computer (Or "Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator") A
first generation computer developed in 1944 by Howard Aiken of
Harvard University. The Mark 1 is seen as the first full-sized digital computer. It weighed 5 tons, had 500 miles of wiring, was used only for numeric calculations, and took three seconds to carry out one multiplication.
[Mechanism? Capacity? Programmability?]
(1996-11-24)