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1946: ENIAC
This computer, unfurled to scientists on Feb. 14, helped launch the computer revolution and the U.S. tech dominance for decades. Few suspected actually what those next 60 years would bring. The evolution of computing devices has come a long way since the days of ENIAC.
The ENIAC and its makers
See footage of the ENIAC's creators with their computing machine in action, bright lights, vacuum tubes and all.
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"I was already wearing a plastic pocket protector and thick black glasses--taped together--so I didn't need something to increase my social dysfunction."
"I bought my first computer when I was 15 in 1980. It was an Apple II, which back then was the most popular PC in the U.S."
"I still had to re-key them everytime I wanted to change programs, but this wasn't too bad as the TI-58 only had enough memory for about 240 instructions."
What was your first computer?
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- Obituary: Herman Goldstine, ENIAC developer
- Scott McCartney about his "ENIAC" book on NPR
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- Z3, the World's First Programmable Computer
- PBS: 'That's My Theory' starring ENIAC.
- ENIAC programmer Rocco Martino talks with CNN
Editors: Kari Dean McCarthy; Mike Yamamoto
Production: Bernie McGinn; Jennifer Guevin; Vincent Tremblay
Design: Ellen Ng
