12 Feb
1999
12 Feb
'99
10:34 p.m.
To my knowledge the blinking lights go back to the UNIVAC 1, 1951.
They became famous - and therefore made their way to almost any computer
of that time - due to the successful 1952 US presidential election prediction
on TV. It is rumoured that the TV crew wired up a few more lights than
actually part of the computer.
John G. Zabolitzky
12 Feb
12 Feb
11:42 p.m.
On Sat, 13 Feb 1999 Jgzabol(a)aol.com wrote:
To my knowledge the blinking lights go back to the
UNIVAC 1, 1951.
Hmm, click on the picture of Simon (1950) on my home page, and you'll
clearly see its toggles and lights:
http://www.blinkenlights.com/
It is possible that Berkeley got the idea from working on the Univac (in
the late 40's, when it was being designed by EMCC). I suspect that the
earlier relay machines also used lights to help debug faulty relays, but
I'm really looking for when lights were first used for output and switches
used for input, similar to the way a bunch of the mini front panels
worked. (It may be that Simon was the first -- I dunno.)
BTW, I found some great pics in an online version of IEEE's Computer:
http://www.indwes.edu/Faculty/bcupp/lookback/index.htm
-- Doug
13 Feb
13 Feb
2:34 a.m.
Doug wrote:
I'm really looking for when lights were first used
for output and switches
used for input, similar to the way a bunch of the mini front panels
worked. (It may be that Simon was the first -- I dunno.)
Well the Manchester baby machine had only switches for input in 1948.
Output was by CRT display of the memory contents which might be thought
of as lights.
_---_--__-_-_----__-_----_-__-__-_-___--_-__--___-__----__--_--__-___-
Hans B Pufal Comprehensive Computer Catalogue
<mailto:hansp@digiweb.com> <http://digiweb.com/~hansp/ccc>
4:03 a.m.
On Sat, 13 Feb 1999, Doug wrote:
On Sat, 13 Feb 1999 Jgzabol(a)aol.com wrote:
I have a copy of the May '48 issue of Radio Craft.. it has a
picture of the IBM SSEC on the cover, and more specifically the
Operator's Console, which sports *many* neon blinkenlichts, *lots*
o' switches, and is in front of glass-enclosed panels behind which
are all those 12SN7 dual triode valves, in what appear to be plug-in
modules.. I have to search back thru the history texts to verify that.
Cheerz
John
To my knowledge the blinking lights go back to
the UNIVAC 1, 1951.
Hmm, click on the picture of Simon (1950) on my home page, and you'll
clearly see its toggles and lights:
http://www.blinkenlights.com/
It is possible that Berkeley got the idea from working on the Univac (in
the late 40's, when it was being designed by EMCC). I suspect that the
earlier relay machines also used lights to help debug faulty relays, but
I'm really looking for when lights were first used for output and switches
used for input, similar to the way a bunch of the mini front panels
worked. (It may be that Simon was the first -- I dunno.)
26 Feb
26 Feb
6:21 p.m.
OK, I think I have a candidate for the first computer with blinkenlights.
This is from David Richie's The Computer Pioneers:
<<
As he sat in his kitchen, one November evening in 1937, [...] Stibitz went
into his workshop, took some relays salvaged from Bell Labs' junk pile,
[...] and devised a few circuits. Input consisted of strips of metal cut
from coffee cans. Output was a pair of flashlights
bulbs that lit up or
stayed dark to indicate the results of binary calculations.
>
Stibitz is generally credited with creating one of the first digital
computers. I think this date is earlier than both Zuse's Z1 (1938) and
Atanasoff's ABC (1939), so I guess blinkenlights were there from the
start!
-- Doug
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participants (4)
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doug＠blinkenlights.com -
hansp＠digiweb.com -
Jgzabol＠aol.com -
jpl15＠netcom.com