Z4 (computer)
Z4 on display at the Deutsches Museum, Munich | |
| Developer | Konrad Zuse |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Zuse Apparatebau |
| Type | Programmable, fully automatic digital electromechanical computer |
| Release date | 1945 |
| Introductory price | SFr 30,000 for five years |
| Units sold | 1 (to ETH Zurich in a loan deal): 1077, 1139 |
| CPU | @ (about) 40 Hz |
| Memory | Mechanical, 32 bits word length |
| Display | Decimal floating point numbers, punch tape or Mercedes typewriter |
| Input | Decimal floating point numbers, punch tape |
| Power | (about) 4 kW |
| Weight | Ca. 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) |
| Predecessor | Z3 |
| Successor | Z5 |
The Z4 was arguably the world's first commercial digital computer, and is the oldest surviving programmable computer.: 1028 It was designed, and manufactured by early computer scientist Konrad Zuse's company Zuse Apparatebau, for an order placed by Henschel & Son, in 1942; though only partially assembled in Berlin, then completed in Göttingen in the Third Reich in April 1945, but not delivered before the defeat of Nazi Germany, in 1945. The Z4 was Zuse's final target for the Z3 design. Like the earlier Z2, it comprised a combination of mechanical memory and electromechanical logic.
The Z4 was used at the ETH Zurich from 1950 to 1955,: 14 also serving as the inspiration for the construction of the ERMETH,: 1009 the first Swiss computer, created under the direction of ETH engineer Ambros Speiser.: 1087