Editing UNIVAC I (section)

== History ==
===Development and design===
In early 1946, months after the completion of [[ENIAC]], the [[University of Pennsylvania]] adopted a new patent policy, which would've required Eckert and Mauchly to assign all their patents to the university if they stayed beyond spring of that year. Unable to reach an agreement with the university, the duo left the [[Moore School of Electrical Engineering]] in March 1946, along with much of the senior engineering staff. Simultaneously, the duo founded the Electronic Control Company (later renamed the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation) in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGk9W65vXNA|date=May 14, 2015|title=Computer History: ENIAC - The First Electronic Computer|author=Computer History Archives Project|work=[[YouTube]]|access-date=November 11, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> When the duo was given a $300,000 deposit for research by the [[United States Census Bureau]], the conception of the UNIVAC I began in April 1946, a month after they founded their company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-univac-computer-1992590|date=March 5, 2019|title=The History of the UNIVAC Computer|author=Mary Bellis|work=[[ThoughtCo]]|access-date=November 11, 2024}}</ref> Later in August of that year, during the last of the [[Moore School Lectures]], the Moore School team members were proposing new technological designs for the [[EDVAC]] computer (which was also in development at the time) and its [[stored program]] concept. They were also simultaneously conceiving ideas for a potential successor model to the EDVAC, which were under the working titles of "Parallel-Type EDVAC," "Statistical EDVAC," and simply, "EDVAC II."<ref name="UNIVAC DEV">{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=659|date=December 31, 2014|title=Key Events in the Development of the UNIVAC|work=History of Information|access-date=November 28, 2024}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Screenshot 20241204-184404 YouTube.jpg|thumb|Brad Sheppard (left) and chief engineer James R. Weiner (right) with EMCC's first Mercury Memory Demonstration Unit, circa 1947.<ref name="BINAC VID"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Screenshot_20241204-182806_YouTube.jpg#mw-jump-to-license|title=File:Screenshot 20241204-182806 YouTube.jpg|work=[[Wikipedia]]}}</ref>]] -->
In April 1947, Eckert and Mauchly created the tentative instruction code, C-1, for their potential successor model to the EDVAC, which was the earliest document on the programming of an electronic digital computer intended for commercial use. A month later, they renamed their next project to "the UNIVAC." Later in October of that year, the duo drafted {{US patent|2629827}}, which was a mercury acoustic delay-line electronic memory system.<ref name="BINAC VID">{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJUWenPK4w|date=September 16, 2018|title=BINAC at the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation|author=Computer History Archives Project|work=[[YouTube]]|access-date=December 1, 2024}}</ref> The patent was eventually accepted in February 1953 as the  "first device to gain widespread acceptance as a reliable computer memory system." Meanwhile, in November 1947, the Electronic Control Company began advertising the UNIVAC I (which wasn't shown as it wasn't fully conceptualized at that point). In 1948, the company, renamed the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, secured a contract with the United States Census Bureau to begin construction on the UNIVAC I. At the same time, [[Harry L. Straus|Harry Straus]], impressed with the development of the duo's next invention, convinced the directors of [[American Totalisator]] to invest $500,000 to shore up the financially troubled Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation.<ref name="UNIVAC DEV"/>

In early 1949, [[Betty Holberton]], one of the developers of the project, made the UNIVAC Instructions Code C-10, the first software to allow a computer to be operated by keyboarded commands rather than dials and switches. At the same time, [[Grace Hopper]] left the [[Harvard Computation Laboratory]] to join the EMCC as a senior mathematician and programmer to help develop the UNIVAC I. Later in June of that year, Mauchly conceived [[Short Code (computer language)|Short Code]]—the first high-level programming language for an electronic computer—to be used with the [[BINAC]]. The Short Code was later tested on the UNIVAC I in early 1950.<ref name="UNIVAC DEV"/> Meanwhile, in September 1949, by the time the BINAC was delivered to [[Northrop Aircraft]], Eckert and Mauchly received six new orders for the UNIVAC I, so they decided to focus on finishing the UNIVAC I. Unfortunately for them, a month later, Harry Straus was killed when his [[twin-engine]] airplane crashed, causing American Totalisator to withdraw their promise of financial support. This was quickly undone when [[Remington Rand]] bought the duo's company in February 1950 to help finish construction on the UNIVAC I. The company then became Remington Rand's "Eckert-Mauchly Division." Construction of the UNIVAC I was completed by December 1950, and it was later delivered to the [[United States Census Bureau]] in March 1951 so data could be processed more quickly and accurately.<ref name="BINAC VID"/>

