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A piece of Britain’s computing history has gone on display at Bletchley Park, as the first ever mass-produced computer is being shown to the public more than 60 years after being originally unveiled.
The Hollerith Electronic Computer (HEC-1) was the first of Britain’s early computers to be a commercial success and was the first to be installed in multiple countries around the world, including India and New Zealand.
The hardware has now been placed on display in the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, the site of one of Britain’s most crucial computing achievements of the 20th century – Alan Turing and his team breaking the German enigma code during the Second World War.
The HEC-1 that has gone on display was the first of a series of systems, and was recently discovered in storage at the Birmingham Museums Collection Centre. The computer was based on the work of Professor Andrew Booth of Birkbeck College in London.
Professor Booth began work as a crystallographer – the study of atomic and molecular structure – before moving into computers as a way of processing the mass of calculations that were a part of his work. According to experts, Prof Booth had a natural flair for computing, writing a multiplier algorithm that is still found in most modern smartphones. He is also nearly invented the floppy disk – however, the magnetic paper he used didn’t stand up to the speeds needed.
In 1951 he struck a deal with the British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM), who made punch-card systems but were concerned over competition from this new “digital computer” technology. Booth provided the firm with his technology, and the result was the HEC series.
The first HEC-1 was small by 1950s standards, measuring 1.5m x 3m x 0.5m (4ft 11in x 9ft 11in x 1ft 7in).
