<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
(	O
Universal	B-Operating_System
Automatic	I-Operating_System
Computer	I-Operating_System
I	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
general-purpose	O
electronic	O
digital	O
computer	O
design	O
for	O
business	O
application	O
produced	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
principally	O
by	O
J	O
.	O
Presper	O
Eckert	O
and	O
John	O
Mauchly	O
,	O
the	O
inventors	O
of	O
the	O
ENIAC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
years	O
before	O
successor	O
models	O
of	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
appeared	O
,	O
the	O
machine	O
was	O
simply	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
American	O
computer	O
designed	O
at	O
the	O
outset	O
for	O
business	O
and	O
administrative	O
use	O
with	O
fast	O
execution	O
of	O
relatively	O
simple	O
arithmetic	O
and	O
data	O
transport	O
operations	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
complex	O
numerical	O
calculations	O
required	O
of	O
scientific	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
competed	O
directly	O
against	O
punch-card	B-Architecture
machines	O
,	O
though	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
originally	O
could	O
neither	O
read	O
nor	O
punch	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
corrected	O
by	O
adding	O
offline	O
card	O
processing	O
equipment	O
,	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
Tape	O
to	O
Card	O
converter	O
,	O
to	O
transfer	O
data	O
between	O
cards	O
and	O
UNIVAC	O
magnetic	O
tapes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
early	O
market	O
share	O
of	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
was	O
lower	O
than	O
the	O
Remington	O
Rand	O
Company	O
wished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
promote	O
sales	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
joined	O
with	O
CBS	O
to	O
have	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
predict	O
the	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
1952	O
Presidential	O
election	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
priced	O
at	O
US$159	O
,	O
000	O
,	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
rose	O
in	O
price	O
until	O
they	O
were	O
between	O
$	O
1,250,000	O
and	O
$	O
1,500,000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
was	O
too	O
expensive	O
for	O
most	O
universities	O
,	O
and	O
Sperry	O
Rand	O
,	O
unlike	O
companies	O
such	O
as	O
IBM	O
,	O
was	O
not	O
strong	O
enough	O
financially	O
to	O
afford	O
to	O
give	O
many	O
away	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Sperry	O
Rand	O
donated	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
systems	O
to	O
Harvard	O
University	O
(	O
1956	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Pennsylvania	O
(	O
1957	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Case	O
Institute	O
of	O
Technology	O
in	O
Cleveland	O
,	O
Ohio	O
(	O
1957	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
at	O
Case	O
was	O
still	O
operable	O
in	O
1965	O
but	O
had	O
been	O
supplanted	O
by	O
a	O
UNIVAC	O
1107	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
systems	O
stayed	O
in	O
service	O
long	O
after	O
they	O
were	O
made	O
obsolete	O
by	O
advancing	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
used	O
about	O
5,000	O
vacuum	O
tubes	O
,	O
weighed	O
,	O
consumed	O
125	O
kW	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
perform	O
about	O
1,905	O
operations	O
per	O
second	O
running	O
on	O
a	O
2.25	O
MHz	O
clock	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
representing	O
numbers	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
written	O
as	O
11	O
decimal	B-Application
digits	O
plus	O
sign	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
1000words	O
of	O
memory	O
consisted	O
of	O
100channels	O
of	O
10-word	O
mercury	O
delay-line	O
registers	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
buffers	O
were	O
60words	O
each	O
,	O
consisting	O
of	O
12channels	O
of	O
10-word	O
mercury	O
delay-line	O
registers	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
six	O
channels	O
of	O
10-word	O
mercury	O
delay-line	O
registers	B-General_Concept
as	O
spares	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
channel	O
in	O
a	O
column	O
of	O
mercury	O
,	O
with	O
receiving	O
and	O
transmitting	O
quartz	B-General_Concept
piezo-electric	O
crystals	O
mounted	O
at	O
opposite	O
ends	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instructions	B-General_Concept
were	O
six	O
alphanumeric	O
characters	O
,	O
packed	O
two	O
instructions	B-General_Concept
per	O
word	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
non-standard	O
modification	O
called	O
"	O
Overdrive	O
"	O
did	O
exist	O
,	O
that	O
allowed	O
for	O
three	O
four-character	O
instructions	B-General_Concept
per	O
word	O
under	O
some	O
