UNIVAC

UNIVAC is a name that is a combination of syllables and letters: UNIV-A-C. It means Universal Automatic Computer and was developed by Dr. Presper Eckert and Dr. John Mauchly, who had previously invented ENIAC, the computer ancestoir of UNIVAC.

Electronic equipment has experienced a general history of its first prodcuts in a particualr line being huge and bulky, reducing in size and price gradually. For instance, iPods are the size of a postage stamp in the early 21st century and a notbook computer is the size and thickness of a magazine.

UNIVAC took up the space in nearly a full standard office room in the 1950s.

Little did the investors or the US Government know that UNIVAC would be used to find love.

The US Census Bureau provided a grant of $300,000 to the two scientiist engineers to develop a computer that could handle and process all of the data in the up coming US Census. Thus, the two men began the development of their new creation in 1946. A viable design did not emerge until 1948 and on the verge of financial ruin, despite an addtional $100,000 aloowed them by the Federal Government, the two developers were failing.

On a last minute financial bail-out, Eckert's and Mauchly's research and design company that had been set up to accept the government funding was absorbed by Remington Rand Corporation (Remington razors). In 1951, the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation was renamed the Univac Division of Remington Rand.

The cost to build the first UNIVAC was $1 million, which Remington Rand had to cover or face prosecution for interfering with and asking for more funding in a government project. Private business could not accept government funding inorder to build products for private use.

Forty-six UNIVACS were completed and provided to the US Government Census Bureau, the US Army, and to private businesses. The first private business to purchase the UNIVAC was Genral Electric in Kentucky; it was used to process large payrolls. Prodential Insurance also purchased a UNIVAC. Compared to a human typist, its output rate was 60 words per minute, the goal of the usual high school typing class of the era.

UIVAC used magnetic tape, while IBM compters used punch cards; thuse, UNIVAC wasfaster. During the 1952 Presidential Election, UNIVAC predicted the outcome of the Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) va. Adlai Stevenson (D) election. UNIVAC was correct in predicting that "Ike" would win the election. This fact was hidden from the America public for a while (as per usual in the 1950s), to protect the reputations of the human politcal analysts. However, the information was leaked and UNIVAC became famous, as well as accepted in business.

This business included Show Business and Art Linkletter used UNIVAC to pair up couples for gauranteed happy marriages on his 1950s TV show.

MC Art Linkletter had been active on the radio for a number of years and made a suscessful transition to TV.

Arts' successful primetime TV show began on radio in 1942 and made the transition with the host. People Are Funny featured guests chosen from the audience beforehand and they agreed to do funny stunts. David Letterman does similar bits in the 21st century. In the 1950s, it was a lot like Candid Camera, but with the victim's permission.

Some of the tricks were psychological, including a woman being hypnotiized into accepting a date with a man later in the week.

In the mid-1950s on the show, the huge UNIVAC was wheeled onstage by the producers. Linkletter used the computer to match volunteers in finding true love and marriage. He got quite a few volunteers and many marriages out of the bit. Some of the marriages lasted and some did not.

The couples, once introduced, had to do crazy stunts.

One couple agreed to dress live cavemen and spend their honeymoon in the caves just west of St. Louis. They camped out in part of the caves tour and when quided tour visitors came by, the cave people ran out and chased the visitors and then each other. Visitors and cave people had a good time for several days in this activity. Unfortunately, the couple later divorced.

Sotries such as this filled a year or two of shows on People are Funny, proving that people can, indeed, be funny and that computers can be used for a diversity of applications.

UNIVAC 1 now stands in the Smithsonian Insitution.