Technology from Silicon Valley and Beyond

Before there was Google, or even the Internet, there was the computer -- and the earliest computers were so large that just one could occupy an entire room. AVIDAC was the first digital computer at Argonne National Laboratory, and began operating in 1953. It was built by the Physics Division for $250,000. Pictured here, with AVIDAC, is pioneer Argonne computer scientist Jean F. Hall. AVIDAC stands for 'Argonne Version of the Institute's Digital Automatic Computer' and was based on architecture developed by mathematician John von Neumann. | Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory. Historical USDOE.

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