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Inventors of the Modern Computer
UNIVAC
Presper Eckert & John Mauchly
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 The
Universal Automatic Computer or UNIVAC was a computer milestone achieved
by Dr. J. Presper Eckert and Dr. John W. Mauchly, the team that invented
the ENIAC computer.
 Eckert
and Mauchly, after leaving the academic environment of The Moore School
of Engineering to start their own computer business, found their first
client was the United States Census Bureau. The Bureau needed a new computer
to deal with the exploding U.S. population (the beginning of the famous
baby boom). In April 1946, a $300,000 deposit was given to Eckert and Mauchly
for the research into a new computer called the UNIVAC.
The
research for the project proceeded badly, and it was not until 1948 that
the actual design and contract was finalized. The Census Bureau's ceiling
for the project was $400,000. Eckert and Mauchly were prepared to absorb
any overrun in costs in hopes of recouping from future service contracts,
but the economics of the situation brought the inventors to the edge of
bankruptcy.
In
1950, Eckert and Mauchly were bailed out of financial trouble by Remington
Rand Inc. (manufacturers of electric razors), and the "Eckert-Mauchly Computer
Corporation" became the "Univac Division of Remington Rand." Remington
Rand's lawyers unsuccessfully tried to re-negotiate the government contract
for additional money. Under threat of legal action, however, Remington
Rand had no choice but to complete the UNIVAC at the original price.
On
March 31, 1951, the Census Bureau accepted delivery of the first UNIVAC
computer. The final cost of constructing the first UNIVAC was close to
one million dollars. Forty-six UNIVAC computers were built for both government
and business uses. Remington Rand became the first American manufacturers
of a commercial computer system. Their first non-government contract was
for General Electric's Appliance Park facility in Louisville, Kentucky,
who used the UNIVAC computer for a payroll application.
UNIVAC SPECS
| The UNIVAC had an add time of 120 microseconds, multiply time of 1,800
microseconds and a divide time of 3,600 microseconds. |
| Input consisted of magnetic tape with a speed of 12,800 characters
per second with a read-in speed of 100 inches per second, records at 20
characters per inch, records at 50 characters per inch, card to tape converter
240 cards per minute, 80 column punched card input 120 characters per inch,
and punched paper tape to magnetic tape converter 200 characters a second. |
| Output media/speed was magnetic tape/12,800 characters per second,
uniprinter/10-11 characters per second, high speed printer/600 lines per
minute, tape to card converter/120 cards per minute, Rad Lab buffer storage/Hg
3,500 microsecond, or 60 words per minute. |
Eckert
and Mauchly's UNIVAC was a direct competitor with IBM's computing equipment
for the business market. The speed with which UNIVAC's magnetic tape could
input data was faster than IBM's punch
card technology, but it was not until the presidential election of
1952 that the public accepted the UNIVAC's abilities.
In
a publicity stunt, the UNIVAC computer was used to predict the results
of the Eisenhower-Stevenson presidential race. The computer had correctly
predicted that Eisenhower would win, but the news media decided to blackout
the computer's prediction and declared that the UNIVAC had been stumped.
When the truth was revealed, it was considered amazing that a computer
could do what political forecasters could not, and the UNIVAC quickly became
a household name. The original UNIVAC now sits in the Smithsonian Institution.
Further
Reading:
The Unisys History Newsletter - six articles covering the history
and technical data of the UNIVAC. The Paul Revere Of Computers -
an excellent essay on the business history of the UNIVAC. The UNIVAC flow
chart and pictures of the UNIVAC computer.
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