Rebirth in America

The news that CPT Company had developed the first transistor computer blew through like a whirlwind, blowing American technology companies to pieces.

Before the advent of transistor computers, the fastest computers in the world could perform calculations at most tens of thousands of times per second. However, the computers manufactured by Carpenter Electronics are capable of millions of times! This was a huge leap forward, relegating other tube computers directly to the museum of history.

Among the companies that made tube computers, one was particularly concerned about the emergence of the "first generation" transistor computers. This company is IBM, they claim to be the blue giant in the computer market!

A senior computer columnist once wrote: "When talking about computers, you can't talk about IBM."

Some people even asserted: "The history of computers is the history of IBM."

Although these arguments are biased, they are not without some truth. The history of IBM indeed contains most of the history of computing. But that was IBM in the history without Alex. In that normal historical line, the blue giant IBM had already occupied most of the computer market in the United States as early as the 1950s and 1960s. As early as the outbreak of World War II when they first entered the computer field.

In 1944, Watson invested 1 million to successfully develop his grandmother's "MarkI" computer at Harvard University. This is an electromagnetic computer, 15 meters long, about 2.4 meters high, weighing 31.5 tons, and can do one addition per second. Unfortunately, not long after its birth, it was surpassed by computers produced by other companies.

In 1947, IBM invested another $1 million and developed a computer. This computer was called a "giant technological dinosaur" by the industry, and was eventually replaced by other computers.

Old Watson failed repeatedly, but still refused to admit defeat. He pretended to be calm and said: "The world market demand for computers is only about 5."

Whether Old Watson admits it or not, his investment has once again been in vain. He is too old, already over 70 years old. The rapidly changing high-tech technology is a phantom that he can never catch up with. To achieve maximum success, the company must make changes, but he no longer has that much energy.

Most of the senior engineers under Old Watson are too old to keep up with the changes of the times. Almost none of them understand what an electronic computer is. In order to make the "technological dinosaur" possible, the chief designer had to go to the university for help, and several young guys who had just graduated came to do it for him, because these old guys didn't know how to install a new gadget like a vacuum tube.

One day, when old Watson was angry with his engineer, a young man walked over quietly. He told old Watson his final battle speech, which was very organized and left a deep impression on people.

This young man was dressed almost the same as the old Watson, wearing the same top hat and suit of the same color, and his eyes and eyebrows seemed to be cast from the same mold. The key is that his name is also Thomas Watson. This man is Watson Sr.'s eldest son and the executive vice president of IBM. People call him Watson Jr.

Watson Sr. is not very confident about his son. He knows a lot about Watson Jr. and always feels a little on tenterhooks.

Little Watson was a typical playboy who got into trouble everywhere. He changed schools three times in middle school and still failed several subjects. When he went to college, he fell into the bad habit of drinking. These are all still remembered by old Watson, like a lingering shadow.

After little Watson waited for his father's anger to subside, he softly expressed his idea: "IBM should take decisive action. I have been to Pennsylvania to look at Eliac carefully. We are going to create something like this." machine, the top priority is to recruit a large number of young engineers who understand electronic technology from all over the country."

Old Watson immediately asked: "Are you talking about dozens of people? I can do it just by staying here."

"No, at least a few thousand people are needed. IBM's engineers must be replaced. The days of hammering metal plates into machines are gone forever."

Old Watson nodded, thinking silently: "Maybe this kid has a point, let him try it."

As a child, Watson was once a playboy, but during the five years of World War II, he joined the army and flew bombers for 2,500 hours, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. The war taught him to move forward courageously and strategically, and how to organize and unite his subordinates.

After experiencing several failures, Watson Sr. handed the development steering wheel of IBM into the hands of his eldest son, Thomas Watson Jr. Soon, Watson Jr. implemented fundamental reforms in the company's development direction, and IBM began to transcend tradition.

Watson Jr. promoted Wally McDowell as research director, hired von Neumann as a company shareholder, and recruited more than 4,000 energetic young engineers and technicians. He also secured a U.S. Air Force prevention and control engineering program and trained thousands of manufacturing and assembly workers.

After the team was well integrated, Watson Jr. invested US$12 million at one time to develop a full-purpose electronic computer for the Department of Defense. This computer was called the "Defense Computer", which was later renamed the IBM701 mainframe. .

They abandoned punched cards and replaced them with things they were unfamiliar with - tube logic circuits, magnetic core memory and tape processors, allowing the machine to perform operations at a speed of 17,000 instructions per second.

But what they didn't expect was that while their computer was being developed, they were completely deceived by an earth-shattering news. Carpenter Electronics' transistor computer was much better than them, almost two hundred times faster, and only one-tenth the size and weight.

"Tell me! How come a little-known electronics company can develop such an advanced computer!"

After young Watson learned the detailed parameters of the "first generation" computer, he felt dizzy. He knew that he had failed this time.

He angrily summoned his researchers and held an emergency meeting.

At the meeting, everyone held data on the "first generation" transistor computer announced by Carpenter Electronics, as well as photos and so on. Almost can't believe what is written above. Their computers are already a whole generation behind others in the research and development process.

Wally is the computer research and development director of IBM. He carefully worded his words: "I have seen their computers and found that they use bipolar transistors and logic computing modules made of integrated circuit boards, which is what they become CPUs. This This kind of bipolar transistor and integrated circuit board have just been invented not long ago, and they invented it themselves. In other words, if we want to reach their level, we must also use transistors and integrated circuit boards to design."

