Early Generations of Computer Hardware at Livermore Labs, 1953-1975

1,796 views · Published 28 February 2017 · 1:52:35 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: Computer History Museum · 2017 · Science & Technology

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Collection of the Computer History Museum

The event took place on March 31, 1998.
 
This talk focuses on the various technologies deployed by computer manufacturers since the early 1950s and how these developments were reflected in the computing environment at Livermore Labs. As one of the nation's premier government laboratories, Livermore has often been the first in line to receive the most advanced computing systems of the day. In 1964, for example, it took delivery of S/N/ #1 of the CDC 6600, perhaps the signle most influential computer ever built. The 6600 set the standard for the next twenty years of supercomputer development and also marked the beginning of serious networking at Livermore, with the Octopus networking environment.

From Livermore's first Univac in 1953 (which used mercury delay line memory) to the Williams Tube memory in the IBM 701 and the core memory of the IBM 704, this talk presents five Livermore people's perspective on forty years of change in computational methods and machines.

Speakers:
Cole, Chuck
Lafranchi, Edward
Pehrson, Dave
Wyman, Robert
Larsen, Cecilia

Catalog Number: 102639186

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