Talk:ENIAC

World's First?

The British produced 2 computers during WW2, Collossus and another more advanced one I can't remember the name of (Fdsdh1 (talk) 20:51, 28 October 2012 (UTC))

The ten British Colossus computers (used for cryptanalysis starting in 1943) were designed by Tommy Flowers. The Colossus computers were digital, electronic, and were programmed by plugboard and switches, but they were dedicated to code breaking and not general purpose.Wa3frp (talk) 21:14, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

Sorry the ENIAC was rather a giant electronic calculating machine not general purpose in the modern sense so using that definition the Colossus position stands and before that came the Manchester SSEM. Twobells (talk) 09:44, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

I think it's probably the case that the dedication to code breaking wasn't so much a technical fact, as simply being the purpose for which they were built. They didn't do other things because that wasn't what the British government was paying that department to do.Brianetta ^{Brian Ronald, UK. Talk here} 10:53, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

the ABC (Atanasoff Berry Computer) was the first the first automatic electronic digital computer not the ENIAC. Oscar111811 (talk) 23:32, 4 October 2023 (UTC)

That was a special-purpose machine. All it could do was solve a system of linear equations. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 00:17, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

Agreed. This article wants to describe ENIAC as the first electronic computer (which is how it was described when launched in 1946) but it was by no means the first and the technology was not invented or developed by the ENIAC builders, rather coped from the British colossus thanks to a deal done over atomic technology. I think the problem is that colossus was a secret for 40 years so the lie of ENIAC being the first was told so often that it has become the truth in some peoples minds. Colossus was kept secret because the Russians were re-using captured German encoding machines and the British continued to intercept and decipher Russian communications until the 60s. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.123.189.140 (talk) 23:57, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

the ABC (Atanasoff Berry Computer) was the first the first automatic electronic digital computer not the ENIAC. Oscar111811 (talk) 23:34, 4 October 2023 (UTC)

Even the Colossus was not the first electronic computer, as the Berry-Atanasoff computer had been built and tested over a year before the Colossus. It is true though that the Colossus was programmable, but only partially so, and was designed for a very specific task. The ENIAC was the first 'fully' programmable electronic computer. the article is accurate in describing as the first 'general use' computer.

Wouldn't the Mark 1 be considered first over the ENIAC? The Mark 1 was officially presented by Harvard university on August 24, 1944 (found in Mark 1 wikipedia article) which was before the official presentation of ENIAC. Would it not be considered first because they are in different categories if they are in different categories of computer? Sobewong (talk) 18:59, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

The Harvard Mark I was an electromechanical, not an electronic device, as was the Z3. The Atanasoff–Berry computer was not programmable and its development was abandoned before it worked satisfactorily. So Colossus's claim to be the first computer is dependent on the set of adjectives used before the word "computer". Colossus was digital, electronic and binary, but it was programmed by setting switches and connecting patch leads, as was ENIAC. It counted the result of a wide range of Boolean functions but did not have the range of arithmetic functions of ENIAC which had units for addition and subtraction, multiplication, division and square rooting. ENIAC could therefore perform a greater range of functions and can arguably add "general-purpose" to the set of adjectives, although it did use decimal rather than binary arithmetic. TedColes (talk) 13:07, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

The definition of a computer is 'an electronic device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in the form of information or signals.' Colossus fits this definition perfectly and came before ENIAC, claiming otherwise is simply bias. Claiming ENIAC is first is factually incorrect (I'd argue it was 11th but donn't want to waste the time). I would suggest it's claim to be first be more carefully documented. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.28.193.236 (talk) 10:32, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Contents-at-top

I believe there is some controversy wether the ENIAC was a full-featured computer or just a powerful calculator. Who knows more about it ?

I believe the Atanasoff-Berry people sued in court and won for the title of first electronic computer Vera Cruz

It was a full computer, but very primitive by our standards. It was even the machine that first implemented "branching" of the program based on tests performed on its data (as program and data were both coded as pulse streams all that was needed to implement this feature was to connect an output data pulse stream from one unit into a program input of another unit, this idea was much less obvious to implement on earlier calculators that represented program and data entirely differently). --- RTC 22:43 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

Actually it was Honeywell that brought the lawsuit and it was not for title of first electronic computer, it was to break the Univac computer patent by proving it was derived from prior art and thus not a valid patent. --- RTC 22:43 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

I seem to remember an actual lawsuit over which was the first electronic computer, and ENIAC lost. Vera Cruz

