Showing papers in "IEEE Annals of the History of Computing in 2012"
TL;DR: The historiography of computing has until now considered real-time computing in banking as predicated on the possibilities of networked ATMs in the 1970s, but this article reveals a different story.
Abstract: The historiography of computing has until now considered real-time computing in banking as predicated on the possibilities of networked ATMs in the 1970s. This article reveals a different story. It exposes the failed bid by Barclays and Burroughs to make real time a reality for British banking in the 1960s.
25 citations
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TL;DR: The early history of SQL is discussed and a database management language proposed by the Codasyl Data Base Task Group (DBTG) was receiving a lot of attention.
Abstract: One of the most important research areas in computer science in the early 1970s was the development of systems and languages for handling what computer scientists call persistent data. This term denotes data that remains in a computer system indefinitely, until it is explicitly deleted. Systems for managing persistent data were spreading quickly in the business world. A database management language proposed by the Codasyl Data Base Task Group (DBTG) was receiving a lot of attention. In this paper, the early history of SQL is discussed.
18 citations
TL;DR: The US Department of Defense was the driving force behind the development of sophisticated computer penetration methodologies, and the US and its intelligence agencies utilized computer penetration techniques to wage offensive cyberattacks.
Abstract: The US Department of Defense was the driving force behind the development of sophisticated computer penetration methodologies. By analyzing the security of the nation's time-sharing computer systems, security analysts developed an expert understanding of computer penetration. Eventually, the US and its intelligence agencies utilized computer penetration techniques to wage offensive cyberattacks.
16 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the magneto-motive ultrasound was used to characterize the viscoelastic properties of tissues, and the transient response was evaluated cross-correlating ultrasonic echoes acquired during the magnetic excitation.
Abstract: Magneto-motive ultrasound is an imaging technique where magnetic particles, in tissues, are displaced by an external magnetic field and the resulting displacements are evaluated using ultrasonic echo signals. The magneto-motive ultrasound method has been, for example, used to detect movements of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. However, the viscoelastic properties of tissues greatly affect the ability of magneto-motive force to displace the particles and, consequently, its surrounding medium. Therefore, having knowledge about the elastic properties of the region where the magnetic particles are located is a useful parameter to improve the magneto-motive ultrasound images. Several quantitative methods to estimate the elastic properties of tissues using ultrasound have been developed. In the present study, we propose the magneto-motive ultrasound as a method to characterize the viscoelastic properties of tissues. We used a coil to induce movements to a viscoelastic phantom containing magnetic particles, and the transient response was evaluated cross-correlating ultrasonic echoes acquired during the magnetic excitation. The resulting seismic waves (compressional, shear and surface waves) were detected, and used to estimate the elastic properties of the phantom.
15 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that Codd's accomplishment marked the end of that effort to create a general-purpose machine for retrieving and reasoning with data and the heritage of the relational database system as it relates to the concept of an information system is traced.
Abstract: E.F. Codd developed his relational database concept within a community that was attempting to create a general-purpose machine for retrieving and reasoning with data. Rather than just making progress toward that goal, this article argues that Codd's accomplishment marked the end of that effort and traces the heritage of the relational database system as it relates to the concept of an information system.
11 citations
TL;DR: Applications from prior technologies are often reimplemented on new computing or communications platforms, and users sometimes don't realize that the applications have been recycled.
Abstract: Applications from prior technologies are often reimplemented on new computing or communications platforms, and users sometimes don't realize that the applications have been recycled. For example, text messaging was available between computer users for years before its implementation on cell phones, and email has precursors before its implementation on the Internet. Noel Morris and author Tom Van Vleck implemented both an electronic mail command and a text messaging facility for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1965. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways.
11 citations
TL;DR: By tracing the diverse activities and alternatives they explored-from early printed wiring to semiconductor integrated circuit efforts-this article provides the first comprehensive overview of the early history of microcircuitry.
