 Ferranti Mark 1 Star, c. 1953 | |
| Also known as | Manchester Electronic Computer Manchester Ferranti |
|---|---|
| Product family | Manchester computers |
| Predecessor | Manchester Mark 1 |
The Ferranti Mark 1, also known as the Manchester Electronic Computer in its sales literature,[1] and thus sometimes called the Manchester Ferranti, was produced by British electrical engineering firm Ferranti Ltd. It was the world's first commercially available electronic general-purpose stored program digital computer.[a]
Although preceded as a commercial digital computer by the BINAC and the Z4, the Z4 was electromechanical and lacked software programmability, while BINAC never operated successfully after delivery.[2]
The Ferranti Mark 1 was "the tidied up and commercialised version of the Manchester Mark I".[3] The first machine was delivered to the Victoria University of Manchester in February 1951[4] (publicly demonstrated in July)[5][6] ahead of the UNIVAC I which was delivered to the United States Census Bureau in late December 1952, having been sold on 31 March 1951.[7]
- ^ Lavington 1998, p. 25
- ^ "Description of the BINAC", citing Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 10 No. 1 1988, archived from the original on 4 August 2008, retrieved 26 July 2008
- ^ Tootill, Geoff (2010), National Life Stories an Oral History of British Science: Geoff Tootill Interviewed by Thomas Lean (PDF), British Library, p. 169 C1379/02 Track 6, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2023, retrieved 30 January 2011
- ^ Teuscher, Christof (2004), Alan Turing: Life and Legacy of a Great Thinker, Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 334–335, ISBN 9783540200208
- ^ Cooper, S. Barry; Leeuwen, J. van (18 March 2013). Alan Turing: His Work and Impact. Elsevier. p. 468. ISBN 9780123870124.
- ^
- "10. The Ferranti Computer at Manchester University, England". Digital Computer Newsletter. 3 (3): 4–5. October 1951.
- "11. The Ferranti Computer at Manchester University, England". Digital Computer Newsletter. 4 (3): 6. July 1952.
- ^ UNIVAC I#cite ref-8
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