|
1943
Fall - US Bureau of Aeronatucs starts "universal flight trainer" project at MIT's Servomechanisms Lab
- Assistant Director
Jay W. Forrester (age 26)
- make real time computing real
- helps create the Boston Route 128 computer industry
- becomes a model for cost overruns!
1945
Aug - Advanced Computational Techniques Conference at MIT
- Forrester learns about ENIAC and EDVAC
1946
early - Forrester is convinced to go digital
Mar - Revises Bureau of Aeronautics proposal to build a full-scale digital computer
- Revised program is Whirlwind
Key problems
- reliable storage
- speed
?? - Whirlwind is transferred to Office of Naval Research (ONR)
1947
Pct - Crawford, Forrester, Everett. Information System of Inter-connected Digital Computers.
1948
Fall- ONR begins to balk at funding levels
1949
Aug - USSR explodes a nuclear bomb
- US needs defense against attack by nuclear armed bombers
|
|
1950
Valley Committee (Prof. George E. Valley, AF Sci. Adv Board) recommends
- updated interceptor aircraft
- ground-to-air missles
- improved radar coverage
- computer based command and control centers
Valley visits Whirlwind
- Whirlwind is running some of it first test programs
Mar - Valley indicates AF support to ONR
?? - Whirlwind becomes part of Project Lincoln (later Lincoln Labs),
- lead R&D program for computerized national air defense
1951
Spring - Whirlwind is operating
- typewriter terminals
- CRT displays
?? - Bill Papian demonstrates a prototype core memory system.
1952
1953 - Whirlwind is running with core memory.
?? - Production for SAGE begins
- technology is transferred to IBM
- IBM AN/FSQ-7
1956 - Forrester leaves active computer engineering to become MIT prof of industrial and engineering organization
1963 - SAGE is fully deployed
IBM AN/FSQ-7 (2 at each "Direction Center" for a sector)
- 49,000 tubes
- 250 tons
Civilian spin-offs
- printed circuits
- core memory
- mass-storage
- CRT displays
- 1800 years of programmer experience
Early 1980's - SAGE is decomissioned.
|