What is UNIVAC Full Form in Computer?
The UNIVAC full form on the computer is Universal Automatic Computer. UNIVAC was the first computer in the world and the first commercial computer with transistorized circuits. Developed by engineers at the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, under the leadership of Ted C. J. Berst and John W. Mauchly, it followed the principles set by the first predecessor, ENIAC, which used vacuum tubes. UNIVAC used punched card input and output, unlike its predecessors, and was one of the first to be programmed using languages such as BASIC, FORTRAN, and COBOL. The UNIVAC I and II were chiefly used for applications by the government and commercial sectors, whereas UNIVAC III and Super UNIVAC, popularly known as S/UNIVAC-II, gained application in scientific research.
Significance and Initial Application of UNIVAC
UNIVAC played the leading role in developing computer technology from the 1940s to the 1950s. Its potential opened up the use of computers in private industry, gradually contributing to the building of small and relatively inexpensive computers, expanding the hardware market. The first UNIVAC was installed at the Elliott Company in 1951 and served not only for business purposes but also for research into universities like Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford. Another significant business application it found was when the Philadelphia Inquirer used it to predict election outcomes, a very early influence on practical computing.
Functions and Influence of UNIVAC
UNIVAC was also very unique for its time because it was the first commercially produced electronic digital computer with transistors. It used punched card input and output, and it was designed for use within a business environment, allowing it to perform distributed computations easily. The UNIVAC I came with drum memory stores, high-speed card readers, and magnetic tape subsystems. Successors of UNIVAC I, UNIVAC II and III, improved these features, with UNIVAC II storing 1.75 million words of data. These advances not only heightened computing efficiency but also provided the foundation upon which later business and scientific computing was founded. ͏͏͏