Jump to content

Talk:Ferranti Mark 1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(untitled)

[edit]

As an undergraduate, I spent one summer as a maintenance technician on the FERUT computer and learned programming from Christopher Strachey. My memory of the machine was that its Williams Tube memories had 64 64-bit words, arranged in blocks of 8 x 8 bits, with a parity bit row to the right and above the actual memory bits, making a 65 x 65 bit pattern. Strachey programmed the index register on the console (a similar Williams tube) to visually represent a checkers board, and programmed the machine to play against a human opponent who entered moves on the teletype. (I'm not putting this in the main page, because it relies on my memory rather than on documented evidence)Mmt (talk) 17:26, 8 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

first?

[edit]

I noticed that it points out it was before the UNIVAC, but I don't know why that's so important here. It was after the ENIAC, so why is this so crucial? And if you point out what was after it, shouldn't you point out what preceded it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.189.126.69 (talk) 17:03, 2 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

instruction represented by a single character?

[edit]

There are some statements in the article, which, IMHO, are contradicting:

  • The Mark 1 used a 20-bit word
  • Instructions were stored in a single word (__how many?__)
  • There were about fifty instructions in total
  • the characters representing the values from 0–31 (five-bit numbers)
  • Each instruction was represented by a single character

Now, if there were about 50 instructions in total, then how could they be represented by a single character? (ie. one of 32 possible values)?

It makes no sense.

Even if in a single word (20 bits) there would be two instructions stored, it would make 10 bits per instruction used, ie, __two__ 5-bit blocks or characters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Klenot (talkcontribs) 06:22, 31 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Ferranti Mark 1. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

checkY An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 03:19, 31 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Ferranti Mark 1. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 03:41, 30 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Ferranti Mark 1. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 01:06, 30 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]