The Room-Sized Brain
You are hired to operate ENIAC, a computer that fills a room and is programmed by moving cables and flipping switches. Write your first week learning to speak to a machine that thinks in numbers.
ENIAC, unveiled in 1946, was among the first general-purpose electronic computers. It filled a large room, used thousands of vacuum tubes, and was largely programmed by a team of women mathematicians.
Field notes
Did you know
- ENIAC's original programmers were six women, long uncredited.
- It used around 18,000 vacuum tubes, which failed often.
- 'Programming' meant physically rewiring the machine for each new problem.
Key phrases
vacuum tube · patch cable · the panel · a mind made of switches · the hum of the room
Chase this down
Look up: the ENIAC programmers (Jean Bartik and colleagues).
Craft tip
Unfamiliar technology is best explained through a beginner's confusion, not an expert's summary.
Try this
Write it as a training memo from one operator to the next.