HISTORY OF FIRST GENERATION OF COMPUTER(1950-1957)

THE FIRST COMPUTER TO IMPLEMENT VON NEUMANN’S IDEA WAS THE EDVAC IN 1951, DEVELOPED IN A PROJECT LED BY VON NEUMANN HIMSELF. AT THE SAME TIME A COMPUTER USING STORED PROGRAMS WAS DEVELOPED IN ENGLAND, CALLED THE EDSAC.  THE EDVAC WAS COMMERCIALIZED AND CALLED THE UNIVAC 1. IT WAS SOLD TO THE U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS IN MARCH, 1951. THIS WAS ACTUALLY THE FIRST COMPUTER EVER BUILT FOR SALE.  THE UNIVAC 1 MADE A FAMOUS APPEARANCE ON CBS IN NOVEMBER, 1952 DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THE TELEVISION NETWORK HAD RENTED THE COMPUTER TO BOOST RATINGS, PLANNING TO HAVE THE COMPUTER PREDICT WHO WOULD WIN THE ELECTION. THE UNIVAC PREDICTED VERY EARLY ON THATEISENHOWER WOULD BEAT STEVENSON, WHICH WAS CORRECT. NETWORK EXECUTIVES WERE SKEPTICAL AND DID NOT GO LIVE WITH THE PREDICTION UNTIL THEY HAD ARRIVED AT THE SAME CONCLUSION USING MANUAL METHODS. THE UNIVAC SAT RIGHT BEHIND CBS STAFF DURING THE BROADCAST, AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT MANY PEOPLE HAD THE CHANCE TO SEE THIS ELUSIVE NEW TECHNOLOGY CALLED THE COMPUTER.
    IBM’S FIRST PRODUCTION COMPUTER WAS THE IBM 701 DEFENSE CALCULATOR, INTRODUCED IN APRIL, 1952. THE IBM 701 WAS USED MOSTLY FOR SCIENTIFIC CALCULATION. THE EDVAC, EDSAC, UNIVAC 1, AND IBM 701 WERE ALL LARGE, EXPENSIVE, SLOW, AND UNRELIABLE PIECES OF TECHNOLOGY– LIKE ALL COMPUTERS OF THIS TIME. SOME OTHER COMPUTERS OF THIS TIME WORTH MENTIONING ARE THE WHIRLWIND, DEVELOPED AT MASSACHUSSETS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, AND JOHNNIAC, BY THE RAND CORPORATION. THE WHIRLWIND WAS THE FIRST COMPUTER TO DISPLAY REAL TIME VIDEO AND USE CORE MEMORY.  THE JOHNNIAC WAS NAMED IN HONOR OF JON VON NEUMANN. COMPUTERS AT THIS TIME WERE USUALLY KEPT IN SPECIAL LOCATIONS LIKE GOVERNMENT AND UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LABS OR MILITARY COMPOUNDS. ONLY SPECIALLY TRAINED PERSONNEL WERE GRANTED ACCESS TO THESE COMPUTERS. BECAUSE THEY USED VACUUM TUBES TO CALCULATE AND STORE INFORMATION, THESE COMPUTERS WERE ALSO VERY HARD TO MAINTAIN. FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS ALSO USED PUNCHED CARDS TO STORE SYMBOLIC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES. MOST PEOPLE WERE INDIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THIS FIRST GENERATION OF COMPUTING MACHINES AND KNEW LITTLE OF THEIR EXISTENCE.