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Taking a sneak peek at the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), one of the new arrivals for the Computer History Museum exhibition when it opens in January.

Developed in 1937, the ABC was the first electronic digital computer (according to a patent dispute that stripped the ENIAC of that title).

Weighing in at 750 lbs., the ABC implemented Boolean algebra in vacuum tubes and could solve 29 simultaneous linear equations. For memory it used 1600 regenerative capacitors mounted on a rotating drum that spun once per second, and a paper card burner for read/write.

20 responses to “The First Digital Electronic Computer”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Reply
  2. crowded wound Avatar
    crowded wound

    Another Bulgarian here 😉

    Reply
  3. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    Really interesting..I am off to read up on it.

    Reply
  4. Dr DAD (Daniel A D'Auria MD) Avatar
    Dr DAD (Daniel A D’Auria MD)

    I remember the day when the TV repairman would come and replace those tubes in our television set. Wonder how long it use to take that baby to warm up when started?

    Reply
  5. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    Well..its a replica…made in the 70’s..and they had a hard time getting all the tubes I think.
    Good story on patent trial here;
    http://www.scl.ameslab.gov/Projects/ABC/Trial.html

    The big legal hitter for ABC was a guy called Halladay…(from Minnesota…)
    We strike again.

    Reply
  6. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    …and he showed up with a portable tube tester. I still have one.

    Remember this?

    Back when debugging was literal.

    Reply
  7. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    !!
    And here is a summary of Atanasoff’s life…
    http://www.scl.ameslab.gov/ABC/Articles/Register6-95.html

    Worked for Uncle Sam…..made lots of $$…but no more interest in computers it seems.

    Reply
  8. vennettaj Avatar
    vennettaj

    dh, cool links(and how did you manage to put your (almost) name there)
    didn’t know that story about one of those stories..must have been awful having to confront absurdity.. but sure sounds fun

    Reply
  9. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    fun facts… seems so ancient now… literal debugging was what – catching bugs? would be funny…photonQ had a way with bugs…

    Reply
  10. gsikich1 Avatar
    gsikich1

    Not far from the Betchley Bomb.

    Reply
  11. -fCh- Avatar
    -fCh-

    Reply
  12. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    what Coptic mummies have to do with the first digital electronic computer…

    Reply
  13. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Good question… Perhaps a mistaken post fCh?

    Reply
  14. -fCh- Avatar
    -fCh-

    If I get two questions in short series about my visual analogy maybe I can try a little explaining. In both instances we have museum pieces, each facing the future at its own time. They are long dead, so to speak, yet take take on a new life once they belong to a museum.

    To get even closer to the initial question, the Coptic mummies were also a first of a kind, or a new form of an old style, just like the 1st electronic computer in comparison to the earlier calculation machines.

    Reply
  15. nhr Avatar
    nhr

    > [..] a paper card burner for read/write.

    A Turing machine spotted in the wild !
     
     

    > Back when debugging was literal.

    Which explains why camphor was part of the paraphernalia of the (generally bearded) high priests of that incipient computer age.
     
     

    @solerena> literal debugging was what – catching bugs? would be funny…

    Debugging 😉

    Reply
  16. Astrocatou Avatar
    Astrocatou

    @Phool Proof

    Good one !
    Not just an "urban myth" is it….?

    Reply
  17. jitze Avatar
    jitze

    Debugging – origins lie literaly when a moth was found in Relay #70 Panel F of a very early computer by Grace Hopper. Removal of said insect (and scotch taping it into the log book) alleviated the glitch.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:H96566k.jpg

    Reply
  18. TomiTapio Avatar
    TomiTapio

    mmm shiny.

    Reply
  19. goodeye03 (Rich) Avatar
    goodeye03 (Rich)

    My father had a generous supply of tubes and a tester years ago to fix the TV’s we had 2 and we weren’t rich, but the neighbors thought we were…
    It’s always nice to stop by your stream and learn things…..I wish Tesla great success….

    Reply
  20. Obscured by clouds 2021 Avatar
    Obscured by clouds 2021

    My Antique computer collection includes a huge 7′ tall vacuum tube computer from 1954 check it out
    photos.app.goo.gl/1GHu7e6pjSAyqyu48

    Reply

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