As cool as today’s computers are… there is part of me that really loves items like this old control console. I mean, how could you not? Take a look at this thing.
It was designed for one of the first commercially available computers, the UNIVAC I. The UNIVAC was first made in 1951 and cost over $1.25 MILLION at a time when you could get a new Chevy for $500. And folks, this wasn’t the whole computer. This was just the control console. If you wanted a UNIVAC, you needed to part with a couple thousand square feet of climate-controlled space.
This particular computer was used to predict the results of the 1954 Presidential election and it did so with only a 3.5% error rate. Perhaps we should have fired it up a few more times since then, that’s all I’m saying.
It’s pure retro awesomeness
Yes, it’s true that a programmable calculator costing $50 can outdo a UNIVAC. But come on, you know you want to sit down behind this bad boy and flip its switches. Flipping switches was the only way to interact with this big behemoth… no swiping or tapping, not even a programming language. It was all manual.
You can just imagine sitting there like the king of technology keying in super-important codes and waiting for the machine to make chunka-chunka noises until spitting out the results on a little roll of paper. Now that’s computing. You probably would want to be wearing a lab coat, especially since this kind of equipment needed to be kept at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff breeze blowing through the room. This bad boy didn’t use computer chips, they hadn’t been invented. Instead it used vacuum tubes, which are notoriously prone to burn out if they get too hot.
This and more at the Computer History Museum
If you want a closer view of the UNIVAC’s control console, check out its page at the Computer History Museum. Be sure to zoom all the way in. I’m lucky enough to have visited this museum in Mountain View, California. It’s built off the collection of the old Boston Computer Museum and has added a lot of exhibits to keep up with the times. Younger boomers and GenX folks will be sure to feel old when they see Atari games and early Nintendos behind glass. There are a lot of interactive exhibits and you can walk right up to a lot of old hardware.
It’s enough to give you a lot of respect for those brave pioneers who worked with computers in the days before mice and windows. Today we take for granted that our devices will be easy to use and give instant answers. Looking at this old console reminds us that it wasn’t always the case.
One last word about UNIVAC
UNIVAC was a product of Remington Rand, the same people who made popular typewriters at the time. This explains the typewriter keys being used as control devices. The computing division of Remington Rand was sold to Sperry, then spun off, and believe it or not it’s still out there. Known now as UNISYS, the company focuses now on services rather than hardware. They draw a straight line not only back to 1951 when UNIVAC I was released, but all the way back to the late 1800s when Remington Rand was a tech giant. I wonder if they’re ever tempted to try to create a UNIVAC simulator. Edit: They didn’t, but someone did… Check it out here.
