Queensland's first computer

Back in 1962, Queensland stepped into the computer age when The University of Queensland installed its very first computer – a GE-225, built by General Electric. This wasn’t your average desktop machine. The GE-225 was a room-sized powerhouse that used magnetic core memory – tiny, magnetised wires that could remember data even when the power was switched off.

The GE-225 could hold a massive (for the time) 20,000 kilobytes of internal memory. It was mainly used for scientific research and number-crunching tasks, performing complex calculations and statistical analysis with far greater speed and accuracy than ever before. It could add numbers in 36 microseconds, multiply in 288, and divide in 495.

The price tag? Nearly £148,000 (about $300,000 in 1961), plus another £8,000 just to keep it cool with under-floor air-conditioning in a specially built facility – the Prentice Computer Centre. This major investment was a collaborative effort between the university, the Queensland Government, and private organisations.

Though the GE-225 was eventually replaced as UQ’s main computer by a DEC PDP-10 around 1968, it wasn’t retired right away, used until 1977. On 16 February of that year, the GE-225 was powered up for one final run. Emeritus Professor Sydney Prentice, the man the centre was named after, had the honour of running the last program. At a small farewell ceremony, the university’s Vice Chancellor, Sir Zelman Cowen, officially handed the machine over to Dr Alan Bartholomai, Director of the Queensland Museum.

The following week an article about the GE-225 in the university’s computer centre newsletter ended with the following statement: “It may be some consolation that in some future time you may be able to take your grandchildren (with mini-computers in their belt pouches) to the Queensland Museum and explain what it was like in the old days.” Prophetic indeed!