MADDIDA, the Magnetic Drum Digital Differential Analyzer, was a special-purpose digital computer for solving systems of ordinary differential equations, the first computer to represent bits with voltage levels and to have its entire logic specified in Boolean algebra. Invented by Floyd Steele and developed at Northrop Aircraft Corporation between 1946 and 1949, it was originally intended as a guidance system for the Snark missile, but no guidance system resulted and it was used instead for aeronautical research; in 1952 it became the world's top-selling commercial digital computer, with six units sold.
Facts
SignificanceFirst computer to represent bits using voltage levels and to have its entire logic specified in Boolean algebra; became the world's top-selling commercial digital computer in 1952, with six units sold. 1 Sources
1. Magnetic Drum Digital Differential Analyzer, Wikipedia
Infobox, Released field
Released 1949
Lead paragraph, sentence 2
It was the first computer to represent bits using voltage levels and whose entire logic was specified in Boolean algebra.
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