What was the first computers purpose?

Answer 1

ENIAC was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the army.

However its first real problem was to simulate the original "classical super" H-bomb design. The simulation proved that that design could not work. It used over 1 million punch cards solving this problem.

Answer 2

This question depends on what you call clever.

The first programmable device was a Jacquard loom(1801). Programmed using wooden boards it allowed a loom to create intricate patterns in silk which would have taken months by hand.

Charles Babbage invented the analytical engines which were used to calculate logarithmic tables for the British Navy (1786). Charles invented a mechanical computer but unfortunately ran out of funding and gave up with the project.

If you mean clever as in artificially intelligent then your talking around 1954 with Norbert Wiener who theorised on the principle of feedback theory which was used to control a thermostat system.

In 1955 Simon and Newell created what is regarded as the first ever artificially intelligent program called the "Logic theorist. This was created purely as proof of concept.

Answer 3

The first computer ENIAC, was used to calculate trajectories and develop ballistic tables for Military Gunners to use. Computer was built at the University of Pennsylvania