JOHNNIAC
JOHNNIAC CPU
The art-deco enclosure for this 2½ ton computer held 5,000 vacuum tubes that were all hand-wired and air-cooled. It was used by many RAND researchers, including Artificial Intelligence pioneers Newell, Shaw, and Simon.
JOHNNIAC
The RAND Corporation’s JOHNNIAC was based on the stored-program computer developed at Princeton’s IAS—and named for John von Neumann, godfather of the IAS project.
Used for scientific and engineering calculations, the JOHNNIAC was completed in 1954, though it was repeatedly expanded and improved throughout its 13-year lifespan.
JOHNNIAC elapsed hour meter panel
JOHNNIAC had run for 51,349 hours when it was finally decommissioned in 1966 after 13 years of operation. The “heater voltage” meter is higher because, to avoid failures, the vacuum tubes were left on even when the machine was not used.
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JOHNNIAC user console
JOSS, the JOHNNIAC Open-Shop System, allowed up to 10 users to access the machine interactively using a simplified programming language. It was implemented by Cliff Shaw as a “helpful assistant” for mathematicians.
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JOHNNIAC's core memory
JOHNNIAC’s experimental Selectron tube memory, built by RCA, proved unreliable. Engineers replaced it with core memory from International Telemeter Corporation, a subsidiary of Hollywood's Paramount Pictures.
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JOHNNIAC in operation
JOHNNIAC, seen near the end of its 13-year life. John von Neumann, whose picture hangs nearby, protested having the computer named after him. He was overruled by engineer John Williams, who observed, “there are lots of Johns in the world.”
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JOHNNIAC goes to a museum
JOHNNIAC is disassembled for travel to its first museum home, the Los Angeles County Museum. The Computer Museum in Boston rescued it from the County Museum parking lot in 1989 just weeks before it was to become landfill.
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Nelson Lucas at a JOSS console
Nelson Lucas, modeling typical engineer attire, was a RAND draftsman and a JOHNNIAC user. He also worked on the RAND graphics tablet.
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JOHNNIAC maintenance console
JOHNNIAC’s maintenance console was a window used to diagnose faults in its inner workings. Reliability was good; project engineer Bill Gunning later said, “It was a very solid machine compared to the [IBM] 701 which was in the room next door.”
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JOHNNIAC printer
JOHNNIAC used a high-speed 140-column rotating-drum printer made by the engineering firm Anderson-Nichols. It was both faster and wider than others of the time.
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RAND campus
Originally established by the US Air Force with the Douglas Aircraft Company after WWII, Project RAND became the RAND Corporation in 1948. Its proximity to the beach in Santa Monica, California was a distinct advantage for employees.
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