Remington-Rand Presents the Univac

[BladesEdg3]

this is an amazing video! I love learning about the history of computing and how the tech we have today came to be. The efficiency that these Univac systems brought about is incredible!

[turboslag]

There's probably an app for the iphone now that would do that payroll run in 5 mins !!

[maxell1221]

Back then you had to plan which room of which building the entire computer would be in, now with computers (with 100000x the power) you have to decide which pocket you put it into when you go out for the day.

Mind-boggling.

[slaveofmonstery]

Hey puppies - I worked on this machine's successor, the Univac File Computer from 1961 until 1963, while in the military. It was one of the wonders of its time and I'll never forget it. What an experience! It totally filled a warehouse. Some of the equipment in this video was on that machine also.

[deadmetalbr]

oh yeah, magnetic tape is orders of magnitude more reliable and stable than paper. sure. those mercury memory tanks are crazy cool though.

[xrd1Hal9000]

LOL At: 10:00, the programmer lights up a smoke :)

[ocarinha25]

Was built by engineers of the Sphinx

[xXTurdSandwitchXx]

Programmer lights a smoke

[frenchmarky]

I liked when the narrator said payroll was "a problem". Yeah if only our company didn't have to renumerate all these pesky workers.. :)

[kiyotewolf]

rounded box - rectangle - rectangle - rectangle - diamond - rectangle - rounded box.

There, and entire Univac program, in flowchart notation.

[Szmajdziul]

They had some old school names for those devices back then :) I mean... how do you name the unit that converts the paper punch-cards to magnetic tapes :)

[juraj4electro]

"...This is the job of an individual called programmer."

[mcfuson37]

I find videos like these interesting its amazing how far computer have come. Back then they were room sized did little very slow. Computers now run and ghzs gigs of storage space and gigs of memory.

[TheMCMXXL2]

@mcfuson37 Yes, but for what? I am absolute sure that these devices back then could hold the same amount of information.compared to todays machines, if we reduce it to useful information. 95% out all data on a todas computer or out on the Internet is not useful, it is simply binary trash or prdouces more work or sucks more energy than one can get out of it. You know about the law of conservation of energy? Why this should not apply to computers?

[albertusj]

Question: Was the printjob stored on tape and then spooled to the printer from the tape so as not to tie up the computer? 3:55

[LtGeyserShitdick]

More like MULTIVAC

[toresbe]

Thanks for the upload!

It looks a lot like this is a digitized video recording of an old film transfer. Is the original film roll still in your ownership? If so, I'd strongly recommend a new telecine. The resolution of the film is almost certainly much higher than the resolution of the video transfer.

[TimeLord361]

haha this is so old.

[Tom1980nj]

I think I know where that building in the beginning is, it's in Herkimer, New York near K-Mart, I use to live up there.

[HD8Track]

I wonder if anyone got fired for looking at ASCII porn?

[luridplanet]

I think analog computers are still used for some applications, where real time changes of variables and functions can be displayed faster than on a digital machine - you turn a dial or press a button instead of entering the data on a keyboard first.

[temp4010]

@luridplanet UNIVAC computers were only digital. Analog computers do not use digital logic, they use continuous flow of physical quantities like fluids or electric signals. The only analog machines still in use are some legacy oscilloscopes and maybe other small pieces of testing equipment. Most analog computers are far too unreliable, complex, and slow to be used for anything practical.

[skitch88]

tanks of mercury? yikes!

[dougat]

The beginning of unemployment!

[michalis42]

klasiko ekpedeftiko komati

[darkgreensoldier666]

So univac was wire your own or it was a solution of Von Neumann machine ?

[ybakos]

von Neumann. The last major hard-wired computer was ENIAC. EDVAC and UNIVAC were the first two major von Neumann machines.

[notgay89]

Witchcraft! it is witchcraft! burn the machine or it will rule our lives by means of World of Warcraft!

[immuki]

bet that could run CRYSIS, because its a badass.

[immuki]

in 60 years i doubt curriculum will occur at home with the implanted computers in our brains, technology is amazing.

[oostermanju]

it still takes vista HOURS to do anything -_-

[shanehoustein]

"univac is practically immune to error"... it must have been better than Windows Vista!

[iamandrewssoul]

The lesson here, I think, is that however far we think we've advanced we'll still be laughably antiquated to the people who come after us.

[sebipayne]

"The only requirement now: is that we tell our computer what to do" lol :D

[solidstate0]

It's interesting to see that the enthusiasm in software construction and planning has all but vanished these days

[hankCchinaski]

We are going backwards, friends!

[msdos622wasfun]

Very interesting video. We've come a long way since then, but the funny thing is we've probably got an even longer way yet to go.

[way2muchenergy]

That thing's HUGE!!! Watching this in 2009, I want to laugh whenever they mention how "high-tech" it is

[MerleOberon]

In 60 years they'll probably think the same of our computers.....

[MultiCasinoRoyale1]

@MerleOberon so true lol..

[ANARCHYdashTVdotCOM]

Remington Rand... I think my niece bought that trademark brand name off of ebay.... or was it RCA

[virokill132]

i like my quad core

[driveinmovienights]

Excelent video! There is an exibit for UNIVAC at the Boston Museum of Science. I was there recently.

[ragemanchoo82]

Apparently the first Univac had a pricetag of $1 million. o_o

[Paradiddler45]

That's it? I expected much more...

[micahelx28]

it was built for 150,000 but sold retail for 1.2 mil -- they sold about 50 of them --

[ragemanchoo82]

I wonder how long it took to get one set up and running? :P

[n0c1lue]

this video is amazing because its thesis of furthering mankind's endeavor is thoroughly explained and argued.

