[SIGCIS-Members] Older computers (1940-1950)

Alex Bochannek bochannek at computerhistory.org
Thu Nov 15 09:55:14 PST 2012


On Nov 15, 2012, at 5:46 AM, Ceruzzi, Paul wrote:

> As one who is guilty of having constructed lists of machines, their operational date, and whether they were "first" or not, I now feel we ought to back away from such listings.

I am sure Paul appreciates that the “when” is almost as difficult as the “what”. Unfortunately, it’s quite challenging to communicate (in 50 words or less) a nuanced temporal view of the creation of any technology to a general interest audience that may not have any prior knowledge of scientific or engineering processes.

For our exhibitions at CHM we attempt to find dates that one could reasonably consider to represent operation of the system in the case of one-offs. For production machines, we tend to go with introduction or announcement dates.

— 
Alex Bochannek, Curator & Senior Manager
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: +1 650 810 1894
Twitter: @awbchm


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