herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong, Computing Services) (11/25/84)
First Computer Survey Preliminary Results Herbert A. Chong, BASc Department of Systems Design Engineering University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1 (c) 1984 - Herbert A. Chong Permission is granted to reproduce this report in whole or in part by any means provided this statement of authorship is retained. Herbert A. Chong, November 24, 1984 This is a brief summary of the results of the "First Computer" survey. A forthcoming report detailing the analyses performed and the results will be posted when it is completed. The data was analyzed using the VM/SP3 version of SAS (Statistical Analysis System) (tm) on our IBM mainframe network. [SAS is the registered trademark of SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C.] For those of you who missed the original postings, here are the questions that were asked, first from VMSHARE "What was your first CPU ever? This is just a silly survey for people that don't mind dating themselves: what was the first computer you worked on?" and from USENET "What computer did YOU write your first program for? When did YOU write it? I am interested because of what I have seen in VMSHARE, an IBM user's group bulletin board. For the purposes of this survey, I am excluding programmable calculators like the Monroe's, HP's desktops and hand helds, and other such beasts." There are still responses trickling in, but I have not yet incorporated their data into the analysis at this time. However, I can say that the results are most interesting. A total of 322 responses were received and analyzed as of this date. The distribution of responses between user groups is not unexpected given the nature the groups. The requirements for membership in each group is the main cause of the difference. This point will be detailed in the final report. FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT usenet |************************** 263 263 81.68 81.68 vmshare |****** 59 322 18.32 100.00 -----+----+----+----+----+- 50 100 150 200 250 There were many different types of computers that were used by the respondents, so many, in fact, that I had to categorize them so that further analysis could be done. First, I didn't keep track of the CPU model, and second, I combined many manufacturers. For instance, all the Honeywell, GE, and others that joined or were bought out to become parts of Honeywell were grouped together. All microcomputers were grouped together, as well as most minis by Data General and Harris. Limited production machines like the Illiac 2 were grouped. Given this grouping, these were the frequencies of respondents using each group of machines. The "blank" machine group is for the respondents who didn't know or didn't specify what manufacturer made the system they were using. FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT |** 9 9 2.80 2.80 burrough |** 9 18 2.80 5.59 cdc |***** 25 43 7.76 13.35 dec |****** 32 75 9.94 23.29 honeywel |**** 21 96 6.52 29.81 hp |***** 26 122 8.07 37.89 ibm |****************************** 150 272 46.58 84.47 limited |** 11 283 3.42 87.89 micro |*** 17 300 5.28 93.17 other |*** 13 313 4.04 97.20 univac |** 9 322 2.80 100.00 ----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-- 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Although I did not ask for it, many people included the language that their first program was written in. Again, I had to group the responses together in order to make the later analysis easier. Thus, Algol and PL/I and their direct derivatives were lumped together. Various assembly languages were also combined. "Blank" once again is used for an unspecified first programming language. FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT |*************************** 133 133 41.30 41.30 algol |** 12 145 3.73 45.03 assembly |** 12 157 3.73 48.76 basic |*********** 55 212 17.08 65.84 fortran |*************** 76 288 23.60 89.44 machine |**** 18 306 5.59 95.03 other |*** 16 322 4.97 100.00 ----+---+---+---+---+---+--- 20 40 60 80 100 120 Considering that I explicitly asked for the year that the first program was written in the USENET posting, I received very few respondents. I assume that many did not read the posting but replied on the basis of the header in the news file. In the case of VMSHARE, year was not asked for so the few responses I got was not surprising. YEAR FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT . |******************** 100 100 31.06 31.06 1954 | 2 102 0.62 31.68 1955 | 1 103 0.31 31.99 1956 | 1 104 0.31 32.30 1957 | 2 106 0.62 32.92 1958 | 2 108 0.62 33.54 1959 | 1 109 0.31 33.85 1960 |* 6 115 1.86 35.71 1961 |** 11 126 3.42 39.13 1962 |** 9 135 2.80 41.93 1963 |* 6 141 1.86 43.79 1964 |** 10 151 3.11 46.89 1965 |** 8 159 2.48 49.38 1966 |** 11 170 3.42 52.80 1967 |** 9 179 2.80 55.59 1968 |** 8 187 2.48 58.07 1969 |** 9 196 2.80 60.87 1970 |*** 14 210 4.35 65.22 1971 |** 11 221 3.42 68.63 1972 |**** 19 240 5.90 74.53 1973 |** 9 249 2.80 77.33 1974 |* 7 256 2.17 79.50 1975 |*** 15 271 4.66 84.16 1976 |*** 17 288 5.28 89.44 1977 |** 11 299 3.42 92.86 1978 |** 9 308 2.80 95.65 1979 |** 8 316 2.48 98.14 1980 |* 4 320 1.24 99.38 1981 | 1 321 0.31 99.69 1982 | 1 322 0.31 100.00 ----+---+---+---+---+ 20 40 60 80 100 Here are the same histogram charts with missing values excluded. They are more useful from the analysis point of view. FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT burrough |** 9 9 2.88 2.88 cdc |***** 25 34 7.99 10.86 dec |****** 32 66 10.22 21.09 honeywel |**** 21 87 6.71 27.80 hp |***** 26 113 8.31 36.10 ibm |****************************** 150 263 47.92 84.03 limited |** 11 274 3.51 87.54 micro |*** 17 291 5.43 92.97 other |*** 13 304 4.15 97.12 univac |** 9 313 2.88 100.00 ----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-- 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT algol |***** 12 12 6.35 6.35 assembly |***** 12 24 6.35 12.70 basic |********************** 55 79 29.10 41.80 fortran |****************************** 76 155 40.21 82.01 machine |******* 18 173 9.52 91.53 other |****** 16 189 8.47 100.00 ----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-- 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 FREQ CUM. PERCENT CUM. FREQ PERCENT | 1954 |** 2 2 0.90 0.90 1955 |* 1 3 0.45 1.35 1956 |* 1 4 0.45 1.80 1957 |** 2 6 0.90 2.70 1958 |** 2 8 0.90 3.60 1959 |* 1 9 0.45 4.05 1960 |****** 6 15 2.70 6.76 1961 |*********** 11 26 4.95 11.71 1962 |********* 9 35 4.05 15.77 1963 |****** 6 41 2.70 18.47 1964 |********** 10 51 4.50 22.97 1965 |******** 8 59 3.60 26.58 1966 |*********** 11 70 4.95 31.53 1967 |********* 9 79 4.05 35.59 1968 |******** 8 87 3.60 39.19 1969 |********* 9 96 4.05 43.24 1970 |************** 14 110 6.31 49.55 1971 |*********** 11 121 4.95 54.50 1972 |******************* 19 140 8.56 63.06 1973 |********* 9 149 4.05 67.12 1974 |******* 7 156 3.15 70.27 1975 |*************** 15 171 6.76 77.03 1976 |***************** 17 188 7.66 84.68 1977 |*********** 11 199 4.95 89.64 1978 |********* 9 208 4.05 93.69 1979 |******** 8 216 3.60 97.30 1980 |**** 4 220 1.80 99.10 1981 |* 1 221 0.45 99.55 1982 |* 1 222 0.45 100.00 -----+----+----+---- 5 10 15