COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS

Detailed explanation-1: -The original Mark I weighed five tons and was 50 feet long. It was the brainchild of a Harvard graduate student, Howard Aiken, who designed it in 1937, building on decades-old inspiration from British engineer and inventor Charles Babbage. Aiken shopped the idea around until IBM took interest.

Detailed explanation-2: -From 1939 to 1944 Aiken, in collaboration with IBM, developed his first fully functional computer, known as the Harvard Mark I. The machine, like Babbage’s, was huge: more than 50 feet (15 metres) long, weighing five tons, and consisting of about 750, 000 separate parts, it was mostly mechanical.

Detailed explanation-3: -This was the first digital computer and was designed and constructed in the United States by the IBM Corporation between 1937 and 1944. It was based on a proposal by H. H. Aiken of Harvard University, Massachusetts. Counters were used to store decimal numbers and relays for control and switching.