ENIAC

The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer

By: Scott McCartney

Narrated by: Adams Morgan

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

For all his genius, John von Neumann was not, as he is generally credited, the true father of the modern computer. That honor belongs to the two men - John Mauchly and Presper Eckert - who built the world's first programmable computer, the legendary ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Mauchly and Eckert, who met in 1941, developed a revolutionary vision: to make electricity "think." Funded by the U.S. Army, the team they led constructed a behemoth - weighing 30 tons with 18,000 vacuum tubes and miles of wiring - that blazed a trail to the next generation of computers that quickly followed, and in the process ignited a controversy over ownership that exists to this day. After their groundbreaking achievement, Mauchly and Eckert were shadowed by personal tragedies and professional setbacks as their accomplishment was laid claim to by others. They formed the world's first computer company, the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, but were quickly outdistanced by IBM.

Based on original interviews with surviving participants and the first study of Mauchly and Eckert's personal papers, ENIAC is a dramatic human story and a vital contribution to the history of technology, and it restores to the two inventors the legacy they deserve.

©1999 by Scott McCartney (P)1999 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Thank you for Computer History books

i love Computer History Field, and audiobook version help me to analyze history, i enjoy this quality audible

Enthralling

This was an excellent audiobook. As other reviewers have stated, it starts off slow, but really picks up after an hour or two. It gets so interesting once you get past the beginning that it's hard to stop listening. I really enjoyed learning about others opinions of John Von Neumann, I had no idea he was suck a controversial figure among the early computer scientists.

For the non-technical historian

This book contains a lot of testimony about early pioneers in the computer industry. The patent battle details and the resulting lawsuits were unfortunate for all parties involved. This is not a technical book that a computer engineer or computer programmer could relate too. This is more a book for a non-technical historian. Phrases like “stored program”, “general purpose computer” and “programmable computer” were distinctions between some of the early computers. This is not a book comparing specifications and technologies of the first computers. This is more a book about the lives of two guys that worked on some of the first computers.

Story Good - Narration and recording horrible, "F"

What made the experience of listening to ENIAC the most enjoyable?

Facts of history

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

Yes simple for technical people and well explained analogies for most laymen

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator voice sounded very similar to the voice of the car KITT in Knight Rider TV show by actor William Daniels. However, Adam Morgan is NOT good choice for narrating.
First, this an American author, writing a story about American history but they use a British? voice. His accent botches simple words and names. Example Albert sounds like 'ollburt'. It's quite annoying, and second pronouncing words (sometime several in a single sentence), he trails off and you can't understand what they hell he is supposed to be saying. Example the word 'endeavor' sounds like 'ENdev...'. He starts out normal and then the volume of his voice drops to near zero within a single word. How can anyone understand this ?
How did this get past the recording stage.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, these historical books are good for listening while driving.

Any additional comments?

Definitely will check for this narrator before buying new books.

Computing history has never been as entertaining.

This is a fantastic audio book. Not only is the story interesting and the writing fluent, but also the narrator speaks with an intrigued anticipation, making this audio book an engulfing peace of obscure history. The only disappointment is that the last hour is dedicated to citations, so you really only get about six-and-a-half-hours of story. Although, I hate to call journalistic integrity a disappointment.

If you care anything at all about computers this is worth a listen.

New Tech, Old Problems

Loved the story and the realization how some things never change in IT. The project timelines, night owls, lack of recognition for women, eccentric visionaries, plagiarism, suicidal wives of engineers, taking things apart to see how they work... Today's IT may look shiny and new but underneath that polished surface is the same old shit that was there from the beginning, we just got better at marketing and design lol

Great Book!

What made the experience of listening to ENIAC the most enjoyable?

Great book! I especially liked "The Ancestors", a chapter presented early in the book which gave a brief, concise history of technological development. It has always fascinated me and the book and narration did a tremendous job in communicating what happened. The last third of the book tends to drag on a bit but I really think it is more what actually happened and thus the author just captured that in this book. Easy to understand, easy to follow along, great for anyone who has an interesting in the development of technology in general and computers specifically.

What did you like best about this story?

The chapter on the origins of computers.

Have you listened to any of Adams Morgan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

"The Ancestors" chapter.

computing history is made here!

This book is on the history of the world's first "real" computer, ENIAC. It portrays in
fascinating ways the times, circumstamce, and the peope involved in this veritable arithmetic monster. i still can hardly believe they eventually accomplished what they did. but not only that, successor computers populated academia, govenment and business for many decades to come. it also tells a little bit about the patent law suit with a rival company and related intellectual property issues whihc is a timely topic.
it's a fascinating, interesting, deep book that every computer lover should read.

Insights on the development of the digital compute

What did you love best about ENIAC?

Getting a better understanding of Prosper and Eckert

What other book might you compare ENIAC to and why?

Turing's Cathedral is also a history of the early days of digital computing, from a different perspective. Also very interesting.

Poor Narration

The story on itself was very good. Unfortunately the narrator has a bad habit of dropping the ends of words to the point where I was rewinding every few
minutes to try and make out what he said. For instance “Philadelphia” becomes “Philadel..(whisper whisper)”. Very annoying.