Computers & Business Machines

Apple II Personal Computer

Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.

The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers

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Electromechnical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side.
Description
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side. The coil is wrapped with a white covering.
Compare 324282.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1983.3006.02
nonaccession number
1983.3006
catalog number
1983.3006.02

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324283
accession number
248831
catalog number
324283

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324282
accession number
248831
catalog number
324282

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Double Throw Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324286
accession number
248831
catalog number
324286

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324281
accession number
248831
catalog number
324281

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324284
accession number
248831
catalog number
324284

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts. The numbers are the integers from 0 to 9. In addition the object includes a gear, contacts, a clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324287
accession number
248831
catalog number
324287

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Double Throw Relay

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324285
accession number
248831
catalog number
324285

Harvard Mark I paper tape, IBM ASCC

Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one.
Description
Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one. As many as twenty-four holes could be punched in a single row.
Reference:
Harvard Computation Laboratory, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic-Sequence Controlled Calculator, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1946, especially chapter 2.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324289
accession number
248831
catalog number
324289

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains seven commutators, each with a plastic piece on top of it with a hole in it, with numbers stamped around the hole to denote contacts. It has a metal frame, gear, contacts, clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324288
accession number
248831
catalog number
324288

Harvard Mark I Print and Punch Unit, IBM ASCC

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.Currently on loan
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323580
accession number
248831
catalog number
323580

Harvard Mark I Control Panel, IBM ASCC

This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy.
Description
This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323579
accession number
248831
catalog number
323579

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Housing

This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the MarkCurrently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the Mark
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323583
accession number
248831
catalog number
323583

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Output Typewriter

This is the output typewriter for printing results from the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I . The electric typewriter has complete number keys. Other keys lack a printing bar.
Description
This is the output typewriter for printing results from the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I . The electric typewriter has complete number keys. Other keys lack a printing bar. Various reels are attached to the sides of the machine.
A mark on the fornt of the machine reads: ELECTROMATIC. A tag on the back of the machine lists relevant patents and indicates that the typewriter is a product of the Electric Writing Division of IBM.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323582
accession number
248831
catalog number
323582

Electromechnical Computer Components, ASSC Mark I Relays

These relays are components of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I. The dimensions given are those of each relay. Each has a black bakelite frame and a metal frame inside this. There are two single coils, covered with a black covering.
Description
These relays are components of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I. The dimensions given are those of each relay. Each has a black bakelite frame and a metal frame inside this. There are two single coils, covered with a black covering. There are two plugs and forty short prongs on one side of each relay. Most relays are stamped with numbers and letters on the outside metal side.
Compare 324285.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1983.3006.03
nonaccession number
1983.3006
catalog number
1983.3006.03

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I, Relay

This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer.This ten-position electromechanical counter is held by two red plastic plates and a steel plate.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer.This ten-position electromechanical counter is held by two red plastic plates and a steel plate.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1993.3057.01
nonaccession number
1993.3057
catalog number
1993.3057.01

Log Book With Computer Bug

American engineers have been calling small flaws in machines "bugs" for over a century. Thomas Edison talked about bugs in electrical circuits in the 1870s.
Description
American engineers have been calling small flaws in machines "bugs" for over a century. Thomas Edison talked about bugs in electrical circuits in the 1870s. When the first computers were built during the early 1940s, people working on them found bugs in both the hardware of the machines and in the programs that ran them. 
In 1947, engineers working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University found a moth stuck in one of the components. They taped the insect in their logbook and labeled it "first actual case of bug being found." The words "bug" and "debug" soon became a standard part of the language of computer programmers.
Among those working on the Mark II in 1947 was mathematician and computer programmer Grace Hopper, who later became a Navy rear admiral. This log book was probably not Hopper's, but she and the rest of the Mark II team helped popularize the use of the term computer bug and the related phrase "debug."
References:
Grace Murray Hopper,"The First Bug," Annals of the History of Computing,vol. 3 #3, 1981, pp. 285-286.
P. A. Kidwell, "Stalking the ElusiveComputer Bug," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vo.20, #4, 1998, pp.5-9.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1947
director
Aiken, Howard Hathaway
maker
Harvard University
IBM
Harvard University
Aiken, Howard
ID Number
1994.0191.01
catalog number
1994.0191.1
accession number
1994.0191

JTC 73752 Punch Card Associated with the MIT Information Processing Center

This cream-colored eighty-column punch card has an orange stripe across the top. It shows the logo of the MIT Information Processing Center. A mark along the left edge reads: INFORMATION PROCESSING CENTER. A mark along the right edge reads: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.
Description
This cream-colored eighty-column punch card has an orange stripe across the top. It shows the logo of the MIT Information Processing Center. A mark along the left edge reads: INFORMATION PROCESSING CENTER. A mark along the right edge reads: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. A mark along the bottom edge at the left reads: JTC73752. A mark along the bottom edge toward the right reads: Printed in U.S.A.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960s-1970s
user
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
maker
Jersey Tab Card Corporation
ID Number
1996.0142.26
catalog number
1996.0142.26
accession number
1996.0142

Harvard Mark I Tape Transport, IBM ASCC

This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically.
Description
This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight. Four drums carry punched tapes with programs.
References:
I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch with the cooperation of Robert V. D. Campbell, Makin' Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
I. Bernard Cohen. Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323581
accession number
248831
catalog number
323581

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