[drl0ve105]

Thanks for this video.

In the 8th grade(1958) my dad brought home a brochure on the new UNIVAC that the USDA was getting in KC, MO. That brochure and the real thing hooked me - look at all those dials and switches!!

I never got to program it, but got to see it in operation while I was programming AUTOCODER on 1401s amd 7074s.

We worked in a 3-story building and I was on the 3rd floor. We always new when UNIVAC crashed; the circuit breakers would trip and the lights would dim.

Thanks again!

[gman4dx266]

Nice...Tanks of Mercury! I bet the EPA is all like 'OMG SWEET!'

[trewlert44]

EPA was created in 1970. In the '50's, you could've dumped that mercury in the river & nobody could've held you responsible for the damage

[clydesight]

FABULOUS video! Our computers history explained. I love these old 50's films. Wouldn't it be cool to see a TV ad, "HI, I'm a MAC and I'm A UNIVAC"?

Thanks for the video!

[6364gg2]

Cool!

[oviwolf]

Ohhh,thanks for this AWESOME video! This computer is such an amazing machine! GREAT!

[lancetexas999]

wonder if it will run pacman

[sirMAXX77]

and the programmer lights up his uni-lighter and enjoys a uni-cigarette.

"uhh, pardon me boss. i'd hate to be a bother but my paycheck isn't right. i dont suppose you can reprint me another one? and my son would like one in holepunch form."

[maxrioseco]

ahaha smoking after programming, that was hilarious ... lol

[WetlandsRemediation]

He's a UNISMOKER.

[musicom67]

Love how the Programmer lights up at 10:00. after figuring out his flowchart. Now he just needs his fifth cup of coffee...

[TangomanX2008]

I am so glad that ever since the UNIVAC we have eliminated errors in payroll.

[TangomanX2008]

wow, this must have been a different era. While the narrator was discussing the application of computer data processing by scientists in the "atomic energy commision" it shows footage of an atomic explosion. I guess just as computer has come along way since then, so has public relations.

[dms9zss]

Every generation believes they are the inventors. They truly are, except for those who came before. I was one of the truly hot nerds in a white lab coat working on UNIVAC.

[seethetrain]

Very cool video!

I grew up in Louisville, KY where the first commercial installation of a Univac took place. It was installed at the now-dying GE Appliance Park which at that time was one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world.

I never can get over how big the thing is. That mercury delay line memory was ingenious.

Thanks for posting that!

[duncs1459]

Also - I wonder if the 'IT folk' back then placed themselves on 'Ivory towers' just like their present-day equivalents seem to do? Hmmm... ;)

[duncs1459]

You know, I still use flowcharts and write code on paper before committing it to my laptop simulator (for industrial controllers) - the only difference is I have to go outside if I want to smoke! I love the way the programmer just casually lights up a fag before going to the Univac! What an incredible machine - just the mechanics of it must have been a nightmare to maintain, let alone the hundreds of valves.

Thanks for this film and others - a brilliant insight in the fledgling computer world.

[matt9741399]

09:10 - I had a template like that! :-)

[xmvirus202]

Are you kidding? The UNIVAC was probably more stable than Vista.

[howardstern5]

lol

[beowulf437]

As long as you didn't mind replacing a few dozen vacuum tubes every day just so that it will fire up. 

[JillmanVideo]

@xmvirus202 But Vista can crash in high defenition and with stereophonic sound!

[lolokoperro]

can I run vista on that ?

[jonarmao]

Great video! Brought back lots of memories even though the original Univac was a little before my time. I am a veteran of the IBM 1401 era, various Univac real-time computers, and was an Exec 1100 troubleshooter at the Census Bureau when they celebrated the 25th anniversay of the installation of Univac I.

[gli7utubeo]

Thanks! I used to work on Exec 1100 and fondly remember the ed and edq editors.

@@x

[gameguy9999]

Such a big thing back then....

It was quite an accomplishment for them back then.

Really cool!

[nagarjun424]

sweet!

[jdobbs2001]

The Univac is still superior to todays PC.

#1 No Spyware to worry about.

#2 More secure than a PC (how many Univacs were hacked? None)

#3 No internet for employees to goof off on.

[kickenpox]

@jdobbs2001 lol so true so true....

[georgethebromist]

@jdobbs2001 Ok dude you are right, what about watching this video in the UNIVAC, Oh!!!! I totally forgot it has no screen, no sound, no graphic card ,NOTHING, and sure you can carry your UNIVAC to wherever you want, and I guess is better to use magnetic tapes than portable USB´s or SD cards.

(I hate people who talk no sense shit)

[hallj100]

@jdobbs2001 No way ... my Compaq Presario SR5710F can do the work of 300 Univacs in just a fraction of the time ( and from my apartment)!

[toresbe]

@jdobbs2001 You think no Univac was hacked? Nonsense! :)

[tomcatdcn]

@jdobbs2001 only idiots are dumb enough to go to a website with spyware.

[MAsterKakashi6]

@jdobbs2001

More like UniMAC, right???

[flyinhomeband]

Fantastic. I didn't know this film existed. You can really see what's going on and what they thought was important. Eckert and Mauchly ruled! - Bill Mauchly

[gskelding]

i love that the 'programmer' lights a smoke before he goes off to give UNIVAC it's instructions.

[funkstuffbrother]

Cheers for this upload.... Great channel guys.

[ricebell]

Thanks for uploading this.

[RGalleway]

Great! I want a Univac :) and look at the keyboard (at 6:12 min.), almost the same principle at what we have today.