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As soon as they completed the ENIAC design, Eckert and Mauchly signed a contract to build a

successor, which they called EDVAC for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer.

This more efficient design reduced the number of vacuum tubes in the EDVAC to about 4000.

Although it was the first large-scale machine to do routine calculations in a production

environment, the ENIAC was not the first electronic computer. Between 1939 and 1942, JohnAtanasoff, a physics and mathematics professor at Iowa State University, and his graduate

student Clifford Berry, assembled the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, which incorporated manydigital circuit design innovations. Their system used the binary arithmetic system of 1s and 0s

commonly used in today’s computers as well as a memory drum that stored data in a method

similar to the storage technique used in modern memory chips.

After Eckert and Mauchly were granted a patent for the ENIAC, a long court battle began over 

who actually created the first modern electronic computer. Finally, in 1973, a federal judge

invalidated the ENIAC patent and awarded recognition to Atanasoff and Berry, more than 30

years after their pioneering accomplishments.

B.EDVAC, ENIAC, and UNIVAC

Eckert and Mauchly eventually formed their own company, which was then bought by the Rand

Corporation. They produced the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC), which was used for 

a broader variety of commercial applications. The first UNIVAC was delivered to the United

States Census Bureau in 1951. By 1957, there were 46 UNIVACs in use.

Between 1937 and 1939, while teaching at Iowa State College, American physicist John Vincent

Atanasoff built a prototype computing device called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC,

with the help of his assistant, Clifford Berry. Atanasoff developed the concepts that were later 

used in the design of the ENIAC. Atanasoff’s device was the first computer to separate data processing from memory, but it is not clear whether a functional version was ever built.

Personal Computer (PC), computer in the form of a desktop or laptop device designed for use by

a single person. PCs function using a display monitor and a keyboard. Since their introduction inthe 1980s, PCs have become powerful and extremely versatile tools that have revolutionized how

 people work, learn, communicate, and find entertainment. Many households in the United States

now have PCs, thanks to affordable prices and software that has made PCs easy to use without

special computer expertise. Personal computers are also a crucial component of informationtechnology (IT) and play a key role in modern economies worldwide.

The usefulness and capabilities of personal computers can be greatly enhanced by connection tothe Internet and World Wide Web, as well as to smaller networks that link to local computers or 

databases. Personal computers can also be used to access content stored on compact discs (CDs)or digital versatile discs (DVDs), and to transfer files to personal media devices and video

 players.

Personal computers are sometimes called microcomputers or micros. Powerful PCs designed for  professional or technical use are known as work stations. Other names that reflect different roles

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for PCs include home computers and small-business computers. The PC is generally larger and

more powerful than handheld computers, including personal digital assistants (PDAs) and

gaming devices.