Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?What is the instruction set of the Z4?Why does an instruction include the address of the next instruction on the IBM 650?How does the floating point conversion in Zuse's machines work?Why did the IBM 650 use bi-quinary?What is the difference between CTSS and ITS?
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Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?
What is the instruction set of the Z4?Why does an instruction include the address of the next instruction on the IBM 650?How does the floating point conversion in Zuse's machines work?Why did the IBM 650 use bi-quinary?What is the difference between CTSS and ITS?
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We can see that the University of Manchester built a transistor computer in 1952. This appears to have been the first transistor computer.
We can see that the design was used in the Metrovick 950.
My question is: Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?
early-computer
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
add a comment |
We can see that the University of Manchester built a transistor computer in 1952. This appears to have been the first transistor computer.
We can see that the design was used in the Metrovick 950.
My question is: Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?
early-computer
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
8
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago
add a comment |
We can see that the University of Manchester built a transistor computer in 1952. This appears to have been the first transistor computer.
We can see that the design was used in the Metrovick 950.
My question is: Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?
early-computer
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
We can see that the University of Manchester built a transistor computer in 1952. This appears to have been the first transistor computer.
We can see that the design was used in the Metrovick 950.
My question is: Do we know the problems the University of Manchester's Transistor Computer was intended to solve?
early-computer
early-computer
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
asked 10 hours ago
hawkeyehawkeye
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
1,0371 gold badge6 silver badges17 bronze badges
8
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago
add a comment |
8
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago
8
8
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Quoting the 50th anniversary page on the topic,
In parallel to the Meg project it was decided to build a relatively small and economic computer. When design was started in 1952 it was clear that the project could provide valuable experience in the use of the recently introduced transistors. It was built even though the germanium point transistors were more unreliable than valves, because semi-conductors held out the promise of lower power consumption, higher operating speeds, smaller size and greater reliability in the future.
A prototype was completed in 1953, and a full-size version in 1955; this was then reproduced by Metropolitan Vickers (replacing all the germanium point transistors with more reliable transistors, and using printed circuit boards), but never sold.
I’m not sure the transistor computer was really intended to solve problems; I suspect its aim was rather to identify the problems which would need to be solved in order to produce a smaller, cheaper, and ultimately, faster computer, using transistors. After all, this was the first transistor-based computer, so no one knew what it would be like to build a computer using transistors. Quoting the same source:
The most important impact of the Transistor Computer was it provided early experience in transistor circuit techniques.
Simon H. Lavington’s Early British Computers puts it this way:
Kilburn’s group at Manchester University built a small transistor research computer to gain some experience with the new devices.
The project certainly contributed to subsequent transistor-based computers built at Manchester University, including the famous Atlas, which did have a problem statement.
The design was led by Richard Grimsdale, who gave a talk on the subject at the Computer History Museum in 2000; this was filmed and is available on Youtube.
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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Quoting the 50th anniversary page on the topic,
In parallel to the Meg project it was decided to build a relatively small and economic computer. When design was started in 1952 it was clear that the project could provide valuable experience in the use of the recently introduced transistors. It was built even though the germanium point transistors were more unreliable than valves, because semi-conductors held out the promise of lower power consumption, higher operating speeds, smaller size and greater reliability in the future.
A prototype was completed in 1953, and a full-size version in 1955; this was then reproduced by Metropolitan Vickers (replacing all the germanium point transistors with more reliable transistors, and using printed circuit boards), but never sold.
I’m not sure the transistor computer was really intended to solve problems; I suspect its aim was rather to identify the problems which would need to be solved in order to produce a smaller, cheaper, and ultimately, faster computer, using transistors. After all, this was the first transistor-based computer, so no one knew what it would be like to build a computer using transistors. Quoting the same source:
The most important impact of the Transistor Computer was it provided early experience in transistor circuit techniques.
Simon H. Lavington’s Early British Computers puts it this way:
Kilburn’s group at Manchester University built a small transistor research computer to gain some experience with the new devices.
The project certainly contributed to subsequent transistor-based computers built at Manchester University, including the famous Atlas, which did have a problem statement.
The design was led by Richard Grimsdale, who gave a talk on the subject at the Computer History Museum in 2000; this was filmed and is available on Youtube.
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Quoting the 50th anniversary page on the topic,
In parallel to the Meg project it was decided to build a relatively small and economic computer. When design was started in 1952 it was clear that the project could provide valuable experience in the use of the recently introduced transistors. It was built even though the germanium point transistors were more unreliable than valves, because semi-conductors held out the promise of lower power consumption, higher operating speeds, smaller size and greater reliability in the future.
A prototype was completed in 1953, and a full-size version in 1955; this was then reproduced by Metropolitan Vickers (replacing all the germanium point transistors with more reliable transistors, and using printed circuit boards), but never sold.
