[inforoots] Eckert ENIAC Interview

[Hans Neukom]

Hi Bob

No problem at all. I just asked because your first e-mail sounded a bit as
if you were, so to speak, "in the Attansoff camp". I am not really in the
"Mauchly camp", however, I have researched the ENIAC story as a hobby
computer historian (there are so far two articles on Swiss computer history
in the the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing by me), so I just wanted
to hear the opinion of somebody else.

I do not doubt the seriousness of the litigation in the ENIAC patent case, I
looked into it, but only on the surface. I know how important the case was:
should Sperry have a monopoly on computers or not. I think everybody at the
time realized that nobody should have such a monopoly and, as the litigation
proved, Mauchly could not maintain his claims. However, I also think that
there is no single person "who invented the computer". Many people
contributed to what we today call a computer. In addition, computers
developped rapidly, and every pioneer added something to the whole picture.
Maybe I am going to research the Attasoff story a bit mor in the future as
one of my next history projects.

Thanks for your input.

Hans

_____________________________________________
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  -----Original Message-----
  From: inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org
[mailto:inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org]On Behalf Of Bob Zeidman
  Sent: Mittwoch, 22. Februar 2006 20:58
  To: 'Open Discussion about the history of the Information Age'
  Subject: RE: [inforoots] Eckert ENIAC Interview


  Hi Hans,

  On reading my reply, I hope I didn't sound mean-spirited. Working as an
expert, I get frustrated when it's implied that litigation research is
somehow "legal trickery." I know that's not what you're saying.

  -Bob



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
  From: inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org
[mailto:inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org] On Behalf Of Bob Zeidman
  Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 8:46 AM
  To: 'Open Discussion about the history of the Information Age'
  Subject: RE: [inforoots] Eckert ENIAC Interview


  Hi Hans,

  The information in the book includes some of the court transcripts and the
judge's decision, which are public and can be researched yourself. The facts
actually are that easy. I work as an expert witness in patent litigation. I
can tell you that if there was a single shred of evidence in Mauchly's
favor, it would have been uncovered in litigation because the stakes are
very high high and because the investigators that are hired, lawyers and
experts, are the best available in the world. Not a single piece of evidence
in Mauchly's favor was uncovered in the five years of the case. This
particular patent case was perhaps the most important and potentially
lucrative one in history -- imagine if Sperry owned the patent for the
digital computer and was paid a royalty for each one produced. Sperry spent
many millions of dollars to support its case, trying over many years to
uncover a single document, prototype, or witness that Mauchly had a single
thought about digital computers before meeting Atanasoff. It doesn't take
much, either. Remember that Alexander Graham Bell proved his case by finding
notes on the back of an envelope that was a love letter to his future wife.
Sperry, its lawyers, it investigators, and its experts found nothing.

  Also, you ask for an unbiased research. Mollenhoff is a Pulitzer Prize
winning reporter with no connection to Atanasoff. Why do you assume he's
biased unless it's because you don't like his conclusion?

  Regards,
  -Bob
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