Simon (computer)
Simon was the name of the historically first " home computer ", a project by Edmund Berkeley , which he presented in a thirteen-part series of articles in Radio Electronics magazine from October 1950. Although there were much more advanced and expensive calculating machines at the time, the Simon was the first experiment to build a simple automatic digital calculator for teaching purposes. In 1950, he was for around 500 US dollars to build.
history
The "Simon" project came about in connection with Berkeley's book "Giant Brains, or Machines That Think", which was published in November 1949. Here the author writes:
“We are now going to look at how we can design a very simple thinking machine. Let's call her Simon because of her predecessor, Simple Simon. [Translator's note: "Simple Simon" is an English nursery rhyme.] Simon is so simple, and indeed so small, that he would fit in a fruit crate, about four cubic feet. [Translator's note: 0.11 cubic meters] […]
It may at first seem that such a simple model of a mechanical brain as Simon does not have much practical use. On the contrary: Simon has the same value for training as an assortment of simple chemical experiments: to provoke thinking and understanding and to ensure practice and the development of skills. A mechanical brain training course might very well involve building a simple model of a mechanical brain as an exercise. "
In November 1950, Berkeley wrote an article for Scientific American entitled "Simple Simon". In it he described the concept of the digital computer in popular science. Although Simon was severely limited in functionality - he could only represent the numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3 - Berkeley wrote on page 40 of the magazine that this machine “has the two unique properties that determine a real mechanical brain: it can automatically transport information from one of its registers to another and it can make logical inferences of unlimited length. ”Berkeley concluded the article with a look to the future:
“One day we may have small computers in our apartments that draw their energy from the power line, such as refrigerators or radios. […] You may remind us of facts that we would otherwise forget. You could calculate account balances and income taxes. Schoolchildren could use them to help them do their homework. Perhaps they could also look through and list combinations of opportunities that we need to make important decisions. We may find a world full of mechanical brains working for us in the future. "
Technical specifications
Simon's architecture was based on relays . Programs were executed directly from a 5-channel punched tape. The registers and the ALU could only store 2- bit numbers. The input was made via the punched tape or via five keys on the front panel of the machine, the output via five lights.
The punched tape served not only as an input medium, but also as the machine's program memory. The instructions were carried out in sequence as read from the paper tape. There were only four operations: addition , sign change , comparison operator (>), and branching .
Individual evidence
- ↑ What was the first personal computer? Blinkenlights Archaeological Institute, accessed March 15, 2008
- ^ Giant Brains, or Machines That Think. P. 22, 31.
- ↑ Edmund C. Berkeley: Simple Simon. In: Scientific American . Vol. 183, No. 5, November 1950, pp. 40-43, JSTOR 24945009 .