The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth of the Modern Computer June 18, 1998

1
The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth
of the Modern ComputerJune 18, 1998

• Gordon Bell
• Microsoft Corporation

2
1948 the stored program

• value of the order codes
• 1958 one level stores
• ideas and technology transfer---influencing the
  rest of the world
• 1998 the best is yet to come

3
The stored program concept...

• the most exciting time was June 1948 when the
  first machine worked. Nothing could ever compare
  with that. --Kilburn, 1992
• anyone who has ever built a universal hardware
  or software machine has had this feeling...

4
NSF tree
5
NSF tree base
6
Manchester logic and memory
Random access memory got the computer started
7
Baby
8
Wilkes with EDSAC Delay line memory
9
On order code compatibility and program investment

• when a machine was finished, and a number of
  subroutines in use, the order code could not be
  altered without causing a great deal of trouble.
  There would be almost as much capital sunk in the
  library of sub-routines as the machine itself,
  and builders of new machines in the future might
  wish to make use of the same order code as an
  existing machine in order that the sub-routines
  could be taken over without modification ---
  Wilkes 49

10
Three implications holds for all order codes
including machines, operating systems,
databases, languages, and some apps

• Very high cost of similar computers and fatal
  flaw for most designs e.g. 100 minicomputer
  companies
• The Unix Cartel high priced apps and systems,
  locked-in users
• Standards driven virtuous cycle

11
The law of program and data inertia sustains
platforms!

• The investment in programs and processes to use
  them, and data exceed hardware costs
• The cost to switch among platforms e.g. IBM
  mainframe, VMS, a VendorIX, or Windows/NT is
  determined by the data and programs
• The goals of hardware suppliers are uniqueness
  to differentiate and lock-in
• The goals of software/database suppliers are to
  differentiate and lock-in and operate on as many
  platforms as possible in order to be not tied to
  a hardware vendor

12
Software Economics Bills Law
Fixed_cost
Price
Marginal _cost


Units

• Bill Joys law (Sun) dont write software for
  lt100,000 platforms _at_10 million engineering
  expense, 1,000 price
• Bill Gates lawdont write software for
  lt1,000,000 platforms _at_10M engineering expense,
  100 price
• Examples
• UNIX versus Windows NT 3,500 versus 500
• Oracle versus SQL-Server 100,000 versus 6,000
• No spreadsheet or presentation pack on
  UNIX/VMS/...
• Commoditization of base software and hardware

13
The Virtuous Economic Cycle that drives the PC
industry
Competition
Volume
Standards
Utility/value
Innovation
14
Deuce Drum Imagine synchronizing this drum with
11, 32-word delay lines
15
Deuce Console
16
English Electric Deuce Commercialisation of NPL
Pilot Ace

• Based on Turings design - Harry Huskey c1947
• After attending Turings NPL Lectures in 1947
  Kilburn was not to build a computing machine
  like that
• Micro-coded instructions. Direct action bits
  controlled hardware. Lots of bits to chose and
  get right!
• Paging used matrix packages,
• SODA our desire to make it moreprogrammable,
  and convert it into an IBM 650
• Used by Fortran and George (for KDF9)

17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
Manchester exports

• Stored program concept existence proof
• The first generation memory
• Manchester phase encoding
• B tubes aka index registers
• Pegasus general registers...
• Extracodes
• Paging the one level store
• Programmed controlled I/O
• ICL architecture, Dataflow, Amulet,