Dear old Csirac...Australia's first computer and only the fourth to be built in the world, the grand old boy of computation now resides in the Melbourne Museum and apparently has the distinction of being the oldest computer still operating, albeit primitively. Csirac ran its inaugural program in 1949 and its existence is a startling reminder of just how rapidly exponential the ascendance of technology has been in the last 60 years.
Csirac was huge -the size of two Winnibagos side by side and had the brain power of your average low market electronic organizer but back in its heyday, it was the fastest mechanical brain in the country - a thousand times faster than anything else that was around at the time. During Australia’s first computer conference in June 1951 it wowed the attendees with a world first, by beeping out a song in its charming electronic drone - Colonel Bogey was the song. Over the next decade, changes and improvements were made and eventually Csirac could manage over 700 programs, including computing weather forecasts, helping to design skyscrapers and calculating home loans, which I'd guess was impressive at the time.
In the 70's and 80's, unable to keep up with those flashy new electronic kids on the block, the old boy was put in and out of storage the next 30 or so years, until finally finding a permanent home at the museum. For the tech heads, Csirac's technical specs can be found here:
Csirac
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| An ancestor to the laptop...Csirac. Image from Wiki Commons |
Csirac was huge -the size of two Winnibagos side by side and had the brain power of your average low market electronic organizer but back in its heyday, it was the fastest mechanical brain in the country - a thousand times faster than anything else that was around at the time. During Australia’s first computer conference in June 1951 it wowed the attendees with a world first, by beeping out a song in its charming electronic drone - Colonel Bogey was the song. Over the next decade, changes and improvements were made and eventually Csirac could manage over 700 programs, including computing weather forecasts, helping to design skyscrapers and calculating home loans, which I'd guess was impressive at the time.
In the 70's and 80's, unable to keep up with those flashy new electronic kids on the block, the old boy was put in and out of storage the next 30 or so years, until finally finding a permanent home at the museum. For the tech heads, Csirac's technical specs can be found here:
Csirac
