Pilot ACE Computer
The Pilot ACE Computer changed the future in 1950
The future then...
We take it for granted that we can surf the net, write documents or play music, all on one laptop. But Pilot ACE was the first computer that could do more than one thing. And for a while it was the fastest computer in the world.
The future now...
In the future, a new type of machine called a quantum computer could give us unimaginable calculating power. If someone figures out how to build one, it could crack currently unbreakable codes and lead to all kinds of life-changing discoveries...
'Pilot ACE is one of the first objects I looked after when I joined the Museum in 1983. It's based on the ideas of computer genius Alan Turing, the first person to think of a multipurpose computing machine.'
Dr Sue Mossman, Curator
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We want to know what invention or discovery has changed your life... Could it be the iPod, IVF or the internet? What would you choose?