His words made it very clear that tube computers were obsolete and transistor computers must be used. However, bipolar transistors and integrated circuit boards have not yet appeared, which naturally has an inherent advantage for Carpenter Electronics. In other words, IBM is lagging behind others, and it is not a crime of war.

It's not that Watson doesn't understand the reasoning behind this, but he has already received a notice from the Ministry of Defense telling them not to continue developing "defense computers." The government department has transferred this order to Carpenter Electronics Company. The Ministry of National Defense does not want to lag behind others before the computer it uses is developed.

"Then we will overturn the plan and redo it immediately!" Watson said decisively. He could not fall behind any more. If it failed again, IBM would probably have to completely withdraw from the computer field.

"But, hasn't our order been..." Someone immediately reminded him.

"Do as I say, we will make the fastest computer in the world even if there is no order." Little Watson became angry when he heard this. Fortunately, he has not spent all the 12 million US dollars in funds. If If Carpenter Electronics had announced the transistor computer a year or two later, he would have been completely unable to turn over.

On this day, Watson Jr. wrote excitedly in his memo: "We are a large company with very strong funds and personnel. It is really hard for me to understand why IBM can't be one step ahead of CPT? You know, that electronics company It had just been acquired and reorganized from the edge of bankruptcy. In the first few months, it was still producing garbage like radios. But now it has suddenly built the fastest computer in the world. This is simply unbelievable!"

At this time, compared to the gloom and gloom of IBM, Carpenter Electronics was beaming with joy. Bart had just learned that the Department of Defense had ordered 12 "first-generation" transistor computers at once. The profit of each unit was as high as 2 million US dollars, which made Bart laugh so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

Not only is the Ministry of Defense in need, other government departments are also taking action. For them, this kind of transistor computer is fast, small, cheap, more practical and convenient. If Carpenter Electronics hadn't been unable to keep up with its production capacity, its profits might have exceeded 100 million this year.

After the first transistor computer was announced, Carpenter Electronics held a special unveiling ceremony. This was not suggested by Alex, but by Old Joe. After hearing this, Bart thought this was a good idea, so he struck while the iron was hot and invited many scientific celebrities and magazine reporters to come over.

Under much attention, 150 guests, headed by "Father of the Atomic Bomb" Oppenheimer, visited Carpenter Electronics Company to participate in the unveiling ceremony of the "first generation" transistor computer. They praised this computer as "an extreme breakthrough for mankind". Intellectual Contributions”.

Seeing so many scientists appearing, Alex's little hands itched, wanting to copy the skills of those scientists. It's a pity that he can only copy one of them. Now that he is using Shockley's skills well, he doesn't want to change. In the end, I can only give up and find ways to contact them when the need arises in the future.

With this group of powerful people advocating, Carpenter Electronics suddenly became famous all over the world. Many scientists and school students know that there is such a company that produced the world's first transistor computer.

Now, not only government departments are ordering computers from them, but even some large companies are calling to inquire about purchasing computers. Orders are flying in like snowflakes.

"Alex, is there any way you can add a few more production lines?" Seeing this, Bart couldn't sit still anymore. He knew that the biggest problem now was that Carpenter Electronics' production was too slow and it didn't have much power to produce more computers.

This kind of transistor computer is not produced on a fully mechanically automated production line like later generations. It is still made entirely by hand.

Skilled technicians also need training to be competent. If there is a problem in a certain link, waste products may be produced. Besides, this kind of computer, which has the fastest computing speed in the world, is a high-tech product that all countries want to get their hands on. Without some protective measures, the U.S. government will not trust Carpenter Electronics to develop it.

Under various conditions, Carpenter Electronics can only produce less than 50 units per year, which is already a very high output.

Alex shook his head and said: "You can find other people to discuss production matters. There is nothing I can do."

Bart looked at Alex with a grimace and said, "What about the new computer? Are you not going to get another one?"

"Huh? Are you still doing it? This computer has been sold for a long time." Alex felt that Bart was a bit greedy and actually wanted a faster computer. UUkanshu www.uukanshu.net

Bart nodded and said, "It can be sold for a long time. However, other companies have also begun to develop transistor computers, so we have to speed up research and development."

"So I asked Seymour Clay to help with research."

"Him? That's not possible. Before this, he didn't even know much about transistors and computers. I don't dare to expect him to make anything good."

Alex had no choice but to explain: "He is inexperienced, so I asked him to improve on the 'first generation' first. I think he will soon master the experience and knowledge in this area."

Bart thought about it and had no choice but to give up. What neither he nor Alex knew was that many things in this "first generation" were used in later generations, and some of the design concepts inside were eye-opening to Seymour Clay. In a hurry, Seymour Clay was fascinated by the computer structures full of whimsical ideas. For several months, I have not been able to come up with a better improved model based on the original one.

However, Seymour Cray deserves to be regarded as a master in the history of computers. It took him several years to fully understand the "first generation" transistor computer that Alex accidentally leaked.

Soon, he proposed a more advanced design plan, which was the "Cray I" computer. This machine is much faster than the CDC7600, which he originally developed in 1969, and can operate at a speed of 12 million operations per second.

Inadvertently, Alex's flapping wings completely changed the technological development of this world, fanning the people and objects in this world to another trajectory.