Thread by @FalunJimmy

I read this book recently, and although it was not great, I had a couple notes to share about the early days of computers

the most interesting parts of the book (to me, anyway) wasn't the ENIAC machine per se, but the Hollerith tabulating machine, which essentially became IBM. IBM's first real contract was the US census, right?

which we all know from reading 2nd Samuel ch. 24 that numbering the people is actually a sin, right?

;)

anyway, I won't get into the history of IBM (yet) because its way more interesting, but wanna know the second application of Hollerith tabulating machines?

the racetracks

so basically, IBM's very first contracts are with a.) the state, and b.) organized crime

it wouldn't be accurate to say that IBM's third contract was with the Nazis, but it wouldn't be far off

the ENIAC book somehow fails to mention the fact that IBM machines were used to carry out the Holocaust, which absolutely should at least merit a sentence in the book, but w/e, this book is vastly better anyway

in a lot of ways, this ENIAC book was the same gripe that I had with various books about the mafia, in that there's a fixation on the scientists and not enough discussion on what the early computers were being used for - in this case, cryptography

there are brief cameos from the likes of Norbert Weiner, Philo T. Farnsworth, Einstein, and the man with the world's worst haircut, Veblen, but somehow, this book makes them all boring

the ENIAC itself was intended to do calculations for artillery trajectories, but it wasn't operational until after the war

the book makes John von Neumann out to be a massive asshole; von Neumann was able to use the ENIAC to do calculations for the hydrogen bomb, however

once ENIAC was built, it was moved to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds...

“In Aberdeen,” said Edward Teller, “we have a goat tethered to a stick with a ten-foot rope, and we have promised a big prize to anyone who can kill the goat with a death ray.”

so I guess the Army had it in for goats for a long time

after building ENIAC, the scientists working on it went on to form the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation, which maybe could have been as big as IBM, although that's probably a pipe dream since IBM was already fat off that US Census and Nazi gold already

the Eckert-Mauchly company became Univac, right?

back in the day, they used to talk about IBM and the Seven Dwarves, in terms of mainframe computer manufacturers, right?

well, despite most of UNIVAC's history being pretty boring, I found out something pretty interesting.

"Anticommunism fervor was taking root in the United States, later to develop into McCarthyism. In 1948 at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, it took the form of an Army Intelligence Division investigation of the firm for its security clearance."

"The army investigation found that five of the nine people with security clearances at EMCC had “subversive
tendencies or connections.”

for things like being a supporter of Henry Wallace, lol

"Army Intelligence asked the FBI to investigate further.
It did, and on November 11, 1948, the FBI delivered a fifteen-page report clearing Mauchly of misconduct or disloyalty. The FBI concluded, as others had, that all Mauchly was guilty of was being “eccentric.”

"The army, which had banned EMCC from receiving
classified documents and thus from getting military contracts, wasn’t satisfied and stood firm on its disqualification. The company lost out on key defense contracts that could have kept it vibrant."

basically, McCarthyism was used as a pretext for one clique of defense contractors to beat down a different, smaller group.

haven't we heard this story before?

hmmmmm

hmmmmmmm

man this other cover sucks

anyway, I don't recommend the ENIAC book, but there was still interesting info in it.