Skip to content

TechRepublic

  • Top Products Lists
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Big Data
  • Tech Jobs
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Top Products Lists
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Big Data
  • Tech Jobs
  • See All Topics
  • Sponsored
  • Newsletters
  • Forums
  • Resource Library
TechRepublic Premium
Join / Sign In
EU

Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

By Nick Heath February 20, 2018, 9:15 AM PST

Image
1
of 11

jr-tnmoc-race6.jpg
jr-tnmoc-race6.jpg
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

On their marks

On their marks

Machines spanning eight decades of computing battled it out on Saturday in the first race of its kind.

Computers ranging from the world’s oldest-working computer, the 1951 Harwell Witch, to the tiny 2016 BBC micro:bit, competed to calculate the most numbers in a Fibonacci sequence in 15 seconds.

This gallery walks you through the machines that took part, from the slowest to the fastest, and you can read more about the race at The National Museum of Computing in the UK, here.

Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​1951 Harwell Witch - Calculated 3 numbers.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

​1951 Harwell Witch - Calculated 3 numbers.

Once one of only 12 computers in the world, the Witch was a slow but reliable decimal computer that handled simultaneous equations for engineers building the world’s first atomic reactor for generating electricity.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

2015 iPhone 6s - Calculated 4 numbers

Image: The National Museum of Computing

2015 iPhone 6s - Calculated 4 numbers

Apple’s recent incarnation of its classic smartphone is served by more than two million apps and is owned by millions of people worldwide.

It’s relatively poor showing in the contest is nothing to do with the abilities of the device, but rather the fact that numbers used to calculate the Fibonacci sequence were input using Siri voice commands.

Image: The National Museum of Computing
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

1940's Facit calculator - Calculated 7 numbers

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

1940's Facit calculator - Calculated 7 numbers

The only non-computer in the contest, this hand-operated, Swedish-made machine worked as fast as its operator.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​1965 PDP-8 Calculated 16 numbers

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

​1965 PDP-8 Calculated 16 numbers

The first commercially successful mini-computer, this $20,000 machine (~$140,000 in today’s money) was prized for its low cost compared to other computers at the time and sold more than 50,000 units.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

PDP-8 results

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

PDP-8 results

Here you can see the output from the PDP-8.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​1977 Apple II - Calculated 38 numbers

Image: The National Museum of Computing

​1977 Apple II - Calculated 38 numbers

Notable for its landmark success in the microcomputer market, the Apple II won plaudits for its kitchen appliance-inspired design, its color graphics and more consumer-friendly software.

Image: The National Museum of Computing
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​1981 BBC Micro - Calculated 70 numbers

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

​1981 BBC Micro - Calculated 70 numbers

A favorite of UK schools during the 1980s, more than 1.5 million of these rugged machines were sold and helped inspire a generation to learn to code — including the co-creator of the Raspberry Pi Eben Upton.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

BASIC programming

Image: The National Museum of Computing

BASIC programming

Some of the BASIC code used used to calculate the Fibonacci sequence on the BBC Micro.

Image: The National Museum of Computing
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​1998 Windows 98 PC - Calculated 1477 numbers

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic

​1998 Windows 98 PC - Calculated 1477 numbers

Windows 98 was a global OS, shipping on one million desktop PCs in just four days. The OS refined the GUI of Windows 95 and implemented support for plug-and-play hardware.

Image: Nick Heath / TechRepublic
Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

​2016 BBC micro:bit - Calculated 6843 numbers

Image: The National Museum of Computing

​2016 BBC micro:bit - Calculated 6843 numbers

The winner of the contest, this simple board was designed to inspire kids to code.

The micro:bit packs LEDs, button, sensors and a compass onto its tiny surface, and can connect to devices via Bluetooth or be hooked up to other electronic boards.

Nine-year-old Connie programmed the board to find the Fibonacci sequence.

Also see

  • Hacking the Nazis: The secret story of the women who broke Hitler’s codes (PDF download) (TechRepublic cover story)
  • Britain’s World War II codebreakers tell their story
  • Alan Turing: Exhibition offers rare glimpse of the man behind the enigma
  • Sixty years on, Colossus cracks codes again
  • Hitler’s “unbreakable” encryption machine – and the Bletchley Park devices which cracked the code (ZDNet)
Image: The National Museum of Computing
  • EU
  • Hardware
  • Innovation
  • Account Information

    Share with Your Friends

    Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle

    Your email has been sent

Share: Photos: Apple II, PDP-8 and other classic computers do battle
Image of Nick Heath
By Nick Heath
Nick Heath is a computer science student and was formerly a journalist at TechRepublic and ZDNet.
  • Account Information

    Contact Nick Heath

    Your message has been sent

  • |
  • See all of Nick's content

TechRepublic Premium

  • TechRepublic Premium

    Best of Confluent Current 2023: The State of Data Streaming

    TechRepublic Premium was at Confluent’s Current 2023 event, held in San Jose, California, September 26-27. Our coverage of the event comprises an analysis of data streaming, interviews, the role of stream governance and a look at Apache Flink. From the download: Confluent used the Current 2023 ‘next generation of Kafka Summit’ event in San Jose ...

    Downloads
    Published:  September 27, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  September 28, 2023, 1:00 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium articles
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Quick Glossary: Fintech

    Fintech is a fast changing landscape that constantly introduces cutting-edge ideas and developments. TechRepublic Premium presents this quick glossary of fintech terms and concepts to help you understand technological breakthroughs and make educated decisions. From the glossary: DECENTRALIZED FINANCE Often referred to as DeFi, this utilizes emerging technology to remove third parties and central financial ...

    Downloads
    Published:  September 27, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  September 28, 2023, 8:52 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium articles
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Anti-Money Laundering Policy

    Money laundering poses a detrimental impact on businesses and the economy as a whole. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, the amount of money laundered around the world in a single year is presumed to be 2–5% of global GDP, which is roughly $800 billion to $2 trillion. The purpose of ...

    Downloads
    Published:  September 27, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  September 28, 2023, 9:14 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium articles
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Hiring Kit: Video Game Audio Engineer

    Modern video games rely on a cornucopia of sounds to engage and engross players. Whether it is ambient sound to set the mood, music to invoke a feeling or dialog to tell the story, sound is vital to the immersive experience of a video game. The individual responsible for meshing all those disparate sounds together ...

    Published:  September 27, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  September 28, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium articles

Services

  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Site Help & Feedback
  • FAQ
  • Advertise
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • Careers

Explore

  • Downloads
  • TechRepublic Forums
  • Meet the Team
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Resource Library
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • TechRepublic
  • TechRepublic on Twitter
  • TechRepublic on Facebook
  • TechRepublic on LinkedIn
  • TechRepublic on Flipboard
© 2023 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Property of TechnologyAdvice