Overcoming obsolescence
the story of a digital ‘Rosetta Stone’?
David Demant Senior Curator, Information and Communication
Museum Victoria
Melbourne
Is there any point in resurrecting software?
CSIRAC
Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation Automatic Computer
pronounced sigh – rack
Off-line
editing area
and
Library
Memory
Input/
output
Console
The only intact first generation stored program electronic computer left in the world
Input/
output
CSIRAC, the first stored program electronic computer in Australia
(and the fourth in the world)
CSIRAC and a modern laptop ‐
a rough comparison
CSIRAC Laptop
Main memory
2000 bytes
8,000 million bytes
Processing speed
500 operations
per second
2500 million operations
per second
Size
25 sq m
0.1 sq m
Weight
2000 kg
2 kg
Power rating
30 kW
5 W
Number of digital switches
2000 valves
Many tens of millions
of valves
GOOGLE SEARCH:
UNIVERSITY MELBOURNE
CSIRAC EMULATOR
www.csse.unimelb.edu.au/
dept/about/csirac/
emulator.html
Meet the stars!
Overcoming obsolescence
We have a large number of paper tapes from CSIRAC
We have an Archive!
The CSIRAC Archive includes:
• programming manuals • documentation – office, courses, annual reports, staff info, correspondence
• published papers and reports, • original photographs and footage • oral histories • engineering drawings
• over 450 paper tape programs + documentation CSIRAC was the first computer to be programmed
to play music
How the tapes were read originally
Got to have the correct alignment to read the holes in the tape
Layout of modern reading system for CSIRAC 12‐hole tapes
Tape Read Mechanism
Apple Printer Tape Feed Mechanism
Parallel Port Connection (Tape DATA)
Serial Port Connection
(Tape MOTION)
LAPTOP Computer
Cutting and pasting
t
Ediing
ʎ The very first computer clipboard?
Cut, copy & paste
The music of CSIRAC
You too can listen to the music! SEARCH
MUSEUM VICTORIA CSIRAC MUSIC
http://museumvictoria.com.au/CSIRAC/pioneer/makingmusic.aspx
You’ve heard the music!
Now see the film
Publications
•
•
•
•
‘The Last of the First’
‘The Music of CSIRAC’
‘The First Computer Mouse’
Books and numerous papers
Websites
• http://museumvictoria.com.au/csirac/index.as
px
• http://www.csse.unimelb.edu.au/dept/about/
csirac/
• http://www.csirac.info/emulator.html
• http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/
It is not inconceivable that an automatic encyclopaedic service operated through the national teleprinter or telephone system, will one day exist.
21 February 1948 "Modern Trends in Machine Computation" by T. Pearcey ‐ Supplement to Australian Journal of Science Vol X No.4.