formed.