===Market positioning===
[[Image:UNIVAC 1 demo.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Remington Rand]] employees, Harold E. Sweeney (left) and [[J. Presper Eckert]] (center) demonstrate the U.S. Census Bureau's UNIVAC for CBS reporter [[Walter Cronkite]] (right).]]
[[File:Univac I at CHM.agr.jpg|thumb|UNIVAC I operator's console close-up]]
The UNIVAC I was the first American computer designed at the outset for business and administrative use with fast execution of relatively simple arithmetic and data transport operations, as opposed to the complex numerical calculations required of scientific computers. As such, the UNIVAC competed directly against [[punched card|punch-card]] machines, though the UNIVAC originally could neither read nor punch cards. That shortcoming hindered sales to companies concerned about the high cost of manually converting large quantities of existing data stored on cards. This was corrected by adding offline card processing equipment, the UNIVAC Tape to Card converter, to transfer data between cards and UNIVAC magnetic tapes.<ref>Univac i. (2003). In Encyclopedia of computer science. Retrieved from http://literati.credoreference.com/content/entry/encyccs/univac_i/0</ref> However, the early market share of the UNIVAC I was lower than the Remington Rand Company wished.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

To promote sales, the company partnered with [[CBS]] to have UNIVAC I predict the result of the [[1952 United States presidential election]] live on television. The machine predicted that [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] would win in a [[landslide victory|landslide]] over [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] at a chance of 100 to 1, receive 32,915,949 votes and win the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] 438–93. It was opposed to the final [[Gallup, Inc.#Gallup Poll|Gallup Poll]], which had predicted that Eisenhower would win in a close contest. The CBS crew was so certain that UNIVAC was wrong that they believed it was not working, so they changed a certain "national trend factor" from 40% to 4% to obtain what appeared more correct 268–263, and released that for the television. It was soon noticed that the prediction assuming 40% was closer to truth, so they changed it back.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Eugene F. |title=The Computing Machinery Field 1953-01: Vol 2 Iss 1 |last2=Berkeley |first2=Edmund C. |date=1953-01-01 |publisher=Berkeley Enterprises |pages=27–28 |language=en |chapter=AUTOMATIC COMPUTERS ON ELECTION NIGHT |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computers-and-people_1953-01_2_1/page/n29/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chinoy |first=Ira |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.13982281 |title=Predicting the Winner: The Untold Story of Election Night 1952 and the Dawn of Computer Forecasting |date=2024 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |doi=10.2307/jj.13982281 |isbn=978-1-64012-596-4}}</ref>

On election night, Eisenhower received 34,075,029 votes in a 442–89 Electoral College victory. UNIVAC had a [[margin of error]] of 3.5% of Eisenhower's popular vote tally and was within four votes of his electoral vote total.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} The prediction and its use in CBS's election coverage gave rise to a greater public awareness of computing technology,<ref>Brinkley, Alan.  [[American History: A Survey]].  12th Ed.</ref> while computerized predictions became a widely used part of election night broadcasts.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

===Installations===
[[File:Univac I at Census Bureau with two operators.jpg|thumb|Univac I at Census Bureau with two operators c. 1960]]
The first contracts were with government agencies such as the [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]], the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], and the U.S. [[Army Map Service]].<ref name="Johnson, L.R. pp.32,42"/> Contracts were also signed by the [[ACNielsen|ACNielsen Company]], and the [[Prudential Financial|Prudential Insurance Company]]. Following the sale of Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation to Remington Rand in 1950, due to the cost overruns on the project, Remington Rand convinced Nielsen and Prudential to cancel their contracts.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

The first sale, to the Census Bureau, was marked with a formal ceremony on March 31, 1951, at the Eckert–Mauchly Division's factory at 3747 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia. The machine was not actually shipped until the following December, because, as the sole fully set-up model, it was needed for demonstration purposes, and the company was apprehensive about the difficulties of dismantling, transporting, and reassembling the delicate machine.<ref>[http://purl.umn.edu/104288 UNIVAC conference], [[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota.  171-page transcript of oral history with computer pioneers involved with the Univac computer, held on 17–18 May 1990, Washington DC.  The meeting involved 25 engineers, programmers, marketing representatives, and salesmen who were involved with the UNIVAC, as well as representatives from users such as General Electric, Arthur Andersen, and the U.S. Census.</ref> As a result, the first installation was with the second computer, delivered to the Pentagon in June 1952.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

