1961 Remington Rand UNIVAC "What Do You Want?" Sperry UNISYS LARC Athena Solid-State Computers

A newly restored version of the Remington Rand UNIVAC film “What do you want?” ~ Vintage material highlighting computer advances from 1946 through 1961. The original marketing film, courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library, --- digitally enhanced for easier viewing. Original 1961 narration has been maintained, including a fascinating talk by J.P. Eckert. Includes a Bonus Photo Gallery. Run time: 20 mins. Hope you enjoy! Comments and thoughts are welcome. ~ Uploaded by Mark Greenia, for the Computer History Archives Project.
Special Thanks to:
Kevin Martin, Mellon Curator of Audiovisual and Digital Collections
Angela Schad, Reference Archivist/Digital Archives Specialist
Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE
digital.hagley.org
www.hagley.org/library
Mr. Tony Buglione
Manager External Communications & Media Relations
UNISYS Corporation
ENIAC Photos Provided by U.S. Army
Courtesy of Mike Muuss, "Historic Computer Images"
ftp.arl.army.mil/~mike/comphist/
Additional recognition to:
- Computer History Museum (LARC photo)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (TIROS-1 photo)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LARC photos)
- George Michael, et al., An Oral and Pictorial History LLNL
computer-history.info/
- VIP Club: Information Technology Pioneers: Retirees and former employees of Unisys, Lockheed Martin, and their predecessor companies
www.vipclubmn.org/
For more info see also:
Ed Thelen’s Nike Missile Web Site
ed-thelen.org/index.html#faq
Jeff Quitney’s “Nike Zeus & Pershing Missiles: Army Digest 1962”
• Video
Minnesota Computing History
mncomputinghistory.com/
Time Index to Film Topics ==========================
00:30
Introductory Slides; Bulldozer at construction sight; highways; skyscrapers; farmland; automobiles; children going to school; jets; rockets; voices telling what they want to have… Title Slides; crowds walking; people working….
1:45
Narrator starts; talks about the 1960 Census and the work done at the University of North Carolina; scenes of UNIVAC 1105 Computer
3:05
ENIAC “Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer” is described, with photos
4:03
BINAC “Binary Automatic Computer” of 1949
4:40
UNIVAC I “Universal Automatic Computer” of 1951
5:16
“Card-to-Tape Machine” introduced; core memory; secret government computer work;”varactor” memory component for solid-state computers
6:00
Nike Zeus, Target Intercept Computer (TIC); Athena; Solid State Computers; Athena Guidance Computer: U.S. First Weather Satellite (TIROS-1)
6:38
UNIVAC Solid-State Computer, 1958 installation in Germany; images/photos; varactor amplifiers; small components;
7:56
LARC “Livermore Advanced Research Computer”
One at Livermore Labs, the other at Bureau of Ships, U.S. Navy;
New Drum Memory; core memory planes; LARC core processor; Page-Recorder machine;
9:15
UNIVAC III is mentioned
9:37
Discussion of Sperry Rand Corporation’s various divisions
Sperry Gyroscope Division; Ford Instrument Division; Vickers Division
12:47
J. Presper Eckert (co-inventor of ENIAC, BINAC, UNIVAC) talks how newer computers will be faster; nanosecond speeds; thin film memory; etc. (excellent six-minute talk)
18:30
Summary; various potential Computer Applications now and in future.
20:06
Acknowledgements
20:17
Photo Gallery
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Link to Original Film Location at Hagley Library:
digital.hagley.org/VID_198526..."
Link to Computer History Archives Project Videos:
/ @computerhistoryarchiv...
--
Post-Production Comments:
The following enhancements were made to the original Remington Rand film:
- fixed audio tracks (one track was missing), corrected Mono output to included both channels, improved clarity and volume
- fixed bottom edge of video which had ragged edges, now smooth
- improved color balance
- add new title slides with date information
- remove excess blank footage and stabilized video
- added improved resolution and new photos of ENIAC programmers/operators
- added NASA photo of TIROS-1 weather satellite
- corrected “BINAC” date from 1950 to 1949
- corrected “UNIVAC I date from 1952 to 1951
- provided subject index and acknowledgements pages
PS: Am trying to get rid of the annoying TH-cam ad. It is tied to an original 1961 music clip embedded that I can't seem to get rid of yet...working on it. Thanks for your patience.
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[@Nevers0ft]

Pretty much a turning point in computing history, fascinating.

[@wlanman99]

I worked with the UNIVAC 1050-II back in the in Air Force 1980's. We upgraded to the Sperry 1100 somewhere around 1985. Interestingly enough is that we still used some 1050 equipment well into the 90's. The card sorter, card interpeter and the report decollater

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

wlanman99, thank you very much for your feedback and info! Glad you enjoyed the video. We also have a video on the UNIVAC-1050-II that has some great Air Force footage. Thanks again! ~ Victor, CHAP

[@collegeman1988]

At 15:10 J.P. Eckert points to a picture frame on the wall that would be about the same size as an iPad tablet device made over 50 years later, but with much more memory and capabilities that even a science fiction writer couldn’t imagine as being possible.

[@josephgaviota]

11:44 Instead of a special computer language used in the past, English language now allows the user to instruct the computer with familiar phrases ... Assembly is developed(!)

[@simonstergaard]

Epic movie ! ..go to 12:45