Abstract: From the 1940s into the early 1960s, hundreds of scientists and engineers worldwide pursued efforts in microcircuitry-miniaturized, integrated electronic circuits By tracing the diverse activities and alternatives they explored-from early printed wiring to semiconductor integrated circuit efforts-this article provides the first comprehensive overview of the early history of microcircuitry
10 citations
TL;DR: The research challenges faced by the System R team are described and how the technology they created has influenced the development of the modern database industry is described.
Abstract: The relational data model, proposed by E.F. Codd in 1970, inspired several research projects at IBM and elsewhere. Among these was System R, which demonstrated the commercial viability of relational database systems. This article describes the research challenges faced by the System R team and how the technology they created has influenced the development of the modern database industry.
8 citations
TL;DR: This article reconstructs and analyzes the activities of the Fairchild development team, including the company's efforts to improve and market ICs during the early 1960s.
Abstract: The modern integrated circuit evolved from developments at Fairchild Semiconductor during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Using information from laboratory notebooks, internal company memoranda, oral histories, and personal communications, this article reconstructs and analyzes the activities of the Fairchild development team, including the company's efforts to improve and market ICs during the early 1960s.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors trace the influence of personnel and company practices, examine the development of technical and administrative applications, and explore the computer center's story within the broader history of ICA.
Abstract: The Mexican civil engineering firm ICA installed its first computer, an IBM 1130, in 1966. By documenting the development of ICA's computing efforts over almost 15 years, the authors trace the influence of personnel and company practices, examine the development of technical and administrative applications, and explore the computer center's story within the broader history of ICA.
7 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Digital computing in Chile dates back to the years between 1961, when the first digital computer arrived in the country, and 1982, when it reached a critical mass in equipment, personnel, education, research, and applications.
Abstract: Digital computing in Chile dates back to the years between 1961, when the first digital computer arrived in the country, and 1982, when the discipline reached a critical mass in equipment, personnel, education, research, and applications. The authors distinguish three stages in this historical period: the introduction of computers; the convergence and consolidation of academic, state, and industrial development; and the expansion of the discipline.
TL;DR: An introductory overview of the relational model is given and the value of Edgar F. (Ted) Codd's model is discussed and how it might affect future developments is assessed.
Abstract: Serving as an informal technical introduction to this Annals special issue on relational database management systems, this article gives an introductory overview of the relational model and discusses the value of Edgar F. (Ted) Codd's model. Then, after providing an account of Chris Date's contributions, the author assesses the relational model's effect on the industry and how it might affect future developments.
TL;DR: Historians of computing should think about the process of standardization in terms that are more common for cultural theorists and about conceptualize standardization as a process of critique.
Abstract: From a technical point of view, standards make it possible to combine a variety of components into a functional system or network. From a strategic point of view, stories about standards are necessarily about power and control-they always either reify or change existing conditions and are always conscious attempts to shape the future in specific ways. Historians of computing also should think about the process of standardization in terms that are more common for cultural theorists and about conceptualize standardization as a process of critique. In some cases, engineers offered explicit critiques in published works, conference presentations, and statements to the press-candid commentary on existing market, regulatory, and technical controversies. In other cases, engineers challenged the status quo implicitly, not by dwelling on existing conditions but by building new standards, network architectures, and institutions. Attention to both explicit and implicit forms of critique can help historians to situate innovations in computer networking more deeply in the social worlds that created and used them.
TL;DR: In 1957, Tarui Yasuo filed a patent application for the quadrupole transistor, which could be seen as an important step toward the integrated circuit, but the financial and ideological need to develop indigenous devices in postwar Japan oriented Tarui's vision into a particular direction.
Abstract: In 1957, Tarui Yasuo filed a patent application for the quadrupole transistor, which could be seen as an important step toward the integrated circuit. Likely, the financial and ideological need to develop indigenous devices in postwar Japan oriented Tarui's vision into a particular direction, which in turn obstructed him from following up on this technological trajectory and realizing the significance of his achievement.
TL;DR: This article examines why the calculation was undertaken, how it was done, and what was subsequently learned.
