Germany, and a history lesson or two

Well, that was an interesting but tiring stay in the German hinterland. A short weekend at home and then I'm off to Sheffield, UK by way of Manchester (because I refuse to go through Heathrow) for the week.

To get to Germany I took the ICE train instead of flying and it was a very comfortable experience. Zooming along at 200-250 Km/h with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other it is truly a relaxing experience unlike the stress and suspicion encountered at airfields. No security checks, no long queues or disinterested flight attendants and microwaved meat byproducts. Didn't have to take my shoes off once or take my notebook out of my bag.

I stayed at the Konrad Zuse hotel in Huenfeld somewhere along the old east-west border, it had very good service at a unbelievable price and still has that 'new hotel' smell as it's only six months old. The in-house restaurant was great and the staff very friendly. In fact, with all the traveling across Europe lately, I've come to realise that the Dutch are the rudest people by far. Almost every other European country has friendlier/more courteous people. We're like the New York of Europe, it's depressing.

Anyway, I didn't know who Konrad Zuse was so I was very surprised when several leaflets in the hotel proclaimed him to be the inventor of the first computer. Especially since I'm somewhat of a geek and all. Wikipedia has a nice timeline of computing page and history of computing page, and it turns out that due the the second world war and some fudging about definitions it's very unclear who actually developed the first computer. Compare the following:

Wikipedia on Konrad Zuse:

The Z3 is claimed to be "first computer" as such, though this depends on complex and subtle definitional issues, as the machine was not truly general-purpose in the manner of later machines (see the article of history of computing for a thorough discussion). Zuse also designed a high-level programming language, the Plankalkül, allegedly in 1945, although this was a theoretical contribution, since the language was never actually implemented within his lifetime and did not directly influence early implemented languages.

On the Atanasoff-Berry Computer:

The ABC was the first electronic digital computing device^[1]. The machine, initiated in 1937, was capable of solving up to 29 simulataneous linear equations and was successfully tested before the project was abandoned in 1942, though by the end of the project its input/output mechanism was incomplete, so the machine never saw actual use. The ABC pioneered important elements of modern computing, such as binary arithmetic and electronic switching elements^[2], but its special-purpose nature and lack of a changeable, stored program distinguish it from modern computers.

Much of Atanasoff's work was not widely known until rediscovered in the 1960s, and conflicting claims about the first instance of an electronic computer. The ENIACControversy, below). The ABC was a fixed-program computing device (unlike Von Neumann architecture, Harvard architecture computers, or plug-board programmed computing devices) that was used to solve simultaneous linear equations.

On the ENIAC:

ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was the first large-scale, electronic, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems^[1], although earlier computers had been built with some of these properties. ENIAC was developed and built by the U.S. Army for their Ballistics Research Laboratory, with the purpose of calculating ballistic firing tables. The computer was commissioned on May 17, 1943

And there you go. Around the same time the Brits were playing with the Colossus. The second worldwar made sure everyone was being secretive and different definitions of what exactly constitutes a computer make the origins of those things we love and hate unclear. While on the topic of the second world war, in a German pub I met a young lad who didn't know what the word 'swastika' meant. I still don't know what to make of that.

Oh, by the way, have you found Lists of Bests yet? It's like geek crack. Made by the friendly folks at the Robot Co-op that you should already know from 43 things, places and allconsuming. And what self-respecting geek doesn't like lists? Especially lists that you can add to so easily.