Comments for ENIAC – The first general-purpose electronic computer http://the-eniac.com The First General-Purpose Electronic Computer Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:53:12 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 Comment on Joe Chapline – wrote the first computer manual by Gini M Calcerano http://the-eniac.com/2011/09/10/joe-chapline-wrote-the-first-computer-manual/#comment-720 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:53:12 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=238#comment-720 Joe Chapline was the greatest story teller ever, and you had to be a real master to beat my dad at telling a story. I fondly remember Joe’s animated telling of tales at our dinner table in the 1960s and 70s. Sometimes you’d hear the same story told over again, and it would be startlingly similar to the original telling, no matter how many years had elapsed between one telling and the next. This I found quite impressive, as it showed there was deliberate art behind his well-honed delivery. He could make any narrative interesting, I am sure. It is hard to tell whether his stories were truly great in themselves, or just because of the way he told them! Or is that all the same thing? He will be missed.

]]> Comment on Joe Chapline – wrote the first computer manual by Chris Moos http://the-eniac.com/2011/09/10/joe-chapline-wrote-the-first-computer-manual/#comment-719 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:21:02 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=238#comment-719 R.I.P. Joe C.

]]> Comment on Jane Smiley’s “Atanasoff” gets a rebuke in the New York Times by David http://the-eniac.com/2010/12/21/jane-smileys-atanasoff-gets-a-rebuke-in-the-new-york-times/#comment-525 Wed, 25 May 2011 01:23:42 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=79#comment-525 I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with your unsupported arguement that there is a “general scholarly consensus” in support of ENIAC. I’ve see that nowhere but from Penn locals and relatives of Mauchly/Eckert. What this book underscores which I think you find threatening, is the visits to Atanasoff after his invention of the first Electronic Digital Computer that Mauchly had, and the numerous letters begging for details about how it worked and how to use a binary system and memory.

Furthermore he lied under oath about these visits and letters, claiming he had never met the man, until the evidence was embarassingly brought to court. Court clearly showed him “borrowing” heavily from the overlying concepts.

I think the ENIAC is historically important to computer development, just as the CRAY or Apple II is. But it is undeniable fact (not “consensus”) that Atanasoff’s revolutionary ideas of how to use binary and memory are what created the invention of the electronic computer.

]]> Comment on The Computer History Museum opens its big new exhibit by Gini M Calcerano http://the-eniac.com/2011/01/19/the-computer-history-museum-opens-its-big-new-exhibit/#comment-308 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:03:52 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=138#comment-308 The CHM is making a movie?
You are right that people make claims for Atanasoff that he never made for himself. Unfortunately he didn’t work hard to change their minds, either. Like Von Neumann.
This is an interesting, and I think accurate take on the people currently in charge of the CHM. Tell us more about the movie?

]]> Comment on Philly vs. Iowa for the Soul of the Computer by Gini M Calcerano http://the-eniac.com/2011/01/29/philly-vs-iowa-for-the-soul-of-the-computer/#comment-307 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:00:45 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=169#comment-307 Well, Betty was busy working on the programming on the 14th, so she didn’t get to celebrate until the big Dedication on the 15th. Meanwhile, I guess Mom was already partying!

]]> Comment on Happy Birthday ENIAC by Bill http://the-eniac.com/2011/02/04/happy-birthday-eniac/#comment-305 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:01:35 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=183#comment-305 Steve, it sounds like you know quite a lot about this. Did you study the actual trial briefs? maybe we could talk. – Bill Mauchly

]]> Comment on Happy Birthday ENIAC by steve http://the-eniac.com/2011/02/04/happy-birthday-eniac/#comment-300 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:00:37 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=183#comment-300 Being a lawyer, you could probably show quite effectively the legal farce which the patent trial was.
A few points might help here. IBM contacted both Atanasoff and Berry in 1955 with the intention of invalidating the Eniac patent. They obtained requested documents from both and spoke to them concerning their work. After very thorough investigation into this, IBM concluded that there was no basis for the claim that the Eniac was derived from the Atanasoff’s ABC. IBM then reached an agreement with Sperry, who held the Eniac patent, to use the patent for a fee.
They would have to pursue some other argument to invalidate the patent and chose the patent delay route. This was of course not necessary after the Honeywell case which included the same argument.
The second point is that Mauchly’s trip to Iowa as presented by Honeywell was riddled with falsehoods. Mauchly effectively spent four days in Iowa. He arrived very late on friday night and left on wednesday morning. The University was closed the weekend and he only got a working view of it on Monday when Berry was available. Berry, not Atanasoff, designed the ABC. Mauchly said he spent a few hours with the computer which is probably correct since Atanasoff said that he spent six hours total with it. Mauchly did not spend five or six days with it.
So what was Mauchly doing the rest of the time? As it turn out, quite a few OTHER things. He made a presentation at a seminar on the campus dealing with his Harmonic Analyser which he designed and built. There was also an ongoing conference on campus on statistics and Mauchly attended a few sessions. Iowa was famous nationally for its Statistics research and Mauchly had a deep interest in this branch of mathematics. He also spoke to other physicists on the campus whose works he had read. All this was done on only two days monday and tuesday. At the trial, Mauchly was not well. He was ambushed by the plaintiffs lawyers and succumbed easily because of his memory and health and the passage of time.
So it turns out he was busy doing many other things, not “engrossed” in the non-functioning ABC as the highly coached plaintiff’s witnesses stated.
Well I hope these two points are of some help in showing that the information is there to put this matter to rest once and for all and correct a very disgraceful event. Smiley’s overhyped book is a product of pure evil. I dont know why she is getting so much publicity.

]]> Comment on Happy Birthday ENIAC by Larrick Stapleton http://the-eniac.com/2011/02/04/happy-birthday-eniac/#comment-294 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:39:06 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=183#comment-294 I was a long time friend and attorney for Pres Eckert and spent years vainly trying to get him to write a memoir of the history of his work with John Mauchley – which Pres discussed with me over time, in bits and pieces. I was astounded at the Smiley book and thought all of this had been put to rest by “Engines of the Mind.” I have a deep and lasting fondness for Pres and remain honored to have known him. I would like to do whatever I could to preserve and enhance his and Mauchley’s reputation to their rightful place in history and would love to speak with Bill Mauchley. I am pleased that you have this work going and would like to add what little I could to it. Larrick Stapleton

]]> Comment on The Computer History Museum opens its big new exhibit by steve http://the-eniac.com/2011/01/19/the-computer-history-museum-opens-its-big-new-exhibit/#comment-253 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:36:35 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=138#comment-253 The new Computer Museum is not a credible and honest version of what the history of the computer is. Describing Von Neumann in glowing terms without stating that he DID in fact steal the idea of the computer architecture from Eckert and Mauchly, as most fair people acknowledge, says alot about the museum. It’s just selling the Von Neumann gang’s manufactured version of events which has disreputable motives. Goldstine, Smiley, Burks etc are part of this same gang.
Needless to say, they also describe the Atanasoff’s ABC in glowing terms stating that computer was completed in 1942. Atanasoff himself stated that the ABC was never completed.
Looking at the people heading this Museum, they sound suspiciously incompetent. They seem to have mainly a business background and have no technical expertise. They are just making a movie and I find it quite scandalous.

]]> Comment on Philly vs. Iowa for the Soul of the Computer by Eva Mauchly http://the-eniac.com/2011/01/29/philly-vs-iowa-for-the-soul-of-the-computer/#comment-239 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:37:47 +0000 http://the-eniac.com/?p=169#comment-239 Mom always said the 14th.

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