Chapter 746 Storing Data
Professor Versenden, who had a lot of experience with vacuum tubes, quickly understood Charles' intention.
He looked at the circuit on the table and said thoughtfully:
"It was just a simple single-digit addition operation, and we used dozens of vacuum tubes."
"If we face more complex calculations, we may need thousands or even tens of thousands of vacuum tubes."
"Such a large and fragile system, if a bug gets in, it could cause a short circuit, which could lead to a devastating disaster for the machine."
(The picture above shows the first practical computer ENIAC, which used a total of 17,458 vacuum tubes, 7,200 diodes, more than 7,000 resistors and tens of thousands of capacitors. Its computing speed is insignificant in modern times, and it can complete 5,000 additions or 400 multiplications in one second)
Once again, Charles felt that he had chosen the right person.
Shire may not have had a Turing, nor a von Neumann.
But Charles has modern knowledge. He knows the research and development direction and principles, and he also knows which path will definitely work. This saves him a lot of trial and error costs.
In addition, he could gather talented people, including physicists, cryptographers, chemists, etc., so it was not difficult to invent a computer on this basis.
Versenden looked up at Charles and said, "But vacuum tubes are not cheap, General. They cost at least 50 francs each."
This was due to the low demand for vacuum tubes during this period.
Small market demand means small output. In order to survive, producers who are unable to "make small profits but quick turnover" must increase unit prices to increase profits.
"Don't worry." Charles answered straightforwardly: "It depends on how much you need. What I mean is, I will provide you with the funds you need, everything, including your talents."
This was not a small sum of money, but Charles knew it was worth it. It was the lifeline of the future.
Professor Versenden and Lieutenant Penwan looked delighted.
The initial success of the experiment gave them confidence, and now with the financial support from Shire, they saw hope.
For a scientist, nothing is more important than letting go and exploring the realm of knowledge.
After a moment of excitement, Pan Wan frowned again:
"But we can't seem to store the data."
"I mean, once the calculation results are generated, all the data will disappear once the power is turned off."
"The next time we calculate, we will need to re-enter the data and recalculate."
This is the advantage of Turing's use of mechanical components, which does not require storage devices.
Because even if the power is off, the "pointer" of the mechanical component will still stay in its position and will not return to zero, which is equivalent to storing data.
The difference with vacuum tubes is that once the power is cut off all data will disappear.
However, the vacuum tubes of this period were very fragile. If powered on for a long time, they would heat up, get too hot, and then burn out. It was obviously not advisable to store data by keeping the power on.
Professor Versenden also frowned. "If we need to record and input the data manually every time, it will not only waste too much time but also be inconvenient to call the data. This is a tricky problem..."
Before he finished speaking, Charles gave the answer: "We can use punched paper tape."
"Punch tape?" Professor Versenden and Pan Wan were stunned. They had no idea what this was.
What other problems can be solved with paper tape?
"Yes, punched paper tape," Charles answered confidently. "Paper is insulated, gentlemen. We punch a hole at the '1' position so that it can pass electricity, and leave the '0' position unpunched. In this way, data input can be completed automatically."
Versenden and Pan Wan's eyes widened in surprise.
Soon, Professor Versenden seemed to understand:
"During output, electrical components control the machinery to punch holes in the paper tape, thus completing the data storage."
"God, you're a genius, General."
“It’s amazing that someone could come up with such a simple and effective method. What’s more, it’s cheap.”
Panwan agreed. “Yeah, it’s just paper tape. I feel like we’ve been able to make it. It’s incredible how fast we’ve been able to make it.”
As he spoke, Pan Wan looked a little embarrassed.
This was basically Charles' idea and creativity, from the moment he came up with the concept.
What he and Fossenden did, could be done by other people as well.
Professor Versenden had similar concerns. Although he did not say it, he unconsciously thought: Can this research and development still be counted as theirs? In principle, it belongs to Shire.
"Don't worry." Charles dispelled their concerns: "You know I have a lot of things to do, and the time I can stay here is extremely limited. Future research and development work will require you to complete it, so of course you will have a share of the patent."
This is the motivation for the two to devote themselves to research and development, just like a company would give dividends to its employees.
What the Shire wanted was control, and all that Versenden and Penn wanted was money.
Perhaps because of the excitement of taking the first step, the three of them did not eat dinner that day and worked until after nine o'clock.
During this period, Shire proposed another way of storing data: using a battery to keep the output end powered, it could even be moved and used as intermediate data to input another program more quickly.
This is the memory of a modern computer, and the punched paper tape is the hard drive.
The principles are similar, but over time, they have developed into completely different systems.
…
It was already late at night when I came out of the laboratory.
The factory area is different from Paris.
The city of light, Paris, has fallen into darkness due to a shortage of supplies, but the factory area still keeps its lights on all night for fear of sabotage and intelligence gathering by spies, and a team of soldiers patrols by from time to time.
As soon as Charles left the room, Lieutenant Colonel Laurent, who had been waiting for him, rushed out of the guard room and said, "General, yes, there is something I think I must tell you."
Charles wondered what could have made Laurent so anxious? He was always confident that "everything was under control."
Lieutenant Colonel Laurent hesitated for a moment before making up his mind: "General Gallieni has just finished surgery. He, his life may be in danger."
"What?" Charles felt a chill on his face. He glared at Laurent: "When did it happen?"
"In the afternoon," Laurent replied. "General Gallieni didn't let anyone tell you. He said it was just a minor operation, but it seems that's not the case..."
"Where's the car?" Charles had just finished speaking when he saw a car parked on the side. He ran and ordered, "Go to Paris immediately!"
In fact, no order was needed, Laurent ran to the car, took out the rocker and started the car.
As the car drove on the road, Charles fell into deep self-blame.
How could I forget about this!
Gallieni performed another operation soon after the first one failed.
Because of this, Xiafei was so angry that he died.
Now that Joffre is gone, will history repeat itself?
(End of this chapter)
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