MIT Whirlwind I: A High-Speed Electronic Digital Computer (1951) [pdf]
21 points
by stmw
5 days ago
| 5 comments
| dome.mit.edu
| HN
jecel
56 minutes ago
[-]
Two years after this booklet, the CRT memory it describes was replaced by core memory (becoming the first computer to use that technology).
reply
aap_
4 hours ago
[-]
Love the Whirlwind! i think of it as the original microcontroller, except not very micro of course. The 2kw address space is a bit small for bigger programs unfortunately, but it's still great fun to play with anyways.
reply
stmw
5 days ago
[-]
Also see the much larger digital archive of Whirlwind documents https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/1157/...
reply
ggm
10 hours ago
[-]
Not implying whirlwind is the ur-machine, or originated terms of art, just noting that a lot of language in 1951 could be understood to apply in a domain-specific sense to a modern computer scientist: the jargon we use now, includes terms of art that these people use.

They are therefore at least 75 years old.

reply
radiator
5 hours ago
[-]
The booklet looks great.
reply