I’m not sure the transistor computer was really intended to solve problems; I suspect its aim was rather to identify the problems which would need to be solved in order to produce a smaller, cheaper, and ultimately, faster computer, using transistors. After all, this was the first transistor-based computer, so no one knew what it would be like to build a computer using transistors. Quoting the same source:
The most important impact of the Transistor Computer was it provided early experience in transistor circuit techniques.
Simon H. Lavington’s Early British Computers puts it this way:
Kilburn’s group at Manchester University built a small transistor research computer to gain some experience with the new devices.
The project certainly contributed to subsequent transistor-based computers built at Manchester University, including the famous Atlas, which did have a problem statement.
The design was led by Richard Grimsdale, who gave a talk on the subject at the Computer History Museum in 2000; this was filmed and is available on Youtube.
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Quoting the 50th anniversary page on the topic,
In parallel to the Meg project it was decided to build a relatively small and economic computer. When design was started in 1952 it was clear that the project could provide valuable experience in the use of the recently introduced transistors. It was built even though the germanium point transistors were more unreliable than valves, because semi-conductors held out the promise of lower power consumption, higher operating speeds, smaller size and greater reliability in the future.
A prototype was completed in 1953, and a full-size version in 1955; this was then reproduced by Metropolitan Vickers (replacing all the germanium point transistors with more reliable transistors, and using printed circuit boards), but never sold.
I’m not sure the transistor computer was really intended to solve problems; I suspect its aim was rather to identify the problems which would need to be solved in order to produce a smaller, cheaper, and ultimately, faster computer, using transistors. After all, this was the first transistor-based computer, so no one knew what it would be like to build a computer using transistors. Quoting the same source:
The most important impact of the Transistor Computer was it provided early experience in transistor circuit techniques.
Simon H. Lavington’s Early British Computers puts it this way:
Kilburn’s group at Manchester University built a small transistor research computer to gain some experience with the new devices.
The project certainly contributed to subsequent transistor-based computers built at Manchester University, including the famous Atlas, which did have a problem statement.
The design was led by Richard Grimsdale, who gave a talk on the subject at the Computer History Museum in 2000; this was filmed and is available on Youtube.
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
Quoting the 50th anniversary page on the topic,
In parallel to the Meg project it was decided to build a relatively small and economic computer. When design was started in 1952 it was clear that the project could provide valuable experience in the use of the recently introduced transistors. It was built even though the germanium point transistors were more unreliable than valves, because semi-conductors held out the promise of lower power consumption, higher operating speeds, smaller size and greater reliability in the future.
A prototype was completed in 1953, and a full-size version in 1955; this was then reproduced by Metropolitan Vickers (replacing all the germanium point transistors with more reliable transistors, and using printed circuit boards), but never sold.
I’m not sure the transistor computer was really intended to solve problems; I suspect its aim was rather to identify the problems which would need to be solved in order to produce a smaller, cheaper, and ultimately, faster computer, using transistors. After all, this was the first transistor-based computer, so no one knew what it would be like to build a computer using transistors. Quoting the same source:
The most important impact of the Transistor Computer was it provided early experience in transistor circuit techniques.
Simon H. Lavington’s Early British Computers puts it this way:
Kilburn’s group at Manchester University built a small transistor research computer to gain some experience with the new devices.
The project certainly contributed to subsequent transistor-based computers built at Manchester University, including the famous Atlas, which did have a problem statement.
The design was led by Richard Grimsdale, who gave a talk on the subject at the Computer History Museum in 2000; this was filmed and is available on Youtube.
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
edited 4 hours ago
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
answered 5 hours ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
49.5k9 gold badges203 silver badges206 bronze badges
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
add a comment |
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
1
1
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Also mentioned in Lavington's Early British Computers - "to gain some experience with the new devices".
– another-dave
5 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
Similar projects elsewhere: friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/DRTEComputer/TheDRTEComputer-p1.html pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/sscomputer.html etc. All of these had no direct application, they were intended primarily to learn about how to build computers with transistors.
– Maury Markowitz
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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8
There is a chance that the problem they wanted to solve was "is it possible to make a computer using transistors?"
– UncleBod
9 hours ago
@UncleBod Made my day. Teh perfect answer for such a way to broad question.
– Raffzahn
9 hours ago
@UncleBod If I read the text o the paragraph at the link correctly, the problem they were trying to solve was "can we build a smaller and cheaper computer if we use transistors?"
– JeremyP
9 hours ago
@UncleBod: Well said. Researchers don't solve problems, they find them. Engineers solve them. (This is neither a quip against / for researchers nor engineers.)
– Jörg W Mittag
1 hour ago