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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Seems to me that this is a complicated question. How do we
measure consumers of computers? By who buys the largest number? That seems to
be easy to adjudicate (sales records of the small number of producers would net
this), but that approach leaves out quite a bit. Maybe we need to know that as
a starting point, but then we have to ask about usage within the organizations
that purchase them, both in terms of operations and in terms of how demanding
those operations were. Also the question of use brings in university
researchers. I know from my own work that aerospace engineers at Berkeley were
early adopters but they didn’t have their own mainframe in the 50s, so they
wouldn’t be trackable as 701-2 ‘owner.’ But the research was funded by Boeing,
so needs to be counted in the column of aero/defense consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Ann<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
members-bounces@sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>David
Alan Grier<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 14, 2010 8:19 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Deborah Douglas<br>
<b>Cc:</b> members@sigcis.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [SIGCIS-Members] petroleum and computers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>I tend to agree that it was a big consumer of computer
cycles but I also have my doubts. After I wrote a Column in Computer in
December 2006 on the Univac Service Center for the Petroleum Industry in
Dallas, which famously lost money and closed in the early 60s, I received a a
small torrent of emails from retired petroleum engineers who felt that they
were finally receiving their due. As Jonathon noted, they were doing high
dimensional fourier transforms and lots of linear programming, which consumes
lots of cycles. I received emails from an Esso engineer, who
noted that they took delivery of the first Univac 1103 in '56 and had von
Neumann as a consultant. I also got a note from a Chevron engineer who
told me about the work he did in the early 60s. At the same time, if you
look at the companies buying large machines in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s you
find that aerospace firms out number petroleum firms. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>Unless other evidence is out there, I tend to accept the
thesis that the aerospace industry was the lead consumer of computers with
petroleum behind it. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>David</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>----------------------------------------</span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>David Alan Grier</span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Vice President of Publications, IEEE Computer Society</span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Associate Professor of
International Science and Technology Policy</span></span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Center for International Science and Technology Policy</span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Elliott School Of International Affairs</span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>George Washington University</span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><a href="mailto:grier@computer.org">grier@computer.org</a></span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>On Sep 13, 2010, at 6:47 PM, Deborah Douglas wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal>Colleagues,<br>
<br>
Recently, I received a question about a claim that the petroleum-seeking
geophysics industry was once the greatest consumer of computers, only surpassed
at some later point by the federal government. No citation was given and
there is quite a bit of skepticism but where would you advise us to look to
refute this claim (or perhaps my own aerospace bias is too strong and the claim
is true!).<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Debbie Douglas<br>
<br>
<br>
Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D.<br>
Curator of Science and Technology<br>
MIT Museum, N51-209<br>
265 Massachusetts Avenue<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307<br>
<a href="mailto:ddouglas@mit.edu">ddouglas@mit.edu</a> • 617-253-1766
phone • 617-253-8994 fax<br>
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/museum">http://web.mit.edu/museum</a> •
<a href="http://webmuseum.mit.edu">http://webmuseum.mit.edu</a> • <a
href="http://museum.mit.edu/150">http://museum.mit.edu/150</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
This email is relayed from members@sigcis.org, the email discussion list of
SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at <a
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and you can change your subscription options at <a
href="http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members">http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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