61-year-old computer springs back to life

"Springs back to life"... talk about sensationalism.<p>It 'sprung' back to life after a three year restoration project.<p>The original article is a much more appropriate read: <a href="http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/worlds-oldest-original-working-digital-computer" rel="nofollow">http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/worlds-oldest-origin...</a><p>The tech spec is brilliant:<p><pre><code> Power Consumption: 1.5kW Size 2m high x 6m wide x 1m deep Weight: 2.5 tonnes Number of Dekatron counter tubes: 828 Number of other valves: 131 Number of relays: 480 Number of contacts or relay switches: 7073 Number of high speed relays: 26 Number of lamps: 199 Number of switches: 18</code></pre>

I found it interesting that they compare the ouput to a man with a pocket calculator when the people these devices replaced were overwhelmingly female. I can remember reading respected mathematicians approximating the problem-solving power of early computing machines in “girl-years” and describing machine labor in “kilo-girl” units.

The BBC has a video of it in operation. Wonderful to hear the sounds of this machine: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20395212" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20395212</a>

<i>"At a time when iPhones are swapped out every 12 months, the TI-83 calculator and this computer are among the only pieces of technological machinery that have survived for decades."</i><p>The TI-83 with a graphic display is recent by comparison to the venerable HP12C.<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&#38;keywords=hp12c&#38;page=1&#38;rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ahp12c" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&#38;keywords=hp12c&#38;page=...</a>

I found some manuals on how to program this computer:<p>Programming manual:<p><a href="http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/Wolv-Manual.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/Wolv-Manual.pdf</a><p>Example programs:<p><a href="http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch4.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch4.htm</a> <a href="http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch14.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch14.htm</a><p>Source: <a href="http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/witch.htm</a>

Its crazy that calculators have essentially been immune to the turbulence of the mobile industry of the past several years.

Anyone know how this really could be useful? If it took the thing 5-10 seconds to multiply two numbers, and it also needed input as of punch cards. How could it at any point be faster than doing calculations manually? I'm genuinely interested in how it was really used, any hints?

I went looking for more footage of this computer, sans commentary and heavy editing, and found this gem: <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=OmNRl9hydmw" rel="nofollow">http://youtube.com/watch?v=OmNRl9hydmw</a>