e. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer vs. Previous
Generations of Computers. For its time, ENIAC represented a marked improvement
over previous generations of computers. It was 1,000 times faster than earlier
computers. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer could do in one day
what a manual operation would require 300 days to perform. It could do 300
multiplications in one second, whereas the fastest electromechanical devices could
perform only one multiplication per second. Most importantly, ENIAC served its
intended purpose of performing the calculations necessary for World War II weapons
systems. There were a number of disparaging stories about ENIAC. (It was said that
all the lights in West Philadelphia would dim when ENIAC was turned on, and that three
or more tubes would always burn out when it was started.) But those anecdotes
notwithstanding, ENIAC was so successful that it marked the end of the pioneer stage
of automatic computer development. The success of ENIAC led Eckert and Mauchley
to eventually form the Remington-Rand Corporation.
Figure 1-18. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, the first
electronic digital computer, was hard to program
for other purposes.
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