jefflownsbury:

The invention of the first computer marked the beginning of perhaps the final era of human lifestyle.  Whether or not most people in the 1940’s put much weight on the concept of a computer, the first computer served as a road sign that read: “The Road to Infinite Technological Development—100 Years Ahead.” 

What most historians believe to be the first computer was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) created by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert in 1946.  Weighing in at about 60,000 pounds and requiring the use of 19,000 vacuum tubes and 6,000 switches, this computer was, let’s just say, certainly not a laptop.  ENIAC was reprogrammable and was able to add 5000 numbers in one second—which was a considerable feat at the time.  It was also used to perform warhead trajectory calculations during wartime (Golden).  Many of the most innovative and powerful, albeit expensive, products ever made were first researched and developed under government contracts for military purposes.   About ten years after the ENIAC, the government had contracted several hundred early model computers from IBM during the Korean War, but most officials and scientists had still not envisioned wide commercial use of computers, let alone personal use (Freeman pp. 10-11).

Read More