The tiny BBC micro:bit, held by nine-year-old Connie who programmed
the board, with the massive Harwell Witch in the background.
Image: The National Museum of Computing
Posted on 03/05/2018 10:55:15 AM PST by Swordmaker
Which machines triumphed in the battle between computers from the past eight decades?
One computer is the size of three wardrobes and performed calculations to help build a nuclear reactor, the other is a tiny electronic board designed to teach children to code.
If you had to place bets on which would prove the more powerful machine, your money would probably be on the former.
However, while the first computer was built in 1951, the second was released in 2016, and in the intervening years technology has advanced so far that the supercomputers of yesteryear pale in comparison to even the simplest of modern machines.
So proved to be the case this weekend, when the 1951 Harwell Witch, the world's oldest working computer, was roundly trounced by the $15 BBC micro:bit in the Grand Digital computer race at The National Museum of Computing in the UK
(Excerpt) Read more at techrepublic.com ...
I had a HP-25, loved it at the time in the mid 1970s. My wife brought home a larger one, her boss gave it to her. That one was a HP desktop RPN version, with a printer and accepted programmable card strips, can't remember the model number. Still have both in a box somewhere, and both work except batteries are dead. Amazing how far technology has come over the last 4 decades, and what kids take for granted.
Nice find.
My wife worked with an older woman, who did this work during WWII.
Looks to be a good read.
Thank You.
Programmable TI-59 a few years later was very cool and very expensive.
Found my HP-25. It did work last time I checked, maybe 20 years ago. Darn, now it doesn’t, put fresh batteries in and all I get are ‘0’s in the display, keys do nothing. That’s what I get for accidentally leaving the old battery pack in. Your HP-45 would have some collectible value if you still have it.
And it’s pretty interesting what the supercomputer people are doing today, essentially lashing together a ton of video cards.
Could be lead/Tin whiskers shorting traces.
I grew up with mini-computers and microprocessors, but had "hands on" with several computers prior to that blessing. And, yes, I know about core and even plated wire memory, not to mention diode arrays.
It seems my exception to your statement is NOT overruled. ;-D
Yes, could be! Although HP did use a lot of gold traces, but there are standard lead/tin solder connections present. Thanks, will check.
> “A HP 45 calculator, cost as much as a used VW Beetle”
My first job out of college started with a slide rule. Shortly afterward, the company decided to buy HP 45 calculators for their engineers. They were expensive. They branded a serial number into the plastic and made us sign a paper tying us to the calculator with that serial number. If it was ever lost, the company would withhold money from our paycheck to buy a new one.
I remember that the custom battery would only last about 4 hours or so of heavy use. When I took my PE test, I bought an extra battery for it (I could not get anyone to loan another one to me). Lucky I did because the first one died just after lunch, as I expected. I forget what the battery cost, but it was a LOT. Of course, it did not fit any other HP I ever owned, but it was worth it for the PE. My last HP used over-the-counter batteries and they lasted for several years.
Sort of a demonstration of Moore's Law. :^)
That looks like the control panel for a submarine nuclear reactor.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/operating/propulsion/consoles.html
http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/operating/propulsion/index.html
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