while Colossus is often said (mostly by the British (-: ) to be
the world's first
digital computer, (an argument i try to stay away from) it
certainly wasn't a
general purpose machine. it did run a program of sorts, but not
a 'stored program'
that was readily changed. there is no indication that it was
ever used for anything
other than the attack on the Lorenz codes. changing the program
would have been a
non-trivial task and it's unlikely that Tommy Flowers would not
have been involved
in or at least aware of such a change, and he has specifically
said that to the
best of his knowledge, Colossus was used for only the one
purpose for which it was designed.
cheers,
-paul
--
"There is magic in the web" - Shakespeare (Othello, Act 3, Scene
4)
