Simon was a
relay-based electromechanical computer, described by
Edmund Berkeley in a series of thirteen construction articles in ''
Radio-Electronics'' magazine, from October 1950. Intended for the educational purpose of demonstrating the concept of a digital computer, it could not be used for any significant practical computation since it handled only 2-bit numbers (values 0 through 3) and had only 32 bits (16 2-bit registers) of memory. A working model was first built by two graduate students at Columbia University for less than
US$300 ($ in 2022 dollars) in parts.
[
] Some have described it as the "first
personal computer
A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
",
What was the first personal computer?
at ''Blinkenlights Archaeological Institute''. Accessed: March 15, 2008. although its extremely limited capacity and its unsuitability for use for any purpose other than as an educational demonstration make that classification questionable.
History
The "Simon project" arose as a result of the Berkeley's book ''Giant Brains, or Machines That Think'', published in November 1949. There, the author said:
:
In November 1950, Berkeley wrote an article titled "Simple Simon" for ''Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' magazine,[
] that described digital computing principles to the general public. Despite Simon's extreme lack of resources (it could only represent the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3), Berkeley stated on page 40 that the machine "possessed the two unique properties that define any true mechanical brain: it can transfer information automatically from any one of its "registers" to any other, and it can perform reasoning operations of indefinite length." Berkeley concluded his article anticipating the future:
Technical specifications
The Simon's architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
was based on relays. The programs ran from a standard paper tape, with five rows of holes for data. The registers and ALU stored only 2 bits. The user entered data via punched paper, or by five keys on the front panel. The machine output data through five lamps.
The punched tape served not only for data entry, but also as memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...
storage. The machine executed instructions in sequence, as it read them from the tape. It could perform four operations: addition, negation, greater than, and selection.
Notes
External links
Simon's FAQ
* {{cite web, title=VintageComputer.net - Simon {{! Mechanical Computer {{! Early Analog Desktop Computers 1950 {{! Radio-Electronics October 1950 {{! Edmund C. Berkeley {{! Robert A Jensen {{! Vintage Computers {{! First Desktop Computer, url=http://www.vintagecomputer.net/simon.cfm, website=www.vintagecomputer.net
Edmund C. Berkeley Papers
Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. Box 22 has correspondence, memos, accounting records, and notes on the development and marketing of small robots, including Relay Moe, Franken, Tit-Tat-Toe Machine, Test Your Nerve Machine, Simon, and mechanical brain kits.
Electro-mechanical computers
1950s computers
Computer-related introductions in 1950