What is the oldest computer still in operation?
It dosen’t have to even be a unit with real functionality anymore…something running as an antique?
I’m certain there aren’t any Univacs anymore…maybe an IBM 360 or a 720 from the 60s?
You might want to refine your definition of a “computer”. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives a suprisingly short definition:
Are we going to include calculators, NASA equipment, printer formatter boards, etc?
Anyway, I Googled a bit and tried “computer museum” and came across a real gem. A printer that plays music! I especially liked “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”. I suppose only comp geeks will get a kick out of this. Sorry for the hijack.
I’d imagine that in some old fighter aircraft there are still computers in use hailing from the 70s at least, maybe even the 60s. But knowing next to nothing about fighter aircraft I could be miles off target…
The Space Shuttle still uses ancient computers from the 70s with iron-core donut memory!
This isn’t really a correct answer to your question, but it’s so damn interesting, I can’t resist mentioning it;
[url=“http://raphael.math.uic.edu/~jeremy/crypt/guardian.html”]Here is a site that mentions the reconstruction of Colossus; the first(although there is some debate on this) digital computer devised by (among others) Alan Turing at Bletchley Park in the 1930s.
Actually on reading further, it may not be true that Turing was responsible for the design of the Colossus machine (although he did go on to design others)
I can’t read his life story without wondering what he would have achieved if he had lived another 40 years (he was persecuted over his sexuality and driven to suicide at a relatively early age).
I am glad to report that I have no idea what this means. On one hand, I wonder if I am supposed to laugh…then I think, “Hmmm, is this funny because it’s true? Is this funny because it’s some kind of play on words? Or, is it not funny, but sad.”
However, I might want to ask for a cite.
But, being that I have no idea what it means, I won’t ask.
“Iron-core donut memory!” That’s great!
The memory in early computers consisted of 2 wires crossing at the hole of a doughnut-shaped metal ring. Current passing thru the wires was “read” by the ring, as either off (=0) or on (=1). 8 of these bits made one byte (character or number).
[sub]Keee-rist I’m old![/sub]
Hey…I learned something. Long live iron core donut memory!
“One holdover component from the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab computers remained: core memory. Mostly replaced by semiconductor memories on IC chips, core memory was made up of doughnut-shaped ferrite rings. In the mid-1960s, core memories were determined to be the best choice for manned flight for the indefinite future, because of their reliability and nonvolatility14. Over 2,000 core memories flew in aircraft or spacecraft by 1978. The NASA design guide for spacecraft computers recommended use of core memory and that it be large enough to hold all programs necessary for a mission. That way, in emergencies, there would be no delay waiting for programs to be loaded, as in Gemini 8, and the memory could be powered down when unneeded without losing data”.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/computers/Ch4-2.html
It required 3 wires, but only two were used to read data. The 3rd was required to write.
In terms of active everyday use and not just museum pieces I think the circa 1960 computers (one or two may even be late 1950s vintage) still used in some sections of the Uniited States air traffic control system would be the oldest that I know of.
Feel better about flying now?
Some shuttle computer history
Donuts…is there anything they can’t do?-Homer Simpson
If we broaden the definition of “computer” beyond electronics we can go back to Charles Babbage’s difference engine built in 1832. It was never completely finished, but the section that was built is the oldest survivng automatic calculator. It currently rests in the British Science Museum.
Here’s a link. It’s really quite fascinating.
Are there any still-functioning UNIVACs and/or ENIACs?
From ‘The Complete Chess Addict’:
A chess playing robot was invented in 1890 to play the ending of King + Rook v King. It used pulleys, weights and wires. it was demonstrated at the Sorbonne in France in 1915 and is now on display, still in working order, at the Polytechnic Museum in Madrid.