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The origin of the electronic digital computer is often traced to this machine built by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University in 1941. The digital logic and memory of the machine were derived from the vacuum tubes at the lower right and the capacitor-studded drum at the middle. Data was fed into the system via punched cards. Atanasoff stopped further research on the computer upon joining the World War II effort in 1942.
There is still considerable debate about who can claim the invention of the digital computer. John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert were granted a patent for the 18,000-tube http://wiki.answers.com/eniac.html, which was completed in 1946. This was considered the first electronic digital computer for many years, but in 1974 a U.S. federal judge voided the patent after it was learned that Mauchly had spent several days studying the Atanasoff-Berry computer in 1941.
Another prominent digital computer was the Colossus which became operational at Bletchley Park near London in 1943. These machines (ten in all, each with 2000 vacuum tubes) were used to crack German Enigma codes during World War II. The Colossus can rightly claim the honor of being the first computer to perform practical work. The Colossus machines remained shrouded in secrecy for many years after the war.
In Germany during the war, Konrad Zuse developed the first program-controlled computer which operated from 2,600 second-hand telephone relays. Zuse tried to interest the German government in his invention, but (fortunately for the Allies) they showed no interest. After the war Zuse wrote the first high level computer language called Plankalkul, and started the Zuse AG computer company which was acquired by Siemens in 1969.
RCA was also involved with early computer development, most notably with their analog Typhoon computer developed for the Navy during World War II. RCA also developed ultra-reliable vacuum tubes for the ENIAC computer so the computer could be turned on and off and still work. The British had earlier found it necessary to leave their Colossus units on all the time, as the chances of at least one vacuum tube burning out when the computer was switched on were pretty high. RCA made a major mistake when the corporation failed to take over funding for the ENIAC from Mauchly and Eckert. Remington Rand Corp. ultimately brought out the two inventors, and went on to market the highly successful http://wiki.answers.com/univac-cronkite.htmlcomputer.
What else can I help you with?
Was the first computer made of electrical circuits?
The first electronic digital computer was.
What was the name of the first commercially available electronic digital computer?
The name of the first commercially available electronic digital computer is UNIVAC.
Was the computer invented in 1998?
No, the first electronic digital computer was made in 1942. Its invention was about 1937.Electronic digital computers have been manufactured for sale since 1950.
Who developed the first electronic digital computer?
John Vincent Atanasoff
Which was the first electronic digital computer and who invented it?
ABC
What is the name of the first commercially availbale electronic digital computer?
apple
What was the first programmable electronic digital computer's primary function?
´læj
What is the name of the world's first programmable electronic digital computer?
Eniac
What device was technicaly the first computer?
the first electronic digital computer was the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) finished just before WW2.
What name was given to the first computer?
The first electronic and digital computer is the Mark 1 Machine (also known as "Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator").
What is the name of the first commercially avaliable electronic digital computer?
I'd say it was a calculator
When the first computer was invented?
the first known computer, a mechanical analog computer, was invented and built circa 100BCthe first digital computer, a programmable mechanical decimal computer, was invented circa 1840 but never builtthe first electronic digital computer, an electronic binary computer, was invented circa 1936 and built in 1942. it was dismantled later that yearthe first programmable electronic digital computer, was invented in 1943 and 11 of them in 2 different models were built between 1944 and the end of the war in Europe. this is the only digital computer built built in a quantity greater than 1 until the early 1950sthe first stored program electronic digital computer, was built in 1948 based on a variety of concepts invented between 1936 and 1946. all modern digital computers are derivatives of this architecture
