The Night A Computer Predicted The Next President

NPR.com ^ | October 31, 2012 | STEVE HENN

[HenryArmitage]

Some milestone moments in journalism converged 60 years ago on election night in the run between Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democratic Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson. It was the first coast-to-coast television broadcast of a presidential election. Walter Cronkite anchored his first election night broadcast for CBS.

And it was the first time computers were brought in to help predict the outcome. That event in 1952 helped usher in the computer age, but it wasn't exactly love at first sight.

The 'Electronic Brain'

CBS' Charles Collingwood was the reporter assigned to UNIVAC, one of the world's first commercial computers.

"This is the face of a UNIVAC," Collingwood told the CBS audience. "A UNIVAC is a fabulous electronic machine, which we have borrowed to help us predict this election from the basis of early returns as they come in."

[HenryArmitage]

With all the talk of predictions, polls, and odds, I thought it was fitting too look back at when Journalism began the slippery slope from reporting the election to predicting the election. Fans of old computing technology may enjoy this one as well. I thought it was a good piece even if you are not a fan of NPR.

[Paladin2]

Did they publish their code?

[Lmo56]

Gotta have some humor ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6ue35laNsVA

[bigbob]

Yup, here it is

[Vince Ferrer]

I for one welcome our new computer overlords.

[hosepipe]

A computer will predict whatever the programmer wants it to predict..

[Vince Ferrer]

WAR FOR THE WHITE HOUSE!!! Diebold accidently leaks 2012 election results

[Andy'smom]

That was interesting! Thanks.

[jmcenanly]

I was surprised by how primitive this computer was, compared to modern computers. It had a total memory of about 1 KB. That is 1000 12 character words.

[Pontiac]

I remember my technical college days; seeing the computer programming students walking the halls with there shoeboxes full of punch cards. What a headache if you dropped that box!

That was 1982, I can’t imagine many years of that followed.

The computer lab had real to real data banks. It also had a couple IBM 14 inch RAMAC hard drives. All of this stuff is museum stuff these days.

[Celtic Conservative]

I graduated college in 1990. Up until a year before I graduated I was still registering for classes using hollerith cards just like the ones pictured above.

CC

[Cyber Liberty]

As a programmer, I must protest. I resemble that remark! “If you want linearity, no problem! I have two data points!”

[Paladin2]

Been there and done that.

One could easily get a listing off a line printer.

[hosepipe]

[ As a programmer, I must protest. I resemble that remark! “If you want linearity, no problem! I have two data points!” ]

As a programmar since 1967/8 I have an “array” of data points myself..

In managing programmars democrat programmars have their strenghts they want to belong to the “HIVE”.. the collective.. good for rote tasks..

Republican programmars were the only source of true creativity unless they were RINOs.. slaves to “the Rules”..

Ones that neither loved the Hive or hated the collective were worthless.. they had no values.. moral degenerates mostly.. a problem looking for a place to happen..

Kept the republicans and sometimes tolerated the democrats but rejected the others.. How did I know all this?.. I asked them.. If they didn’t spill their guts they were GONE..

Just call it, wisdom gained from many years of suffereing..

[Pontiac]

Well you do have a point. As I recall IRS Tax return checks were still printed on those cards well in to the 1990’s.

But that is simply because they couldn’t complete a computer change over in less than a decade.

[Paladin2]

Been there and done that.

One could easily get a listing off a line printer.

[Paladin2]

"I was surprised by how primitive this computer was"

That's one reason why looping/jumping spaghetti code ruled.

[Paladin2]

THNX.

I missed that one when I was home sick one day.

One moving part indeed. A Turing Test for Wile - e.