Atanasoff–Berry computer
The Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) was the first automatic electronic digital computer. Limited by the technology of the day, and execution, the device has remained somewhat obscure. The ABC's priority is debated among historians of computer technology, because it was neither programmable, nor Turing-complete. Conventionally, the ABC would be considered the first electronic ALU (arithmetic logic unit) – which is integrated into every modern processor's design.
Atanasoff–Berry computer replica at Durham Center, Iowa State University | |
| Developer | John Vincent Atanasoff with help of graduate student Clifford Berry |
|---|---|
| Release date | 1942 |
| Units sold | 1 |
| CPU | More than 300 vacuum tubes @ 60 Hz |
| Memory | 3000 bits |
| Display | Decimal, via a front panel display |
| Input | Decimal, via standard IBM 80-column punched cards |
| Mass | 700 pounds (320 kg) |
Its unique contribution was to make computing faster by being the first to use vacuum tubes to do the arithmetic calculations. Prior to this, slower electro-mechanical methods were used by Konrad Zuse's Z1 computer, and the simultaneously developed Harvard Mark I. The first electronic, programmable, digital machine, the Colossus computer from 1943 to 1945, used similar tube-based technology as ABC.