Abstract: In January 1950, George W. Reitwiesner published an article describing the first use of a computer, the ENIAC, to calculate the decimal expansion of π. Starting with Reitwiesner's description of the calculation, the ENIAC's architecture, how it was programmed, and the mathematics used, this article examines why the calculation was undertaken, how it was done, and what was subsequently learned.
TL;DR: This article explores one of the understudied roots of personal computing, through the evolution of the user communities formed around the TI-59 and HP-41C calculators.
Abstract: Programmable pocket calculators of the mid-1970s opened up a new segment of the personal computing devices market. Calculator users established clubs, magazines, and conferences, and their interaction with manufacturers shaped the products' further development. This article explores one of the understudied roots of personal computing, through the evolution of the user communities formed around the TI-59 and HP-41C calculators.
TL;DR: The LOCOMAT project (http://locomat.loria.fr) contains reconstructions of approximately 60 historical mathematical and astronomical tables and links to about 2,000 digitized tables on Google Books and elsewhere.
Abstract: The LOCOMAT project (http://locomat.loria.fr) contains reconstructions of approximately 60 historical mathematical and astronomical tables (nearly 200 PDF files) and links to about 2,000 digitized tables on Google Books and elsewhere. (LOCOMAT stands for LORIA Collection of Mathematical Tables, but it could also be read as the LORIA Collection of Mathematical and Astronomical Tables. LORIA is a research center in computer science, located in Nancy, France.) After giving a brief summary of the history of mathematical and astronomical tables, this article describes that project.
TL;DR: RCA had an established research capability and transistor manufacturing facility in place during the early years of the semiconductor industry, which led to RCA's pioneering effort in the production of complementary (CMOS) silicon integrated circuits in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Abstract: RCA had an established research capability and transistor manufacturing facility in place during the early years of the semiconductor industry. Its early microcircuit research-including Torkel Wallmark's work using the bipolar unijunction transistor in the late 1950s, Paul Weimer's thin-film transistor, and Steve Hofstein's metal-oxide silicon transistor-led to RCA's pioneering effort in the production of complementary (CMOS) silicon integrated circuits in the late 1960s and 1970s.
TL;DR: The author analyzes the industry's evolution in terms of the disruptive technology paradigm and regional economics and then broadly outlines theindustry's later development.
Abstract: This article describes the origins and development of the relational database management systems (RDBMS) industry, focusing on the firms IBM, Oracle, Ingres, Informix, and Sybase in the 1980s. The author analyzes the industry's evolution in terms of the disruptive technology paradigm and regional economics and then broadly outlines the industry's later development.
IBM1
TL;DR: The political, economic, and technical results from the founding of the GDR to its demise in 1989 are described.
Abstract: The German Democratic Republic made a major commitment to the manufacture and use of computers, following common practices embraced by communist regimes during the Cold War. This article describes the political, economic, and technical results from the founding of the GDR to its demise in 1989.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the period between the 1940s and 1980s, during which the legal frameworks for the ownership of machines and programs that we know today began to develop.
Abstract: The study of ownership in the history of computing presents a rich opportunity to analyze the interplay between IP and technological development Although historians of computing usually acknowledge the importance of this area, the broader history of ownership and computing has been generally overlooked This Think Piece shows how historians of computing can draw from, and contribute to, work on the history of ownership The author focuses on the period between the 1940s and 1980s, during which the legal frameworks for the ownership of machines and programs that we know today began to develop
TL;DR: The next frontier for computer history lies beyond the (still-crucial) understanding of the origins, development, use, and transformation of hardware and software and must focus on outcomes, not just as output, technologically delineated data parcels that reflect a particular programming and set of inputs, but outcomes in the form of decisions made from outputted data.
Abstract: Computers transformed the post-Work War II American state and, as a consequence, influenced the policies that emerged from them. Can we better understand those policies by tracing their relations to the computer systems that might have accompanied their inception and implementation, even if only tangentially? Can following the outcomes of daily computer work really provide valid insights into the intentions or operations of the institutions in which the computers are embedded? Computer historians can trace how institutions like states fundamentally perceive the world differently because of how computers alter their daily operations. The next frontier for computer history lies beyond the (still-crucial) understanding of the origins, development, use, and transformation of hardware and software. We must focus on outcomes, not just as output, technologically delineated data parcels that reflect a particular programming and set of inputs, but outcomes in the form of decisions made from outputted data, formulated policies that reflect institutional imperatives.
