Editing Harvard Mark I (section)

==Design and construction==
The ASCC was built from [[switch]]es, [[relay]]s, [[Pinwheel calculator|rotating shaft]]s, and [[clutch]]es. It used 765,000 [[electromechanical]] components and hundreds of miles of wire, comprising a volume of {{Convert|816|cuft|4=0}} – {{convert|51|ft|m}} in length, {{convert|8|ft|m}} in height, and {{convert|2|ft|m}} deep. It weighed about {{convert|9,445|lb|ST MT|1}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=IBM Archives: Feeds, speeds and specifications ASCC Statistics |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/markI/markI_feeds2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051206102153/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/markI/markI_feeds2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 6, 2005 |website=www-03.ibm.com |date=23 January 2003}}</ref> The basic calculating units had to be synchronized and  powered mechanically, so they were operated by a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} [[drive shaft]] coupled to a {{convert|5|hp|}} electric motor, which served as the main power source and [[Clock generator|system clock]]. From the IBM Archives:

<blockquote>The Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Mark I) was the first operating machine that could execute long computations automatically. A project conceived by Harvard University’s Dr. Howard Aiken, the Mark I was built by IBM engineers in Endicott, N.Y. A steel frame 51 feet long and 8 feet high held the calculator, which consisted of an interlocking panel of small gears, counters, switches and control circuits, all only a few inches in depth. The ASCC used {{convert|500|mi|km}} of wire with three million connections, 3,500 multipole relays with 35,000 contacts, 2,225 counters, 1,464 tenpole switches and tiers of 72 adding machines, each with 23 significant numbers. It was the industry’s largest electromechanical calculator.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041217213509/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/reference/faq_0000000011.html IBM Archives: FAQ / Products and Services]</ref></blockquote>

The enclosure for the Mark I was designed by futuristic American [[industrial designer]] [[Norman Bel Geddes]] at IBM's expense.  Aiken was annoyed that the cost ($50,000 or more according to [[Grace Hopper]]) was not used to build additional computer equipment.<ref>{{cite web |series=Computer Oral History Collection, 1969–1973, 1977 |title=Grace Murray Hopper Interview |date=January 7, 1969 |publisher=Archives Center, National Museum of American History |url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/fa_cohc_tr_hopp690107.pdf |access-date=2012-10-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223191745/http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/fa_cohc_tr_hopp690107.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-23 |pages=7–8}}</ref>