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Manchester Mark 1
Last Updated: November 23, 2015
Definition - What does Manchester Mark 1 mean?
The Manchester Mark 1 was the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer. It was developed as the Manchester Mark 1 at the University of Manchester in 1949 and built and distributed by Ferranti Inc. as the Ferranti Mark 1 in 1951.
The Manchester Mark 1 was also called the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine (MADM), the Ferranti Mark 1 and the Manchester Ferranti.
Techopedia explains Manchester Mark 1
The computer's development led to 34 patents and significantly contributed to subsequent commercial products, including the IBM 701 and 702. The Manchester Mark 1 differed from other stored-program computers at the time with its use of Williams cathode ray tubes and magnetic drums for memory, instead of mercury delay lines.