TL;DR: The Copper Mining and Smelting Complex Bor (RTB Bor) in the Republic of Serbia has a long history of computer control and computer-aided data processing, becoming a major influence in the IT sector and the primary computer training resource in the region.
Abstract: The Copper Mining and Smelting Complex Bor (RTB Bor) in the Republic of Serbia has a long history of computer control and computer-aided data processing. Working within the confines of the Cold War era, RTB implemented and developed four generations of computers, becoming a major influence in the IT sector and the primary computer training resource in the region.
TL;DR: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Westinghouse Electric engineers and scientists pursued research and developed many innovations in semiconductor design and manufacturing that found widespread use throughout the industry and later contributed to the important role of ICs in the development of computing.
Abstract: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Westinghouse Electric engineers and scientists pursued research and developed many innovations in semiconductor design and manufacturing that found widespread use throughout the industry and later contributed to the important role of ICs in the development of computing.
TL;DR: The story of how this transformation began and how three companies pioneered the development of relational database management products to meet the relational challenge and build the foundation for the growth of a multibillion dollar industry is told.
Abstract: Database management system (DBMS) products became the foundation for many (some say most) of the core applications in every industry, commercial business, and government agency. They became the engine that drove the sale of mainframe computers during the 1970s and for many years afterward. And yet their success was soon overtaken by relational DBMSs. One of the most interesting stories in the history of software products is how the new relational model, published in 1970 by E.F. (Ted) Codd, spawned a whole new set of independent software companies. Together with IBM, they developed the RDBMSs that supplanted the DBMS companies and their DBMS models in both query-oriented usage and in many transaction-processing applications. This Annals special issue tells the story of how this transformation began and describes how three companies pioneered the development of relational database management products to meet the relational challenge and build the foundation for the growth of a multibillion dollar industry.
TL;DR: Charles Phipps performed the functions of business development and then marketing for integrated circuits at Texas Instruments from the beginning of this technology in 1959 through the mid-1960s, and details IC development at TI during this period.
Abstract: Charles Phipps performed the functions of business development and then marketing for integrated circuits at Texas Instruments from the beginning of this technology in 1959 through the mid-1960s. In this article, he details IC development at TI during this period, the creation of markets for this technology in military and commercial computing, and the defining roles of Patrick Haggerty and Jack Kilby.
TL;DR: It is necessary to encourage historians and practitioners to not only continue but to expand the process of collecting, preserving, and publishing the history of the software industry as it continues to morph and evolve during the 21st century.
Abstract: According to Software Magazine, the top 500 companies in the computer software and services industry generated $640 billion dollars in revenue in 2012 and employed more than 4.1 million people who design, program, maintain, sell, or support computer software and services. Responding to the significance of the industry in 2000 and anticipating its continued growth, the Annals Editorial Board made a decision at that time that it should give greater emphasis to articles on the history of both the technological advances made in software and the companies and people who had built and were continuing to grow this vital industry. Despite these ongoing efforts, the authors are still concerned about providing an ongoing supply of the personal recollections and company records that are critical source materials needed to develop an historical analysis. It is necessary to encourage historians and practitioners to not only continue but to expand the process of collecting, preserving, and publishing the history of the software industry as it continues to morph and evolve during the 21st century.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This set of Book Reviews covers Mark Priestley's "A Science of Operations: Machines, Logic and the Invention of Programming" and "Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947—67" by Simon Lavington (Springer, 2011).
Abstract: This set of Book Reviews covers Mark Priestley's "A Science of Operations: Machines, Logic and the Invention of Programming" (Springer, 2011) and "Moving Targets: Elliott-Automation and the Dawn of the Computer Age in Britain, 1947–67" by Simon Lavington (Springer, 2011).