20 Apr
2002
20 Apr
'02
2:39 a.m.
Rumor has it that blstuart(a)bellsouth.net may have mentioned these words:
In message
<Pine.LNX.4.33.0204180631001.27156-100000(a)siconic.com>om>, Sellam
Ismai
l writes:
>How about calling it a Babbage?
That was my thought as well, with possible runners up
of
the Zuse, the Aiken, the Eckert or the Mauchley.
My vote is still with the Zuse, dunno about the Aiken, but Eckert &
Mouchley were thieves - they were the Micro$hafts of early computer science
- if you're looking for some Americans to nominate, go for Atanasoff or
Berry - they had a working computer *long* before E & M. E & M *stole* most
of their hard work and then patented it - which is why they are in the
history books... but what they don't tell is that the patents were
re-issued back to the rightful owners in 1974.
[[ _Arguably_ the ABC (Atanasoff Berry Computer) was operational before
Zuse's Z1, (October 1939), but the fact that Zuse was working alone without
the backing of an educational institution makes him on equal footing as
Atanasoff & Berry in my book... ]]
Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger --- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers
Recycling is good, right??? Ok, so I'll recycle an old .sig.
If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead
disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.