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