One of the earliest computers in history was the Manchester Mark I, which was developed starting in 1947 at the University of Manchester, UK. This early computer was one of the first stored program computers, which makes it one of the first machines to run a piece of software. The Mark I was a prototype for the first commercially manufactured computer, the Ferranti Mark I, which was developed in 1951. This computer took up most of the space in a large room and had over 4,000 vaccuum tubes.
A program written for the Mark I had to be submitted to the machine via binary code, since there was no defined programming language. Its main output was a CRT screen that could display a series of characters. Despite these limitations, a program called “Loveletters” was created in 1952. Here is a sample output of this program:
SWEETHEART JEWEL
YOU ARE MY PASSIONATE YEARNING. MY AFFECTIONATE DESIRE CLINGS TO YOUR FERVENT PASSION. YOU ARE MY TENDER FANCY. MY RAPTURE CLINGS TO YOUR DARLING ENTHUSIASM. YOU ARE MY LOVABLE LIKING.
YOURS COVETOUSLY
M. U. C.
Extremely advanced for its time, this program could churn out random loveletters with multiple sentences, and a custom greeting. These strange loveletters started appearing on bulletin boards on the Manchester campus in 1953 and were signed “M.U.C.” for “Manchester University Computer”.
David Link has created a web-based emulater of the Loveletters program using the original source code developed in 1952. It’s pretty amazing to see the output of such a primative and enourmous machine. Hit refresh to generate a new loveletter.
Now you have used one of the earliest stored software programs in history! Pretty cool, eh?
2 comments
Buswellsdottir says:
May 4, 2009 at 4:13 am (UTC -7 )
My father, Harry Buswell, of Lancashire Refrigeration Co., installed the cooling system in the slightly smaller room next door, and went on to cool the Ferranti Mark 1, the first commercially available computer. The photo of him in here disappeared when he died, so I’m pleased to see this photo.
My son has given me a laptop. What a difference in size!
Kevin says:
May 4, 2009 at 7:55 am (UTC -7 )
Thanks for sharing! It’s great to hear about the origins of our technology and the people behind it all.