Computer 50 years

2000/01/01 Waliño, Josu - Elhuyar Fundazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Hardwarea

They have recently discovered, forgotten in a warehouse, the first computer developed in Australia. The 2,000 kilogram monster called CSIRAC can be considered a computer dinosaur.

After more than eight years developing the computer CSIRAC, the eighth electronic computer in the world. It is the only computer left of that time, since all of his generation were destroyed long ago.

The CSIRAC computer was designed in 1947 by engineer Trevor Pearcey. Weighing 2,000 kilos, it occupies an area of 40 square meters and is full of dials, levers and holes full of indicators. When it worked it had a power of 30 kW and a memory of 1 kb. It was mostly used to make calculations: it processed data 1000 times faster than a person was going to do with a calculator.

Currently two engineers are trying to launch the computer to expose it in a museum that will open next year in Melbourne.