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Whirlwind I

16-bit computers1940s computers1950s computers1951 establishments in MassachusettsCold War military computer systems of the United States
Computer-related introductions in 1951Magnetic-core memory computersMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyOne-of-a-kind computersReal-time computingVacuum tube computers
Museum of Science, Boston, MA IMG 3168
Museum of Science, Boston, MA IMG 3168

Whirlwind I was a Cold War-era vacuum tube computer developed by the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory for the U.S. Navy. Operational in 1951, it was among the first digital electronic computers that operated in real-time for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems. It was one of the first computers to calculate in parallel (rather than serial), and was the first to use magnetic-core memory. Its development led directly to the Whirlwind II design used as the basis for the United States Air Force SAGE air defense system, and indirectly to almost all business computers and minicomputers in the 1960s, particularly because of the mantra "short word length, speed, people."

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Whirlwind I (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Whirlwind I
Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Cambridgeport

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Museum of Science, Boston, MA IMG 3168
Museum of Science, Boston, MA IMG 3168
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