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Category: Computer Trivia

Lights down in Philadelphia as the machine started.

Lights down in Philadelphia as the machine started.

ENIAC was built in 1946 by J.P. Eckert and J.W. Mauchly. It was the first machine of the first generation that used electron tubes in its operation. 17 500 vacuum lamps, 7200 crystal diodes, 1500 relays, 70 000 resistors, 10 000 capacitors, 1500 manual switches. Its ventilation was driven by two Chrysler engines – each with 34 hp. It weighed 27 tons and had dimensions of 30 x 2.4 x 0.9 m, occupied 167 m2. He consumed 160 kW of power. ENIAC could not work for too long without a break – the obstacle was a very large power needed to heat the lamps. The machine calculated ballistic tables, it was also used in works on the hydrogen bomb, weather forecasting, designing wind tunnels, researching cosmic rays; also used to study random numbers and analyze rounding errors; also calculated pi to the nearest one thousand decimal digits.

The first magnetic tapes

The first magnetic tapes

Computer trivia: The first magnetic tapes that appeared on the market were seven-track IBM tapes dedicated to IBM 701 and IBM 702 computers in 1952. However, there was a problem with the first mainframes their use was limited. With the introduction of IBM System / 360, the size of the tape used also changed – this time it was already ½ inch (12.7 mm). Thus, nine-track (9-track) drives were introduced for use.

Almost 50 different tape formats appeared on the market, one of them presented quite recently in December 2017 – LTO8 tape. A common feature of all these formats is that the data is stored linearly on a tape containing a magnetized layer of particles. To this day, carriers are used – although it is often heard that someone “announces their death”. With proper storage of the tape, producers promise their durability up to 30 years, although most experts say they can last about 50 years.