George Dyson: The birth of the computer

[EGarrett01]

Killing Dyson might actually prevent the war...

[thatguyontheright1]

@EGarrett01 I dont care! Haven't you learned anything yet? Haven't you learned you cant kill people!

[11889music]

Why did the audience laugh when they showed the computer that von Neumann's computer?

It's that kind of thinking that halts innovations.

[George97Dyson]

my name is george dyson hahahahaa

[o0AndromedaB0o]

i want that program :O

[unmedication]

Well a virus is a self reproducing organism. Maybe research should made in that way... IMHO.

[unmedication]

A computer virus I mean.

[cjellwood]

i thought this guy made hoovers?

[cormano64]

@ koneye - I agree with your point of not only passively accepting information but to actually process it in an active and inquisitive way, but you could go about stating that without offending most of the commenters here.

[issak]

Mr. Dyson left out Nazi computer pioneer Dr. Konrad Zuse and the first digital computer.....operational during WWII

[douglasa856]

watch this vid /watch?v=cmpaAoY3SQc

:D i like your video. You're cute and funny :D i wanna see u in real life

[alloowishus]

what in the hell was that?

[koneye]

So b4 you start posting ur uninformed and incompetent thoughts, do a simple research It is people like u that believ tha mass media and can't form their own opinion that close ur eyes for the real world surrounding u , u better get you story str8 and dont just beleiv the corrupt manufactured news u get from TV

It is people like you that say that the conspiracies of all the sectors of your life are nothing but that - the truth is out there and it IS available - for the one who seeks he finds!!!

[koneye]

This guy talks about a 1656 T.H. who speaks about the idea for computing machine(calculator) and the jumps all the way to after WW2 saying that Neuman build the first computer 1946 - and basicly this way he denies all the presesors of this machine, such as

-Zuse Z3 (Germany) 1941

-AtanasoffBerry Computer (US)1941

-Colossus (UK)1944

Not to mention that AtanasoffBerry Computer was oficialy recognized as the first modern type of computer

[koneye]

33 comments of  bunch of followers that take everything they see some were for the truth like blind baths this guys presentation is full with information holes and it's obviouslly not an objective opinion

but rather an subclusion of one person view on that matter , and you all just blindly take it for the truth withouth even challeging his view and withouth doing a simple reserch as to type "first computer" in google and see what happens , and dont take the first few line for undeniable proof

[Stano87]

Fascinating! Thanks.

[BIKabballa]

I suppose it's also a generation gap thing too. When I was a kid, my pops purchased a 'family computer' which we lovingly referred to as the TRASH 80. I think it's total memory was around 8K, if that, and it used a tape drive to store data. It also had a dot matrix printer, and optional 'modem' to 'talk' with other TRASH 80 owners. I wrote a few BASIC language programs back in the day. That was around 30 years ago my friend. The young folk today seem to have no clue how fast things have changed.

[crudhousefull]

@BIKabballa I remember coding in C++ on a 286SX computer with 256KB of RAM. The computer was so slow that I coded most of the day in and put the program to compile to go eat, and it still wouldn't have finished compiling by the time I was done

[gnikhilg]

persistent war & racial crime disguised as "search for knowledge"-

[Doomsetter]

Great TED speech.

[Kristinafh]

It's awesome to see the real evolutionary history behind the computer. The programmer/tester logs are a hoot too!

[BIKabballa]

Why are those assholes laughing? Everything starts somewhere, and technology has advanced very rapidly since the early 20th century. Wait and see in 20 years, how they will laugh at what we now use for 'computers'.

[BinaryReader]

oh i don't know, the developer logs were quite funny, not a lot has changed in the mindset since those early days.

Hehe, i especially liked the reference to the missing sugar.

No doubt at all in my mind that these guys were the pioneers of the future.

[BIKabballa]

I was specifically referring to the laughing at the photo @ 1:30 of the early computer. It's really quite impressive as they were starting from absolute scratch. I can understand the missing sugar and other 'in jokes'. When did this stuff become declassified anyway?

[CadicusTheDamned]

That's because you have Asperger's. Not all engineers are humorless. Some of us are not on the autistic spectrum, and we can laugh empathetically at the frustrations of our precursors. Please spend a little more time in your hugbox dwelling upon the fact that you are not normal.

[andyrooney12]

@CadicusTheDamned

People's misconceptions...it's all crap. My sister works in a lab that does stem cell research at USC & the women there are all HOT. All of the departments in this big research facility get together for parties on a regular basis & they all drink lots of alcohol. When it comes to work they all work very hard but when it comes time to relax they party...professionals in various fields of science in the 21st century are far from the dull cliche depictions in 20th century films.

[OisinBarr]

yea this is'nt actually funny, but it is interesting

[milez04]

whats so funny at the start. that is what computers used to look like, the size of rooms. they must be Americans.

[Blackliam]

incredibly extraordinary

exploring complexity with mind

[rbtkrbtk]

this video sucks and so does the person who posted it

[zogg18]

Troll

[UncleKennybobs]

YTMND

[shewmake02]

From what I have read the first computers were developed by german scientists for the Nazi camps as a way to keep track of the prisioners. They were marked on the arm and kept track of with these computers that were paper fed.. I could be wcompletely wrong but I have read this in numerous places.

[reyrecks]

yes they were IBM computers, there is even a picture online that is supposed to show IBM's ceo at the time with Hitler

[Kotesu]

Quite awesome... but I was sad there was no mention of Claude Shannon... nobody's ever heard of the guy, but it all started with him.

[clearmenser]

so beautiful.

[1gooddevil]

Excellent upload.

thank you.

[1gooddevil]

but the first computer?

/watch?v=QRAkPF7Npj4

[tommasfoolery]

lol this guy is squirrely

[tesla4d]

Fuckin' Furrries.

[ogjimkenobi]

Wow, what a wonderful and informative video, I havent checked yet today, but I hope the TED site is back up, cause its been down.

[sacapiloa]

truly excellent

[SCX2k]

i want to now more about baricellis "evolution" code

[celshader]

Sounds like the worlds 1st computer virus. But virus's that can adapt.

[harryogre]

I thought I was the only one that enjoyed reading old industrial/engineering note books and log books.

Great stuff here.

...stinking hackers always eating up all the sugar. Good thing Red Bull was eventually invented.

[FUCKYOURGODINTHEASS]

5stars