Yes, but it was a patent suit over deritive work from prior art not over the title of first of anything. The major difference however that ENIAC did have that the Atanasoff-Berry machine did not was that ENIAC was programable. --- RTC 22:50 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

So is ENIAC the first electronic computer or not? Cuz I remember a lawsuit that settled that question... Vera Cruz

No. But it was the first programable electronic digital computer. --- RTC 22:53 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

(at least in the US, I believe the British Colossus actually beat in on that title, but that was a special purpose machine and remaind classified until about 1970. Lets call ENIAC the first general purpose programmable electronic digital computer. --- RTC 22:56 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

"first general purpose programmable electronic digital computer" --- man that is a long title :-) RTC 22:58 Jan 10, 2003 (UTC)

So? You can have "biggest little town in the state:. :) Tannin

The we also have "first general purpose freely programmable electronic digital computer" ;-) // ~~¨

The Colossus was programmable and general... "Colossus was the world's first electronic digital programmable computer.[7] It used a large number of valves (vacuum tubes). It had paper-tape input and was capable of being configured to perform a variety of boolean logical operations on its data, but it was not Turing-complete."Chrisp7 22:58 May 30, 2014 (UTC)

It was not 'general' in that its programmable capabilities were very limited, and was designed for specific task, whereas the ENIAC was not.

False information?

the article says "ENIAC was developed and built by the >U.S. Army< for their Ballistics Research Laboratory,." this is not entirely true, John Mauchly and J Presper Eckert developed the ENIAC. The U.S. military only sponsored their research. look it up.

"Artificially darkened" photo?

One of the photos has this caption: "This photo has been artificially darkened, obscuring details such as the women who were present and the IBM equipment in use." Why is Wikipedia using this darkened photo, especially considering the source link has a non-darkened photo? Who darkened it and why? There are people on offsite links using this as proof of some sort of gigantic government conspiracy to conceal the fact that women worked with the ENIAC.

There was no crawling

A statement in the article that the ENIAC programmers (or "operators", as they have sometimes been called) crawled around inside the machine to search for defective joints or tubes is not supported by the cited reference, nor does it appear to be factually accurate. Unfortunately, this statement has by now been picked up by a number of secondary sources (web articles and the like), apparently trusting the Wikipedia statement to be accurate. However, no primary source has been located that would support the supposition that the ENIAC programmers ever "crawled," inside the machine or otherwise. Those familiar with the architecture of the ENIAC would understand readily that it would be impossible to fit a human being inside any of the ENIAC's units. Potentially, it might be necessary to crouch in order to access one of the ENIAC's panels from behind, in a narrow space between the back of the panel and the wall of the room, but this would not have been done by a programmer, since the programmers were not authorized to make interior hardware repairs or component replacements, including of vacuum tubes. This would have been done by an engineer or technician, sometimes at the suggestion of a programmer. I have edited the "crawling" language to a statement better supported by the cited reference. Robert K S (talk) 19:13, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

Yes, I've seen most of it (at the Smithsonian when they had it on display, at U Penn, Aberdeen, and Ft. Sill), and it wasn't built in a way that would allow literally crawling inside. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 19:48, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

This is from memory, so correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that the museum displays only had a portion of ENIAC, not the whole thing. Also, not sure that programmer/operator and engineer/technician were separate jobs, or whether there was some crossover in the tasks tasks they performed. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:20, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

They were definitely separate jobs, and I can say with some confidence that none of the engineers or technicians were women. Yes, the ENIAC is in pieces today, but that is irrelevant. Aside from its function tables, card reader, and other ancillary equipment (none of which could be crawled in), the machine comprised 40 panels each 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep by 8 feet high, arranged together in a room in a large U shape. None of these panels could be crawled around in. It would simply be impossible. Robert K S (talk) 15:26, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Yes, ENIAC is in pieces. I saw a major part of it when the Smithsonian had it on display in the 1960s and 1970s. (The last time I was there, it wasn't on display and I don't think it is now). U of Penn has four panels and a function table, I've seen that. Aberdeen has a function table, I've seen that. Fort Sill has, I think, seven panels, and I've seen that. I've seen them from the front and back, and there is no room to crawl in them, unless you removed a lot of stuff. And I don't think that was done. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 18:08, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

That's good enough for me. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:43, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

ENIAC was in a 33' by 55' room, according to page 72 of

• Dyson, George (2012), Turing's Cathedral, Vintage Books, ISBN 978-1-4000-7599-7 Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 00:50, 1 March 2024 (UTC)