circumstances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Ingerman	O
's	O
simulator	O
for	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
,	O
referenced	O
below	O
,	O
also	O
makes	O
this	O
modification	O
available	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Digits	O
were	O
represented	O
internally	O
using	O
excess-3	O
(	O
"	O
XS3	O
"	O
)	O
binary-coded	O
decimal	B-Application
(	O
BCD	O
)	O
arithmetic	O
with	O
six	O
bits	O
per	O
digit	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
value	O
as	O
the	O
digits	O
of	O
the	O
alphanumeric	O
character	O
set	O
(	O
and	O
one	O
parity	B-Error_Name
bit	I-Error_Name
per	O
digit	O
for	O
error	O
checking	O
)	O
,	O
allowing	O
11-digit	O
signed	O
magnitude	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
machine	O
instructions	B-General_Concept
,	O
UNIVAC	O
was	O
considered	O
by	O
programmers	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
decimal	B-Application
machine	O
,	O
not	O
a	O
binary	O
machine	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
binary	O
representation	O
of	O
the	O
characters	O
was	O
irrelevant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Note	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
that	O
a	O
peculiarity	O
of	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
's	O
addition/subtraction	O
circuitry	O
was	O
that	O
the	O
"	O
ignore	O
"	O
,	O
space	O
,	O
and	O
minus	O
characters	O
were	O
occasionally	O
treated	O
as	O
numeric	O
,	O
with	O
values	O
of	O
–	O
3	O
,	O
–	O
2	O
,	O
and	O
–	O
1	O
,	O
respectively	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
apostrophe	O
,	O
ampersand	O
,	O
and	O
left	O
parenthesis	O
were	O
occasionally	O
treated	O
as	O
numeric	O
,	O
with	O
values	O
10	O
,	O
11	O
,	O
and	O
12	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
the	O
operator	O
's	O
console	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
devices	I-General_Concept
connected	O
to	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
were	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
tape	O
drives	O
,	O
a	O
Remington	O
Standard	O
electric	O
typewriter	O
and	O
a	O
Tektronix	O
oscilloscope	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
was	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	O
computer	O
tape	O
drive	O
commercially	O
sold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
could	O
also	O
read	O
and	O
write	O
UNITYPER	B-Device
created	O
tapes	O
at	O
20	O
bits	O
per	O
inch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UNITYPER	B-Device
was	O
an	O
offline	O
typewriter	O
to	O
tape	O
device	O
,	O
used	O
by	O
programmers	O
and	O
for	O
minor	O
data	O
editing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Backward	O
and	O
forward	O
tape	O
read	O
and	O
write	O
operations	O
were	O
possible	O
on	O
the	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
and	O
were	O
fully	O
overlapped	O
with	O
instruction	O
execution	O
,	O
permitting	O
high	O
system	O
throughput	O
in	O
typical	O
sort/merge	O
data	O
processing	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
operators	O
console	O
had	O
three	O
columns	O
of	O
decimal	B-Application
coded	O
switches	O
that	O
allowed	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
1000	O
memory	O
locations	O
to	O
be	O
displayed	O
on	O
the	O
oscilloscope	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
installation	O
had	O
several	O
ancillary	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UNIPRINTER	B-Operating_System
read	O
metal	O
UNIVAC	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
using	O
a	O
tape	O
reader	O
and	O
typed	O
the	O
data	O
at	O
10	O
characters	O
per	O
second	O
using	O
a	O
modified	O
Remington	O
typewriter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
Card	O
to	O
Tape	O
converter	O
read	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
at	O
240	O
cards	O
per	O
minute	O
and	O
wrote	O
their	O
data	O
on	O
metal	O
UNIVAC	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
using	O
a	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
tape	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
tape-to-card	O
converter	O
,	O
that	O
read	O
a	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
and	O
produced	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Operators	O
loaded	O
on	O
a	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
a	O
program	O
tape	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
loaded	O
automatically	O
by	O
processor	O
logic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
UNIVAC	I-Operating_System
I	O
was	O
designed	O
with	O
parallel	O
computation	O
circuits	O
and	O
result	O
comparison	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UNISERVO	B-Device
did	O
not	O
have	O
vacuum	O
columns	O
but	O
springs	O
and	O
strings	O
to	O
buffer	O
tape	O
from	O
the	O
reels	O
to	O
the	O
capstan	O
.	O
</s>
