The Cold War and Consumerism: Crash Course Computer Science #24

New Section

In this section, Carrie Anne introduces the topic of computing history and its influence on the development of personal computers, the worldwide web, self-driving cars, virtual reality, and more.

Computing History and Influential Period

• The period from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s was a formative era in computing history.

• Major advancements such as programming languages, compilers, algorithms, integrated circuits, floppy disks, operating systems, tele types, and screens emerged during this time.

• This period set the stage for the development of personal computers and other technological advancements in the second half of this series.

Cold War and Government Funding

• After World War II ended in 1945, tension arose between the United States and USSR leading to the Cold War.

• Massive government spending on science and engineering began during this time.

• Computing received significant government funding due to its demonstrated value in wartime efforts like the Manhattan Project and code breaking Nazi communications.

Advances in Computing Projects

• Government funding enabled ambitious computing projects like ENIAC, EDVAC, Atlas, Whirlwind, Univac 1 (commercially successful computer), among others.

• Rapid advances were made possible through government funding that wouldn't have been feasible solely in the commercial sector.

Commercial Success of Univac 1

• Eckert and Buckley's Univac 1 became the first commercially successful computer.

• More than 40 models of Univacs were built for government offices or large companies as part of the growing military-industrial complex in the United States.

Impact on Public Imagination

• A Univac 1 built for CBS correctly predicted an Eisenhower landslide victory in the 1952 U.S. presidential election, despite pundits favoring Stevenson.

• This media event helped propel computing to the forefront of the public's imagination.

Computers as Augmenters of Human Intellect

• Unlike machines of the past that augmented human physical abilities, computers had the potential to augment human intellect.

• Vannevar Bush's concept of a hypothetical computing device called the Memex in 1945 highlighted this potential.

National Science Foundation and Transistor Revolution

• Vannevar Bush lobbied for the creation of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1950, which provided federal funding for scientific research in the United States.

• In the 1950s, consumers started buying transistor-powered gadgets like transistor radios.

• The Japanese government licensed transistor rights from Bell Labs in 1952, leading to significant advancements in their semiconductor and electronics industry.

Industrial Rivalry and USSR's Computing Technology

• By 1953, there were only around 100 computers worldwide.

• The USSR completed their first programmable electronic computer in 1950, putting them just a few years behind Western countries in computing technology.

New Section

This section discusses the impact of Yuri Gagarin's mission on President Kennedy's goal to land a man on the moon within a decade. It also highlights the significant increase in NASA's budget and the challenges faced during the Apollo program.

Impact of Gagarin's Mission

• President Kennedy was prompted to encourage landing a man on the moon within a decade after Yuri Gagarin's mission.

• NASA's budget grew almost tenfold, reaching approximately 4.5% of the U.S. Federal budget in 1966.

• The funding was used for various challenges faced during the Apollo program.

Challenges Faced by NASA

• Over 400,000 people were employed during peak times, supported by universities and companies.

• Navigating in space was one of the significant challenges.

• The Apollo Guidance Computer was built to process complex trajectories and issue guidance commands to spacecraft.

Requirements for Apollo Guidance Computer

• The computer had to be fast, small, lightweight, and extremely reliable.

• Vibration, radiation, and temperature changes in space required high reliability.

• Vacuum tubes and discrete transistors were not suitable for this task.

Introduction of Integrated Circuits

• NASA turned to integrated circuits as a new technology for the Apollo Guidance Computer.

• Initially expensive, each chip cost around $50.

Role of Military Applications

• The Apollo Guidance Computer played a role in spurring development and adoption of integrated circuits.

• However, it remained a low-volume product due to limited missions.

• Integrated circuits became mass-produced through military applications like nuclear missile systems.

New Section

This section explores how the semiconductor industry evolved and the impact of supercomputers on its development. It also discusses the dominance of Japanese companies in the consumer market.

Supercomputers and Government Contracts

• The U.S. government built and bought powerful supercomputers, primarily for defense purposes.

• Companies like CDC, Cray, and IBM produced these high-performance machines.

• The semiconductor industry benefited from high-profit government contracts.

Rise of Japanese Semiconductor Industry

• Japanese companies dominated the consumer market due to operating with lean profit margins.

• Heavy investments were made in manufacturing capacity, research, quality improvement, yield enhancement, and automation.

Decline of U.S. Companies

• Defense contracts decreased as the space race and cold war subsided.

• U.S. companies struggled to compete in the consumer market due to commoditization of computing components.

Outsourcing and Survival Strategies

• Many U.S. companies downsized, consolidated or failed during the 1970s.

• To reduce costs, they started outsourcing their manufacturing processes.

Intel's Refocus on Processes

• Intel shifted focus from memory ICs to processes to save the company.

Dominance of Japanese Companies

• Japanese companies like Sharp and Casio dominated by producing small and cheap products using integrated circuits.

Impact on Computing Products

• Handheld electronic calculators replaced expensive desktop adding machines in offices.

Widespread Use of Microprocessors

• Cost reduction in integrated circuits led to the development and widespread use of microprocessors like Intel 4004.

Note that this summary covers only a portion of the transcript provided.

Spawned in Highly new Products like video arcades the world got pong in 1972 and Breakout in The Evolution of Computing

This section discusses the emergence of computing devices and their evolution over time, from video arcades to home computers and gaming consoles.

Emergence of Computing Devices

• In the early 1970s, video arcades introduced popular games like Pong (1972) and Breakout (1976).

• As the cost of computing devices decreased, regular people could afford them.

• The Altair 8800 (1975) was one of the first successful home computers.

• The Atari 2600 (1977) marked the emergence of home gaming consoles.

Evolution of Computers

• Computers evolved from large machines where you could walk inside the CPU to handheld toys with microprocessors.

• Government funding during the Cold War enabled early adoption of computing technologies.

• Government funding helped industries related to computing mature and become commercially feasible.

• Businesses and consumers provided demand to take computing mainstream.

• Governments still fund science research, intelligence agencies buy supercomputers, and consumers purchase various electronic devices.

• Computing continues to advance at a lightning pace.

Computing continues to Advance a lightning pace. I'll see you next week

This section emphasizes how computing technology continues to advance rapidly.

Rapid Advancement in Computing

• Computing technology is advancing at a lightning pace.

crash course computer science is produced in association with PBS digital studios

This section acknowledges the production of Crash Course Computer Science in association with PBS Digital Studios.

At their channel you can check out a playlist of shows like Physics Goldie flicks And PBs space time this episode was filmed at the Chad and stacey ever thought studio in Indianapolis, Indiana And it was made with the help of all these nice people and our wonderful graphic scene thought cafe That's where we're going to have to halt and catch fire. See you next week

This section provides information about other shows available on PBS Digital Studios and acknowledges the production team behind Crash Course Computer Science. It also mentions the filming location and concludes by mentioning the next episode.

Timestamps are provided for each section as per the transcript.