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Lecture 11. Computing in Canada Part 1: in the Beginning

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Lecture 11. Computing in Canada Part 1: in the Beginning Lecture 11. Computing in Canada Part 1: in the beginning Informal and unedited notes, not for distribution. (c) Z. Stachniak, 2011-2012. Note: in cases I were unable to find the primary source of an image or determine whether or not an image is copyrighted, I have specified the source as ”unknown”. I will provide full information about images and/or obtain reproduction rights when such information is available to me. Introduction There has been a considerable effort in many countries to set up cultural and research institutions to preserve for posterity computer artifacts that document the cultural history of the information age. The mission of these institutions is to showcase the outstanding contributions of these nations to the development of computer and information technologies. The list of such institutions is long and includes: the Charles Babbage Institute (USA), the Computer History Museum (USA), the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (Germany), German Museum of Tech- nology (Germany), Computer Museum, Achen (Germany), The National Museum of Computing (UK), The Centre for Computer History (UK), the Computer Museum at Bletchley Park (UK), ACONIT computer museum (France), Computer Museum and Archive, Paris (France), Computer Mu- seum of the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the Finish Data Processing Museum Association (Finland), the Computer Museum of the Japanese Information Processing Society, Monash Museum of Computing (Australia), the Canada Science and Technology Museum (Canada), York University Computer Museum (Canada). 1 Fig. 1. Two world’s largest computer museums: Computer History Museum in Santa Clara, CA (top, source: unknown), and Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, Paderborn, Ger- many (bottom, source: Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum). 2 In some countries, the museums of computing are set up and operated by universities. These academic museums focus on building and maintaining research collections with an aim to provide significant infrastructure for aca- demic research and teaching as well as to provide historical resources to writers, artists, educators, and the media. These academic museums are models for integrating scientific and technological heritage into the life of the campus and local community. Fig. 1. School visits the York University Computer Museum. Source: York University Computer Museum. The list of such University-based museums of computing is also long and includes: the Charles Babbage Institute of the University of Minnesota (US), Columbia University Computing History (US), MIT Museum (US), Computer Science Museum at UC Davis (US), Computer History Exhibits at Stanford (US), 3 Eniac Museum at the University of Pennsylvania (US), The university of Virginia Computer Museum (US), The University of Saskatchewan Com- puter Museum (Canada), Computer Museum of the University of Amster- dam (The Netherlands), Gronigen University Computer Center Collection (The Netherlands) The National Archive for the History of Computing at the University of Manchester (UK), Museum of Computing at the Univer- sity of Bath (UK), Computer Conservation Society (UK), Monash University Museum of Computing History, Monash (Australia), Computer Museum at University of Stuttgart (Germany), Data Processing Museum exhibits at the Jyvskyl University, Agora, and JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Lu- takko (Finland), York Univerity Computer Museum (Canada). How much is known about the Canadian contributions to computing? How much information about the achievements of the Canadian computer and information industries is part of our culture? 4 First computers in Canada: the tail of UTEC Since the late 19th century some American calculator companies had been distributing their products in Canada. Apart from this information, not much is really known about the early calculator industry in Canada or pat- terns of calculator use in this country before World War II (to the best of this author’s knowledge, there has been no solid research done on this subject). Fig. 2. A 1912 Comptometer ad indicating that this calculator was also sold in Canada. However, what we know is that, unlike Americans and British, Canadians were not involved in computer research during WWII. We also know that soon after the end of WWII, Canadian military and academia were involved in bringing computer technology to Canada, as was military and academia in the US and UK. The first Canadian attempt at designing a general-purpose computer took place at the University of Toronto (UofT). In 1946, a group of UofT re- searchers visited a number of American facilities to gather information about advancements in computing. After their return, in spite (or perhaps because) of the fact that there was no computing expertise in Canada, the group ad- vised the university to establish a national computing center at UofT to support Canadian scientific research that would benefit from computing. 5 In 1948, with funds secured from the National Research Council and the National Defence Board, UofT established its Computation Center–the first such center in Canada. Fig. 1. UTEC prototype. Source: University of Toronto Archives. UofT Computation Center’s first project was the design and construction of a computer. To that end, a team of graduate students was hired in 1948 to design and build a prototype before the full-fledged version would be at- tempted. The prototype was ready in October 1951. The high cost and long time that took to deign and build UTEC’s prototype was the main reason why the construction of its full-scale version was abandoned. By 1951, UofT and the two funding agencies came to the conclusion that it would be more economical to abandon the UTEC project and use the funds to purchase a ”commercial” computer from a British firm Ferranti which started to manufacture the Manchester Mark I computer under the name Ferranti Mark I. 6 In the end, a Ferranti Mark I ”was purchased by the National Research Coun- cil and Defence Research of Canada who made it available, along with an annual grant, to the University of Toronto Computation Centre.” [12] The computer arrived in April 1952 and was baptized FERUT (”Ferranti at the University of Toronto”). It was the first fully functional computer in Canada. Fig. 6. Brian Jeffrey operating FERUT at National Research Council c. 1958. Source: Brian Jeffrey, www.ve3uu.com 7 FERUT was used in a number of ways: research, external computing ser- vices, training of computer professionals. The significance of the UTEC project and the FERUT installation of UofT: • UTEC pioneered the era of computing in Canada; it got a number of agencies, organizations, and corporations interested in computing (the result of which was the purchase of FERUT); • FERUT had started the computing ”fever” in Canada, many FERUT users purchased their own computers in late 1950s; • FERUT provided a training ground for the first generation of Canadian programmers (much in need when Canadian firms and organizations started to purchase their first computers); • FERUT supported Canada’s first computer consulting and services companies. 8 Canadian military and early computing We have already stressed the Defence Research Board’s involvement in the UofT’s Computation Center and the funding of UTEC. But there was more. After WWII, the Canadian military decided that it would be in Canada’s best interest to maintain sizable peace-time and well equipped defence forces. ”Crucial to this plan were advanced scientific and technological knowledge and expertise, combined with effective partnerships between academic, indus- trial, and military research branches. The DRB [Defence Research Board] was created in 1947 to organize and oversee these efforts.” [1, p. 17] It was the Royal Canadian Navy in particular that show strong leadership in turning to digital electronics in an effort to acquire state-of-the-art informa- tion processing systems. What the navy was looking for in the first place was a fast, reliable, comprehensive naval communications and information system that would convey real-time tactical information about the relative positions and movements of allied and enemy ships, aircraft, and submarines. In 1948, the Defence Research Board (DRB) proposed such a system and called it DATAR (”Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving”). DRB’s inability to design and implement such a system in-house launched an indigenous com- puter industry (unfortunately, short lived). 9 Fig. 2. This ”double plot” device could display tracking information from DATAR com- puter. The trackball mounted at the front of the control console was used to select targets. Source: [3] and Ferranti-Packard Transformers Ltd. DATAR system was tested and successfully demonstrated on Lake Ontario over the summer and fall of 1953. Ferranti Canada built the DATAR com- puter and, during its operations, targets could be displayed on sophisti- cated displays (for that era) and selected using a trackball invented by Fred Longstaff and Tom Craston around 1953 and developed in collaboration with Kenyon Taylor. 10 Fig. 3. DATAR’s trackball (left, source: Canada Science and Technology Museum) and a modern trackball mouse (right, source unknown). DATAR was a promise to equip the Royal Canadian Navy with the world’s most advanced information and communications system. However, in spite of the successful demonstration of DATAR technology in 1953, neither British nor American navy was ready to adopt the Canadian solution and that con- tributed to DATAR’s demise. Another problem was the underlying vacuum tube technology – not exactly well-suited
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