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[–] 56 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Alan Turing was the father of computer science, but didn't invent the first computer. Arguably the first computer was called the Manchester Baby and was created by folks at the University of Manchester.

Alan Turing was an absolute boss, though. Huge respect.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    The first (turing complete) computer actually build was the Z3.
    Not many people know about it, because central Berlin in 1943 was not a healthy place for a computer.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Yeah, the Manchester Baby was the first stored-program computer. As others have noticed, you can go down the rabbit hole a long way, depending on what you define as a computer. Fascinating stuff.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    The ENIAC was before that and Charles Babbage's difference engine was before the ENIAC, though I don't think he actually got it out of design

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (5 children)
  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Yeah, there were plenty of precursors (hence the MB was arguably the first). But the Manchester Baby was the first stored-program general purpose computer. Gotta pick a point somewhere.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I think it's a fun debate between all of them. It doesn't really matter, but I enjoy reading the reasoning behind each argument.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Yeah, the whole history is fascinating. I also like to remind my college students that computer science/engineering is one of the rare branches of science/engineering that was founded at least in equal part by women, if not more (again, an arguable point, but undeniable that there is a larger influence from women compared to other scientific disciplines).

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Depends entirely on the definition of computer.

    There are so many "inventors of the first computers" it is ridiculous. Almost like creating a complex machine like a computer takes a whole many inventions and people who worked on it over a time span of multiple generations.

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