Colossus: Creating a Giant

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  • čas přidán 7. 03. 2012
  • A short film made by Google to celebrate Colossus and those who built it, in particular Tommy Flowers. Colossus was the world's first electronic computer, used for code-breaking at Bletchley Park during WW2. A working rebuilt Colossus can be seen at The National Museum of Computing in the UK. For more information see: googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/0...
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 133

  • @terrystephens1102
    @terrystephens1102 Před 4 lety +13

    A huge injustice was done to these outstanding individuals in not receiving official recognition for their invaluable work.

  • @trulygodsgrace
    @trulygodsgrace Před 12 lety +32

    After watching this, I feel immensely grateful to "team Colossus". Thanks for serving the world during its time of need.

  • @MrDaiseymay
    @MrDaiseymay Před 8 lety +36

    This Fantastic story can NEVER be over stated, or repeated too often. Our very existence , owes itself to what happened then.

    • @michaeltalbot8242
      @michaeltalbot8242 Před 7 lety +6

      there wasn't one sole hero at bletchly it was one out standing team I would love to know what the German high command would have made of it an it's discusting that it was broken up

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay Před rokem

      @@michaeltalbot8242 Yes, it was a brief, but to the point discription. No mention of Turing, Welchman, and Tutt etc etc , but everyone played an important part.

  • @computechtutorials
    @computechtutorials Před 11 lety +26

    Thank you Tommy and also all those who helped with the construction of Colossus. We owe our modern lives to them today! They were such incredible people! Also, thank you for posting this video!

    • @scottfuller5194
      @scottfuller5194 Před 5 lety +4

      It was Bill Tutte who broke the Lorenz SZ-40-42 (12 rotor) cipher machine and did that alone without ever seeing a Lorenz. After Bill did that incredible feat, his work went to Tommy Flowers who then conceived, designed, built and put into operational use, a new electronic, memory-based, digital high speed, computer called the Colossus, to accelerate breaking the Top Secret Lorenz encrypted ciphers of Hitler and the High Command of the German General Staff who used the Lorenz cipher system (through its teletypewriter) to send Top Secret command and control operational orders and directives to the senior general field officers in Command and in reply receive their very detailed operational and logistics status reports. Colossus began with Bill Tutte's work without which It would not have been created....Tommy Flowers made the Colossus and its rapid decryption process of Lorenz possible. Read Captain Jerry Roberts Book: LORENZ, (Jerry was a team leader, German linguist and cryptographer, the last living member of that team....!

  • @michaelflowers5712
    @michaelflowers5712 Před 3 lety +3

    You will always be remembered, Thank-You Tommy!

  • @RyanEmmett
    @RyanEmmett Před 10 lety +24

    This is so very moving. What extraordinary people they were at Bletchley Park!

  • @christhomas7905
    @christhomas7905 Před rokem +3

    What wonderful people, a great team. Tommy Flowers' your legacy will always be remembered for your genius intellect, determination and contribution to the war effort... the world's first programmable electronic computer. Its a shame the yanks took the title later in years because of the official secrets act, we couldn't say anything.

  • @johngreen2316
    @johngreen2316 Před rokem +3

    This is great not enough is said about Tommy flowers and his team and the building of the computer

  • @_LinusVanPelt
    @_LinusVanPelt Před 2 lety +2

    neat 🤓 thanks for sharing this 🤍

  • @maryrafuse3851
    @maryrafuse3851 Před 3 lety +2

    For those who do not know, Y Stations were Receiver Stations, the received and copied code was then passed on to Bletchley Park.

  • @NSBaumsteiger
    @NSBaumsteiger Před 12 lety +4

    Thank you to all who worked on this project.
    It laid the foundation for the unimaginably advanced world that we live in today and is the reason that so many of us are fortunate to live the lives that we do.

  • @MyScubasteve
    @MyScubasteve Před 9 lety +1

    Just awe inspiring. Just absolutely awe inspiring!

