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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Thanks to Peggy Kidwell (below) we have a confirmed sighting of “stored program” in the wild in 1949. In fact two, in internal IBM documents. This is very suggestive when taken in conjunction with something I noticed in searching the ACM DL yesterday, which is that 6 of the 11 uses it located through the end of 1960 were in papers written by IBM staff.<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><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>So, an attractive hypothesis is that the term was coined within IBM Poughkeepsie in 1949 during early work on IBM’s first experimental stored program computer, the Test Assembly. As the 604 calculator being cannibalized for its electronic arithmetic unit already had a plugboard programming mechanism it makes sense that the team would want a clear name for the separate capability they were building to execute a program stored in Williams Tubes backed by a drum. <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><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Tom<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><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><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"'> Kidwell, Peggy [mailto:kidwellp@si.edu] <br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, April 03, 2012 11:43 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'David Alan Grier'; Thomas Haigh<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: [SIGCIS-Members] "Stored program" -- anyone know origins of the PHRASE<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The term “stored program” was used in internal IBM documents discussing the development of special circuits for the IBM 604 electronic calculating punch by 1949. See, for example, Nathaniel Rochester, “Plans for the Data Processing Test Assembly,” Document 05.14.24. See also H. A. Mussell & C. E. Frizzell, “Stored Program,” December 27, 1949, which refers to Rochester’s paper. This had internal code 05.015.37.<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><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The reference is to programs stored on the drum of the machine or electrostatically, as opposed to on a plugboard. <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><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Peggy<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><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"'> <a href="mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org">members-bounces@sigcis.org</a> [<a href="mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org">mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>David Alan Grier<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 02, 2012 5:25 PM<br><b>To:</b> Thomas Haigh<br><b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:members@sigcis.org">members@sigcis.org</a><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [SIGCIS-Members] "Stored program" -- anyone know origins of the PHRASE<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Tom<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-tab-span> </span>Two bounds for your search. "Stored Program" is not in the 1950 IRE Standard on Computer Terms:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><h3 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1701474&contentType=Journals+%26+Magazines&ranges%3D1951_1956_p_Publication_Year%26matchBoolean%3Dtrue%26searchField%3DSearch_All%26queryText%3D%28p_Title%3Acomputer+terms%29"><span style='color:#006699'>Standards on Electronic Computers: Definitions of</span><span class=snippet><span style='color:#E37222'>Terms</span></span><span style='color:#006699'>, 1950</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=10933"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'>Proceedings of the IRE </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Volume: 39 ,</span></span><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=35844"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'> Issue: 3 </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Digital Object Identifier: </span></span><a href="http://dx.doi.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1109/JRPROC.1951.231840" target=blank><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'>10.1109/JRPROC.1951.231840 </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Publication Year: 1951 , Page(s): 271 - 277</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><div style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.25pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div><div style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.25pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px;z-index:auto'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.25pt;background:white'><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";text-transform:uppercase'>But it is used in the 1953 IRE article on programming. </span></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px;z-index:auto'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:11.25pt;background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><h3 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:white;orphans: 2;text-align:-webkit-auto;widows: 2;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4051188&contentType=Journals+%26+Magazines&sortType%3Dasc_p_Publication_Year%26ranges%3D1953_1958_p_Publication_Year%26matchBoolean%3Dtrue%26searchField%3DSearch_All%26queryText%3D%28.QT.stored+program.QT.%29"><span style='color:#006699'>Fundamentals of Digital Computer Programming</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333;background:white'>Thomas, W.H.</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br></span><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=10933"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'>Proceedings of the IRE </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Volume: 41 ,</span></span><a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=4051180"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'> Issue: 10 </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Digital Object Identifier: </span></span><a href="http://dx.doi.org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1109/JRPROC.1953.274275" target=blank><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#006699;background:white'>10.1109/JRPROC.1953.274275 </span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br><span style='background:white'>Publication Year: 1953 , Page(s): 1245 - 1249</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#E37222;text-transform:uppercase'> </span></span><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";text-transform:uppercase'>I SHOULD NOTE THAT IT IS NOT USED IN THE COMPANION 1953 article on the IBM 701.</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";text-transform:uppercase'>David</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>--------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>David Alan Grier<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Fellow, IEEE<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>President Elect, IEEE Computer Society <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Assoc. Prof., International Science & Technology Policy<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Center for International Science and Technology Policy <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:grier@gwu.edu">grier@gwu.edu</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Apr 2, 2012, at 4:34 PM, Thomas Haigh wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Hello everyone,<br><br>I have a query related to a project I am working on concerning the<br>conversion of ENIAC to stored program control in 1948, initially to run the<br>first computerized Monte Carlo calculations. All this took place prior to<br>the first operation of the Manchester Baby. That makes the question of what<br>one means by "stored program" a very interesting one.<br><br>This question was much discussed in the early days of the history of<br>computing (1970s, early 1980s). I am starting to dig back into primary<br>sources for early use of the phrases "stored program" and "stored program<br>concept" to get a better idea of how these terms were used in the<br>1940s/early 1950s and what people thought they meant at the time. <br><br>To clarify, almost everyone who has written about this cites the 1945 "First<br>Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" as the initial dissemination of the stored<br>program concept although there has been considerable debate as to the source<br>of the ideas contained therein. However that document does not contain the<br>phase "stored program." Or indeed use the word "program" in the body of the<br>text. Or, remarkably, "EDVAC." "Stored" shows up a few times, though less<br>frequently than "remembered." So, ignoring for the moment the relationship<br>of the report to later definitions of the concept, we can agree that it was<br>not the source of the phrase. The most obvious summary of the idea using the<br>report's own terminology would be "remembered instruction device" rather<br>than "stored program computer." <br><br>I had thought about the 1946 Moore School lectures as a possible vector for<br>the phase "stored program" as well as the concept. The phrase shows up many<br>times in the Moore School lectures book but so far I have spotted it only in<br>the 1980s editorial material rather than in the original lecture summaries. <br><br>By 1954 "stored program computer" is showing up without explanation or<br>citation required in the description of the IBM 650 published in the<br>inaugural issue of Journal of the ACM. It is not particularly common in the<br>ACM DL material for the rest of the decade ("automatic computer" and<br>"digital computer" are more prevalent) but continues to pop up occasionally.<br>The best the OED can do is 1957, which is even later.<br><br>So, any thoughts on who came up with this phrase and when? I'm planning to<br>dig deeper in search of early usage, for example into the 1950 "High-Speed<br>Computing Devices" ERA book and some of the other CBI reprints from the<br>1940s, but it occurred to me that someone on the list might already know the<br>answer to the question.<br><br>Tom<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>This email is relayed from <a href="mailto:members@sigcis.org">members@sigcis.org</a>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at <a href="http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/">http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/</a> 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></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>