NEAC 1101

The NEC Corporation in Japan was one of the leading manufacturers in the field of technology in the East. It was one of the first companies to experiment on transistors and develop transistorized computers in the region. NEC was also the first company to include a digital computer in their product line up. This model is better known as the NEAC 1101.

It was in 1954 when NEC, short for Nippon Electric Company, began looking into the feasibility of developing and mass producing computers. They began experimenting with crossbar switching systems and even invested in the development of other types of electronic switching systems. Multiple other researches began including those on the parametron devices and other hardware.

Four years later, NEC developed their first ever digital computer, the NEAC 1101. It made use of a transformer-coupled system that is designed with a winding structure. By then, they were already successful in their attempt to develop the parametron devices. Eiichi Goto successful invented them. And this computer was the first model to incorporate them. There were around 3600 devices allotted for the floating point arithmetic units, the first computer to ever do so in the market.

Compared to the other existing models, NEAC 1101 is pretty efficient in its computations. It uses only around three microseconds to complete additions and subtractions and around eight microseconds to perform multiplication and division operations. The model utilized a ferrite core memory, enough for 512 words although the initial version only accounted for 256 words. It uses 29 different types of instructions. Instructions are inputted via a punched paper tape. The instructions are fed into the system and scanned by a reader. The result of the operations would then be shown via a typewriter.

There was no doubt that NEAC 1101 was a massive success. It cemented the usefulness of parametron devices and NEC went on to develop more advanced models that utilize these devices.

BINAC: The First Computer of Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation

When John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert left the University of Pennsylvania to start their own company, their initial plan was to build a computer that would be the first ever model to be commercially produced. But just a few months into their project, they already encountered a problem. Funds were low and they needed more investments, one that would enable them to finish the UNIVAC model.

Thankfully, luck was on their side. Northrop Corporation tapped them to produce a smaller version of the ENIAC model, a computer which they have built during their stay at the university. It was the perfect opportunity to get the funds that they need. And so, the team over at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation went to work on what was to become their company’s first computer, the BINAC.

The BINAC, short for the Binary Automatic Computer, was designed to be an advanced binary model that uses mercury delay line memory that has a capacity of 512 words. It was the time when vacuum tubes were still widely used and BINAC was no exception. It made use of 700 vacuum tubes. BINAC can operate on four arithmetic operations. It takes 800 microseconds to perform both addition and subtraction while 1,200 microseconds is spent on multiplication and division. Instructions will be fed into the system via magnetic tape or keyboard and the results of the operations can be sent to the connecting typewriter or to the magnetic tape.

Although smaller and less complicated than the UNIVAC model, BINAC was considered a great breakthrough in history. It employs a self-checking system that ensures the accuracy of the operations and that of the output. Every instruction is designed to be performed on a synchronized duplicate arithmetic operation. The BINAC also contains 16 different instruction sets that allow any user or programmer to be flexible in feeding its instruction to the computer. BINAC’s flexibility, accuracy and the fact that it is one of the fastest electronic computers produced at that time were the reasons why it was well-received by the public.

2116A: The First Minicomputer of HP

Before 1960s, most of the computers sold in the market were really huge. Some would fill up almost half of the room while the earlier models would occupy the whole room. Computers back then were bulky and would run at a very slow rate for fear of overheating. But all these changed in the 1960s when the minicomputer was introduced. Transistors were already invented and many developers would use it in designing the models.

Back then, most companies were cautious in investing and developing the minicomputers. But the success of Digital Equipment Corporation with their PDP-8 eventually convinced the companies that the minicomputer is the new “it” in the industry. It didn’t take long before companies are racing to introduce the best version of the minicomputer into the market. General Automation, Data General, Micro Systems, Varian Data Machines, Lockheed and Computer Automation all joined the competition. The same goes for HP. It introduced the 2116A minicomputer which they released as the new instrumentation computer.

2116A was an improved model of the 1000 series computer designed by Data Systems Inc. DSI had planned on joining the market before it was eventually absorbed by HP. Inspired by the potential of DSI-1000, HP would use the design and improve on it to produce their newest model.

The 16-bit word minicomputer allowed for a 4K memory which can be expanded to 8K and 16K depending on the necessity. They can either use the magnetic core in the mainframe or a memory extender. The team was able to incorporate a 32K memory in the later versions due to the public demand. 2116A also has a number of input-output slots where interface cards can be placed for instrumentation. This model allowed a number of tests to be done including that of electronic thermometer, ac converters, scanners, data amplifiers and counters.

When HP released 2116A into the market, it sold really well. But it turns out that the public needed a computer for business use and not for instrumentation which, ironically, is the main purpose of 2116A. Thus, HP heeded this demand and worked on reducing the number of input-output slots and concentrating on a more user-friendly business interface in their succeeding models.

The Nova Minicomputer of Data General

PDP-8 was the first minicomputer that was truly successful in the market. It achieved the highest number of units sold among the rest of the computers at the time of its release. Many believe that it was the best model ever created, thinking that Digital Equipment Corporation has truly succeeded in the competition. But others like Edson de Castro believed otherwise.

For Castro, what PDP-8 achieved was merely the tip of the iceberg. There are still a lot of things that can be done to improve on it. However, the management, seeing the huge demand by the public, immediately rejected the idea. But Castro was undeterred. Together with a handful of colleagues, he left the company and put up his own, Data General. It wasn’t long before they began working on a 16-bit minicomputer, in contrast to the existing 12-bit minicomputer of PDP-8. Thus, the creation of Nova began.

Nova was built to be sleek and sturdy. It was presented in a single rack mount case with a cartridge hard disk system. One of the main problems of PDP-8 lies in the number of printed circuit boards. There were far too many boards needed that had to be individually wired to the backplane. Nova eliminated this problem by including only two large printed circuit boards, both of which are connected by a circuit backplane. One of these is the CPU. It’s more automated than its predecessor therefore, solving the problem of manual wiring. The number of boards also reduced the overall cost of the minicomputer. Apart from that, Nova also made use of medium-scale integration chips and RAM core memory.

In 1969, the Nova minicomputer was finally released into the market. It was well-received by the public although competitors like the PDP minicomputer series argue that Nova could not compare in their design. Still, a majority of consumers continue to choose Nova over the rest for its cost-effectiveness, speed and accuracy.