  • @IanWatsonDr
    @IanWatsonDr Před 12 lety +5

    Excellent video, well done Google. Tommy Flowers is a forgotten hero in the development of the first computers and WWII code-breaking.
    You can sponsor a valve to help towards the rebuild of the Colossus replica at Bletchley Park if you want to support the project.

    • @douglaskay9959
      @douglaskay9959 Před 5 lety

      I think they used double triodes in a flip flop circuit.

    • @bertspeggly4428
      @bertspeggly4428 Před 3 lety

      Wish I had known that, I would have happily sponsored a valve (or two)

  • @cleverboy11
    @cleverboy11 Před 12 lety +3

    A marvelous group of people for whom I have the greatest admiration for in there service to this nation in terrible dark days, but also, all be it in secrecy they unknowingly of the time were laying down the foundation stones and legacy of computer technology we now have the ability to enjoy here in our modern world today. Here's a grateful thanks to Tommy and his fantastic team.

  • @inglian02
    @inglian02 Před 11 lety +1

    Very moving to see and hear some of the people who worked on this important machine.

  • @metal571
    @metal571 Před 12 lety +1

    fantastic. very well done. thanks

  • @WarrenAckary
    @WarrenAckary Před 12 lety +1

    Fantastic peice of trivia & most importantly world changing.. thanks for the video!

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay Před rokem

      I suggest you check-out the true meaning of ''TRIVIA''.

  • @ny718bx
    @ny718bx Před 12 lety

    just incredible

  • @Rafaelheisecke
    @Rafaelheisecke Před 12 lety +1

    Espectacular la funcion subtitulos, muchas gracias!!

  • @ManicBard
    @ManicBard Před 11 lety +3

    It is humbling, minds such as theirs, rare indeed.

    • @NoahSpurrier
      @NoahSpurrier Před 3 lety

      Not so rare, just motivated and properly used. When humanity comes together we can accomplish great things. You are capable of what they achieved.

  • @bob4analog
    @bob4analog Před 4 lety

    Brilliant!

  • @neilmackenzie8345
    @neilmackenzie8345 Před 2 lety +3

    so far ahead of their time we still have not been shown how they did it . funny how we have been shown how the enemy encoded the messages , but we still have not been shown how a handful of mew/women built a machine that broke the code and the thoughts behind the construction . parts of colossus are still secret . man it's been 78 years .

    • @ericmcconnaughey2782
      @ericmcconnaughey2782 Před rokem

      At this point in time, why is any of this still considered secret?! Cryptography surely has advanced so far that none of this could still be classed secret?!

  • @computingheritage
    @computingheritage  Před 11 lety +5

    Hey, there are subtitles already, at least in English. You just need to click the "CC" button underneath the video

  • @NoahSpurrier
    @NoahSpurrier Před 3 lety

    This is touching.

  • @XAuroraM
    @XAuroraM Před 7 lety +5

    Wow i have so much respect for these people! Watching this video on my iphone i realised the connection and that it is due to their efforts and talent we have this technology today! Happy they got the credit they deserve in the end!

  • @walhalladome5227
    @walhalladome5227 Před 4 lety +2

    These absolute geniuses can not be overstated in importance, they really won the war. Colossus deciphered the crucial message just before D-day that Hitler took the bait at Calais. Game, Set, MATCH. Thanks to all these true heroes. Not to outdo Alan Turing but why there is so little to commemorate Tommy Flowers & Bill Tutte.

  • @elenascicluna8799
    @elenascicluna8799 Před 5 lety

    I love it it is so inspiring

  • @Andyww08
    @Andyww08 Před 3 lety +1

    2 Collussi went to GCHQ in Cheltenham, and were not broken up until the early 60's

  • @billmason2785
    @billmason2785 Před rokem +1

    There needs to be more appreciation

  • @notrut
    @notrut Před 11 lety +1

    Thankyou, clearly other viewers agree too...

  • @THEONEGUY
    @THEONEGUY Před 12 lety

    @Famousagentman Didn't even notice the speed option until I read your comment, now I can't stop playing with it.... thanks

  • @graytonw5238
    @graytonw5238 Před 4 lety +2

    It's really a shame that they had to destroy all that original equipment and burn the documentation. You know a lot of that knowledge went with the people responsible for creating it, but still, what a treasure that would have been to have at least some of the original working computers and the documents behind the building of that technology.

