[calceranog]

Please simply compare the features of the ENIAC with the ABC, and tell me where the similarity lies: ABC operated in binary, while ENIAC was decimal. ABC used vacuum tubes as flip-flops, making it essentially an electro-mechanical machine operating at one operation per second. ENIAC used vacuum tubes as electronic counters, making it operable at electronic speeds, i.e., 5,000 operations per second. ABC was designed to process one type of problem (differential equations), while ENIAC was indeed general purpose, and could be programmed to handle any problem, including the insanely complicated mathematics of the hydrogen bomb. If you want to fault Mauchly for talking with other scientists while planning his own computer, then please also include all the other scientists with whom he shared ideas. Also note that the two met when Atanasoff attended a lecture Mauchly was giving ... on the use of electronics in computation. Does this sound like Mauchly got all his ideas from Atanasoff? Also, BTW, Mauchly kept "visiting" JVA's lab at NOL because HE WAS HIRED BY THE NOL TO CONSULT ON THE PROJECT because it was making very little progress under Atanasoff's direction. Look it up.