And in related news, if you're interested in HEC-1 you might be interested in this short video we did with the machine and it's developer, Dr Ray Bird, at Birmingham Museum stores a few years ago, along with a selection of other audio clips and photos from Ray Bird's life story interview for An Oral History of British Science: http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/ray-bird/video/ray-bird-the-... http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science/interviewees/ray-bird Best, Tom Dr Thomas Lean -- An Oral History of the Electricity Supply Industry / An Oral History of British Science National Life Stories The British Library http://www.bl.uk/voices-of-science ________________________________________ From: Members [members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org] on behalf of Brian Randell [brian.randell@newcastle.ac.uk] Sent: 04 April 2016 10:51 To: members@lists.sigcis.org Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Britain’s first mass-produced business computer Hi:
Britain’s first mass-produced business computer
More than 60 years after it was first revealed to the public, Britain’s first mass-produced business computer, the Hollerith Electronic Computer (HEC), is now on display at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Bletchley Park.
The HEC was the prototype for the range of computers that were to become Britain’s best-selling first-generation computer and, as the first computer installed in many countries including India, New Zealand and East Africa, the machine played a key role in starting the global computer revolution.
Today, the first version of the two by three metre HEC with its highly innovative magnetic drum store can be seen by visitors to the First Generation Gallery at TNMOC where it stands alongside other machines of the period: the ongoing reconstruction of the 1949 EDSAC computer and the original 1951 Harwell Dekatron / WITCH computer.
The HEC was commissioned by the British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM). Dr Raymond Bird, a skilled and enthusiastic electronics engineer, was tasked with its development.
Dr Bird explained the development process: “BTM was one of Britain’s largest suppliers of pre-computing punch-card systems and the company realised that computing was the company’s future. BTM had been approached by Professor Andrew Booth of Birkbeck College, London, who needed input and output technologies – punch cards – for a computer he was designing. A deal was struck and I was sent to make copies of Booth’s computer design. <snip>
Full story at: http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/britains-first-mass-produced-busines... Cheers Brian Randell -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 FAX = +44 191 208 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org ****************************************************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk<http://www.bl.uk/> The British Library’s latest Annual Report and Accounts : www.bl.uk/aboutus/annrep/index.html<http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/annrep/index.html> Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook<http://www.bl.uk/adoptabook> The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled ***************************************************************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the postmaster@bl.uk<mailto:postmaster@bl.uk> : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. ***************************************************************************************************************** Think before you print