The ENIAC's Influence on Business Computing, 1940s-1950s
|
The ENIAC launched the computer as a major new tool of the modern age. Its historical significance is described.
[1] 26 A.L. Norberg, Computers and Commerce: A Study of Technology and Management at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, MIT Press, 2005, p. 1.
[2] For examples, see "Robot Calculator; ENIAC, All-Electronic Device," Business Week,16 Feb. 1946, p. 50ff; A. Rose, "Lightning Strikes Mathematics: ENIAC," Popular Science, vol. 148, Apr. 1946, pp. 83–86.
[3] For an example, see G.W. Patterson et al., eds., Theory and Techniques for Design of Electronic Digital Computers: Lectures Given at the Moore School 8 July 1946–31 August 1946, vols. 1–2, Moore School of Electrical Eng., Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1947; reprint edited by M. Campbell-Kelly and M.R. Williams, MIT Press, 1985.
[4] E.W. Pugh, L.R. Johnson, and J.H. Palmer, IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems, MIT Press, 1991, pp. 11–13.
[5] Statistical Reports Division, US Dept. of Commerce, The 1950 Censuses—How They Were Taken, Procedural Studies of the 1950 Censuses, No. 2: Population, Housing, Agriculture, Irrigation, Drainage, US Government Printing Office, 1955, pp. 29–38.
[6] Described well by J.W. Duncan and W.C. Shelton, Revolution in United States Government Statistics, 1926–1976, US Government Printing Office, 1978.
[7] A theme I explored in The Computer in the United States: From Laboratory to Market, 1930–1960, M.E. Sharpe, 1993, pp. 56–57, and which includes citations to other sources.
[8] Not to be confused with calculators, such as Howard Aiken's at Harvard University or AT&T's.
[9] See, for instance, General Electric, The Next Step in Management: An Appraisal of Cybernetics, General Electric, 1952.
[10] J.W. Cortada, The Digital Hand, vols. 1–2, Oxford Univ. Press, 2004 and 2006.
[11] A.D. Chandler, Jr., Inventing the Electronic Century: The Epic Story of the Consumer Electronics and Computer Industries, Free Press, 2001, pp. 6–12.
Index Terms:
ENIAC, computing, business IT
Citation:
James W. Cortada, "The ENIAC's Influence on Business Computing, 1940s-1950s," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 26-28, Apr.-June 2006, doi:10.1109/MAHC.2006.38
PURCHASE ARTICLE: $19
IEEE Xplore Subscribers
Digg
Furl
Spurl
Blink
Simpy
Google
Del.icio.us
Y!MyWeb