1950s TV computers

[Jon Elson]

On 03/02/2016 11:29 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
> On 03/02/2016 08:41 PM, Bob Rosenbloom wrote:
>
>> Looks like a Bendix G15 at about 2:03 in the second video.
>
>
> Sharp eyes, Bob!  I had completely ignore the intros by 
> Truman Bradley as phonied-up props.  But you're right--it 
> is, in fact,a G-15.
>
> One thing that I noted was that the word "transistor" 
> didn't seem to creep into the scripts until the 1956 season.
>
I think electrical engineers knew transistors were the next 
big thing, possibly some of them had a few samples that they 
were starting to work with, but probably few had really much 
experience with them in 1956.  Certainly, IBM and other 
computer companies were hard at work developing 
transistorized computers.  IBM installed the first 7090 in 
November 1959, and only ANNOUNCED the 1401 and 1620 in late 
1959.  So, they really didn't have any transistor machines 
installed in 1956.  The Philco S-1000 and S-2000 were 
supposed to be the first mass-produced transistorized "real" 
computers, in 1957.

Jon