The paper analyzes John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly's endeavours to design, sell, and build the revolutionary new technology of the first-large and commercial computers. It discusses how Eckert and Mauchl...The paper analyzes John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly's endeavours to design, sell, and build the revolutionary new technology of the first-large and commercial computers. It discusses how Eckert and Mauchly's conceptualization of the computer grew out of their Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) and Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) projects at University of Pennsylvania. They incorporated their own business to gain profit from production and attain the freedom needed to develop their revolutionary new computer technology through a series of small and separate computer projects with private and government customers. The paper approaches innovation as a chaotic process and uses uncertainty to conceptualize the basic relations between actors and organizations.展开更多
文摘The paper analyzes John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly's endeavours to design, sell, and build the revolutionary new technology of the first-large and commercial computers. It discusses how Eckert and Mauchly's conceptualization of the computer grew out of their Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) and Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) projects at University of Pennsylvania. They incorporated their own business to gain profit from production and attain the freedom needed to develop their revolutionary new computer technology through a series of small and separate computer projects with private and government customers. The paper approaches innovation as a chaotic process and uses uncertainty to conceptualize the basic relations between actors and organizations.