I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer?
First Computer
Started by ●January 24, 2023
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On 24/01/2023 15:08, Dean Hoffman wrote:> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer?It depends what you mean by "computer". Isn't an abacus a type of computer?! It's pretty widely accepted that the first computer - as perhaps most would use the term - was Colossus: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer> -- Jeff
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On 1/24/2023 10:08 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer? >In WW2 there were electromechanical gun laying computers, the analog computer could continually integrate the position from radar data to get a target's velocity vector, and along with the range compute an appropriate gun super elevation. Here's a video series that shows how they worked, the mechanical ball-integrator was an ingenious contraption: <https://youtu.be/lr1uK24SND8>
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 10:08:15 AM UTC-5, dean...@gmail.com wrote:> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer?These people lie about everything but the article is a start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_I_Fire_Control_Computer Analog is just as good as digital- actually way better for the technology of the day- IF the precision is good enough.
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 10:31:40 AM UTC-5, bitrex wrote:> On 1/24/2023 10:08 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote: > > I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer? > > > In WW2 there were electromechanical gun laying computers, the analog > computer could continually integrate the position from radar data to get > a target's velocity vector, and along with the range compute an > appropriate gun super elevation. > > Here's a video series that shows how they worked, the mechanical > ball-integrator was an ingenious contraption: > > > <https://youtu.be/lr1uK24SND8>Guns also contended with surface targets, popularly know as "other ships." They were also employed against land targets in the Pacific islands, where they proved to be horrendously ineffective. They weren't worth a damn during the D-Day invasion, as in not used, because the U.S. Navy was scared to death of the German gunnery and stayed out of range. That's how 500 Germans manning machine installations held off 70,000 Americans for a whole day- frustrating Bradley to the point of planning to send landing craft back in to evacuate the remainder of the landing force.
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On 1/24/2023 8:08 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, > artillery, ships, whatever. The narrator claimed the first computer might've > been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such > a thing as the first computer?Doesn't that depend on how you define a computer? Is a device that fills ONE role really describe a computer (as we know it)? Or, does it need to be "repurposable" (programmable)? Was the antikythera a computer? Or, just an "instrument"? Where is the line between the two?
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On Tue, 24 Jan 2023 07:08:10 -0800 (PST), Dean Hoffman <deanh6929@gmail.com> wrote:> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. >The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer? >Astronomers a few centuries ago hired human computers (i.e. often unmarried females) to do their routine orbital calculations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
Jeff Layman wrote:> On 24/01/2023 15:08, Dean Hoffman wrote: >> I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything >> military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. >> The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS >> Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as >> the first computer? > > It depends what you mean by "computer". Isn't an abacus a type of > computer?! > > It's pretty widely accepted that the first computer - as perhaps most > would use the term - was Colossus: > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer> >Gunlaying analog computers go back to WW1. One of the reasons that the Battle of Jutland was a more even affair than expected was that more of the German ships had director gun laying than the British. Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 http://electrooptical.net http://hobbs-eo.com
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 10:15:21 AM UTC-5, Jeff Layman wrote:> On 24/01/2023 15:08, Dean Hoffman wrote: > > I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer? > It depends what you mean by "computer". Isn't an abacus a type of > computer?! > > It's pretty widely accepted that the first computer - as perhaps most > would use the term - was Colossus: > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer>As you say, you first have to define what you are talking about. "the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer" is how Wikipedia talks about Colossus. It was not a stored program computer, being programmed by switches and plugs. Code breaking drove a branch of computing technology. Another branch that was also desperately needed in the war, was finding targeting solutions. I don't recall the name, but there was a computer designed to be airborne, that was pretty interesting. I can't seem to find it on the web. I thought it was WWII vintage and used rather archaic components like delay lines. Maybe not. In WWII, most targeting computers were analog. -- Rick C. - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Reply by ●January 24, 20232023-01-24
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 2:23:58 PM UTC-5, Ricky wrote:> On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 10:15:21 AM UTC-5, Jeff Layman wrote: > > On 24/01/2023 15:08, Dean Hoffman wrote: > > > I was watching the show Mail Call. It talks of anything military. Guns, artillery, ships, whatever. > > > The narrator claimed the first computer might've been on the USS Missouri. It aimed the guns on the ship. Is there such a thing as the first computer? > > It depends what you mean by "computer". Isn't an abacus a type of > > computer?! > > > > It's pretty widely accepted that the first computer - as perhaps most > > would use the term - was Colossus: > > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer> > As you say, you first have to define what you are talking about. > > "the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer" is how Wikipedia talks about Colossus. It was not a stored program computer, being programmed by switches and plugs. > > Code breaking drove a branch of computing technology. Another branch that was also desperately needed in the war, was finding targeting solutions. I don't recall the name, but there was a computer designed to be airborne, that was pretty interesting. I can't seem to find it on the web. I thought it was WWII vintage and used rather archaic components like delay lines. Maybe not.The "targeting" solution was done by analog in a gyro stabilized bombsight, which also took control of the aircraft to fly it steady and constant speed. The primary sensor was an optical sight, making the whole idea of it a total piece of crap. Who would have thought anyone would encounter cloud cover in northern Europe, or that there would be a requirement for nighttime bombings, and high altitude drops? Can we say morons? And the product was the culmination of at least 15 years of development. You can give a moron all the time and money in the world, and in the end you're still left with a moron.> > In WWII, most targeting computers were analog. > > -- > > Rick C. > > - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging > - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
