In many places they present ENIAC as the first computer. What is true about that? It was the first one? In this article we will show the truth.
In many places they present ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) as the first computer dating from the year 1946. Its characteristics are interesting: it occupied an area of 167 m2, used 17468 vacuum tubes, needed the Manual operation of 6000 switches for operation and your software required several weeks of manual installation each time it was modified. She raised the temperature of the premises to 50ºC. To carry out the different operations, it was necessary to change, connect and reconnect the cables as was done, at that time, in telephone exchanges. This work could take several days depending on the calculation to be made.
But it was not the first computer. In 1936 Konrad Zuse, a German engineer, designed and manufactured the Z1, which for many is the first programmable computer in history.
This machine was a binary mechanical calculator that operated on electricity. It received data through a perforated tape that was read by a reader separate from the control unit. It worked with Boolean logic and operated with floating point numbers. The only electrical unit in this machine was a motor to give the clock frequency of 1 Herz. The control unit, the arithmetic and logic unit, and the input / output unit were well separated.
Konrad Zuse designs Z1 in his parents' house, using the main room. The machine is the size of a fairly large table. The construction of Z1 was financed thanks to Zuse's parents, sisters, and some students.
In 1943, the Z1 was destroyed by a bombardment in Berlin, along with all its construction plans.
In 1986 Zuse decided to rebuild Z1, since this machine has almost all the important features of a modern computer. Reconstruction of this fabulous machine is completed in 1989 and is currently housed in the Deutsche Technik museum in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
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