In this episode we wrap up the greatest achievements and challenges in the computing era of the 1960's. We learn about Howard Tindall, and how MIT became a dominant force in Apollo. We also learn about Core Rope Memory and how Seamstresses helped program Apollo capsules. This is the last episode of Season 1, it's time to go offline and research how a new era of computing arrives: Microcomputing.
We go knee-deep into available computing technology in the late 1950's and what it was used for: Missles and Satellites. We see the creation of the NASA RTCC in a muddy field and revisit what IBM is up to.
In this episode, we get a look at the first commercially available computer: UNIVAC. We also touch upon the first vacuum tube-free computer and learn the frightening, yet triumphant story behind the inventor of the circuit board.
This episode looks at some really interesting inventions with the Bulb and Electricity that played a major role in the development of the electronic computer. This includes vacuum tubes and Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT's).
The early 1960's were full of gigantic leaps in computing technology, and a lot of it was used in NASA to get astronauts into space! We see the first use of the word Mainframes, and see how Neil Armstrong used a new invention called "secondary storage" to try to save his own life!
In this episode, we solve the problem of calculating from inaccurate tables, learn about NYU Art Professor and inventor of the first electrical language: Samuel Morse, and we discover how the Tabulating Machine company got its start and made one man very rich (and the census a lot easier). Tune in!
In this first episode, I go over the beginning of computing: why did we start this thing in the first place? We review the Abacus, the plague, and the loom, and see why those factored into the device you're reading this on.
(OldComputerPods) ©Sean Haas, 2020