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1950s Computer Technology

By jade_skool

  • ERA/UNIVAC 1101

    ERA/UNIVAC 1101
    Designed by the ERA (Engineering Research Associates), the ERA 1101 (later named UNIVAC 1101), was engineered with high-speed computing in mind. This technology was one of the first of its kind, and housed over 1 million bits of data in the computer’s magnetic drum. The ERA 1101 is deemed to be the first computer capable of storing and executing a program from its memory, as well as the first commercial computer.

  • TX-0

    TX-0
    The TX-0 (Transistorized Experimental Computer Zero, pronounced “tix-oh”) was the first computer engineered with transistors by researchers at MIT. This piece of technology was the first programmable and general-purpose computer. It contained 64k gigabytes of magnetic-core memory, which was considered a massive feat of computer engineering at the time.

  • Microchip Technology

    Microchip Technology
    The very first microchip was made with a small slab of seemingly transparent semiconductor material with a single transistor for processing power. Created by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce, this computer chip, otherwise known as an integrated circuit, was a segway to future generations of technology taking up significantly less space while having way better processing power. Kilby then went on to win a Nobel Prize in 2000 for his pioneering work.

  • SAGE

    SAGE
    SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) is a large network of computers that collected and processed data of different radar sites and displayed a map of the airspace. SAGE was used to create the first large-scale communications network linking a multitude of radio stations from the US to Canada, and was engineered by the USAF Air Materiel Command, Western Electric, System Development Co., and the Burroughs Co.. In order to operate, a worker would hold a gun that emits light to the screen.

  • COBOL

    COBOL
    COBOL is an object-oriented programming language developed by CODASYL (Conference on Data System Languages). COBOL’s developer team took some inspiration from FLOW-MATIC (formerly known as B-0), a programming language engineered by Grace Hopper, an American computer scientist, mathematician, and a US Navy rear admiral. CORBOL was designed for use in business but is also used for finance purposes and administrative systems for companies and government agencies.