====UNIVAC installations, 1951–1954====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date
! Customer
! Comments
|-
| 1951
| [[U.S. Census Bureau]], Suitland, MD{{abbr}}
| Not shipped until 1952<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1951|title=Automatic Computing Machinery: News – UNIVAC Acceptance Tests|journal=Mathematics of Computation|language=en-US|volume=5|issue=35|pages=176–177|doi=10.1090/S0025-5718-51-99425-2|issn=0025-5718|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1951|title=Automatic Computing Machinery: News – Eckert-Mauchly Division, Remington Rand Inc.|journal=Mathematics of Computation|language=en-US|volume=5|issue=36|pages=245|doi=10.1090/S0025-5718-51-99416-1|issn=0025-5718|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| 1952
| [[U.S. Air Force]]
| [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]], Arlington, VA<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1952|title=Automatic Computing Machinery: News – UNIVAC Acceptance Tests|journal=Mathematics of Computation|language=en-US|volume=6|issue=38|pages=119|doi=10.1090/S0025-5718-52-99400-3|issn=0025-5718|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| 1952
| [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|U.S. Army Map Service]]
| Washington, DC.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1952|title=Automatic Computing Machinery: News – UNIVAC Acceptance Tests|journal=Mathematics of Computation|language=en-US|volume=6|issue=40|pages=247|doi=10.1090/S0025-5718-52-99384-8|issn=0025-5718|doi-access=free}}</ref> Operated at factory April–September 1952
|-
| 1953
| [[New York University]] (for the Atomic Energy Commission)
| New York, NY<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=July 1953 |title=1. UNIVAC|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/onr/Digital_Computer_Newsletter/|journal=Digital Computer Newsletter|language=en|volume=5|issue=3|pages=2}}</ref>
|-
| 1953
| [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]
| Livermore, CA
|-
| 1953
| [[U.S. Navy]]
| [[David Taylor Model Basin|David W. Taylor Model Basin]], Bethesda, MD<ref name=":0" />
|-
| 1954
| [[Remington Rand]]
| Sales office, New York, NY
|-
| 1954
| [[General Electric]]
| Appliance Division, Louisville, KY. First business sale.<ref>{{cite journal|title=THE UNIVAC|journal=Digital Computer Newsletter|date=Apr 1954|volume=6|issue=1|page=2|url=http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0694611|language=en}}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
|-
| 1954
| [[Metropolitan Life]]
| New York, NY<ref>{{cite journal|title=7. UNIVAC|journal=Digital Computer Newsletter|date=Jul 1954|volume=6|issue=3|pages=4–5|url=http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0694613|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628180450/https://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0694613|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 2024|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1954
| [[U.S. Air Force]]
| [[Wright-Patterson AFB]], Dayton, OH
|-
| 1954
| [[U.S. Steel]]
| Pittsburgh, PA
|-
| 1954
| [[DuPont (1802–2017)|Du Pont]]
| Wilmington, DE
|-
| 1954
| [[U.S. Steel]]
| Gary, IN
|-
| 1954
| [[Franklin Life Insurance]]
| Springfield, IL<ref>{{cite journal|title=2. The UNIVAC|journal=Digital Computer Newsletter|date=Jan 1954|volume=6|issue=2|page=2|url=http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0694612|language=en}}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
|-
| 1954
| [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]]
| Pittsburgh, PA
|-
| 1954
| [[Pacific Life|Pacific Mutual Life Insurance]]
| Los Angeles, CA
|-
| 1954
| [[Sylvania Electric Products|Sylvania Electric]]
| New York, NY
|-
| 1954
| [[Consolidated Edison]]
| New York, NY<ref>Ceruzzi, Paul E. ''A history of modern computing'', MIT, 1998. The source notes that the list is compiled from a number of sources and does not include UNIVACs that were completed not delivered in the period 1951–54. In some cases the dates are approximate. Depending on the definition of "installed" the order may be slightly different.</ref>
|}

Originally priced at [[United States dollar|US$]]159,000, the UNIVAC I rose in price until they were between $1,250,000 and $1,500,000. A total of 46 systems were eventually built and delivered.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

The UNIVAC I was too expensive for most universities, and Sperry Rand, unlike companies such as [[IBM]], was not strong enough financially to afford to give many away. However, Sperry Rand donated UNIVAC I systems to [[Harvard University]] (1956), the [[University of Pennsylvania]] (1957), and [[Case Institute of Technology]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio]] (1957). The UNIVAC I at Case was still operable in 1965 but had been supplanted by a [[UNIVAC 1107]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

A few UNIVAC I systems stayed in service long after they were made obsolete by advancing technology. The Census Bureau used its two systems until 1963, amounting to 12 and 9 years of service, respectively. Sperry Rand itself used two systems in [[Buffalo, New York]] until 1968. The insurance company [[Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee|Life and Casualty of Tennessee]] used its system until 1970, totalling over 13 years of service.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gianforti |first=Adrian |date=2021-05-27 |title=Which was the First Commercially Available Digital Computer? |url=https://www.historyfactory.com/insights/this-month-in-business-history-the-first-commercial-computer/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=History Factory |language=en-US}}</ref>