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 3 lety +1

      We sent the plans to the USA, they built a couple. As far as I know they were also broken up, but some of the documents survived. These were vital when the colossus rebuild was started. Now we have a working colossus again, built from original mostly standard GPO telephone exchange parts. I went on a visit to see it, It is really something else. It reads punched tape at a speed of 30MPH (48KPH), 5,000 characters a second! That was a very special visit for me.

  • @computingheritage
    @computingheritage  Před 12 lety +3

    @notrut I'm sorry I can't take out the music, but I've spent the morning preparing captions for it. If you press the "cc" button under the video and choose the 'english' option, then when they start speaking captions should appear. Hope this helps somewhat anyway :)

  • @TheBritishLegions
    @TheBritishLegions Před 10 lety +4

    Amazing !
    Massive thanks to Google for this! #epic

  • @MrSimeyWimey
    @MrSimeyWimey Před 12 lety

    @gudehus Not strictly true. The Z2 was electro-mechanical using relays as the active component, which greatly limited the speed of operation. That's not to take anything away from Konrad Zuse; he's definitely up there with Turing and von Neumann IMHO. If the German military had agreed to his request for funding to replace the relays with valves then I'm pretty sure he would have beaten the Colossus team.

  • @chi2153
    @chi2153 Před 3 lety

    I h8 watching these for school work but this is fascinating

    • @sophiegamingroblox1471
      @sophiegamingroblox1471 Před 3 lety

      Omg same

    • @s.sxrpong4716
      @s.sxrpong4716 Před 3 lety

      yeah im in computing

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay Před rokem

      Watch ''STATION X'' , which is what Bletchley Park was called. it's on YT. 4 episodes, not high quality though, taken from VHS.

  • @notrut
    @notrut Před 12 lety +1

    @computingheritage Thankyou for your help. Programme makers take note!
    Less over dubbed 'atmosphere' music please. Not necessary!

  • @KutadguB
    @KutadguB Před 12 lety +1

    this is an interesting world..

  • @MrDaiseymay
    @MrDaiseymay Před 9 lety +3

    I've been to Bletchley Park and seen the reconstructed Colossus, which were constructed from scant photos, a drawing or two, and memory. it is an amazing looking job, and virtually as original as is possible to be. When I was there 5 years ago, visitors could ask the machine to solve a problem, and it could do it just as quick as a LapTop of the day. There are many exhibits, including Enigma and Lorenz machines etc, I cannot recommend a visit strong enough. As to why most Colossus were destroyed--I'm convinced it was pressure from our American 'friends' who didn't want Britain to steel a big lead in the Computer business---which of course they did. PS. two Colossus were kept by, till about 1970--then they too were destroyed.

    • @wingchunmac
      @wingchunmac Před 9 lety +1

      Andrew Ongais
      wrong decade. The sovets were fed information, deliberately by the allies.

  • @mpellatt
    @mpellatt Před rokem

    Bit of a faux pas there. Shows a CR91 receiver, but this is post-war development of the AR-88LF. It would have been AR-88LF or AR-88D RCA models that would have been used for intercept.

  • @jessicacornthwaite6192

    i love this viedo

  • @50kippercat
    @50kippercat Před 11 lety +3

    The birth of the Computer.

  • @Pure96ify
    @Pure96ify Před 11 lety +4

    inspiring story...... almost made me kiss my computer

  • @ringfinder1962
    @ringfinder1962 Před 10 lety +1

    VERY INTERESTING VIDEO, BRAINS OVER BRAUN

  • @hannahskipper2764
    @hannahskipper2764 Před 4 lety

    Is there a movie about it? There should be! Like the movie about the Navajo code talkers or the women working at NASA. This story is just as awesome!! 🇬🇧

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay Před rokem

      Watch the 4 part ''STATION X'' on YT. taken from a Channel 4 TV recording of about 2007. Quality's not good though, but well worth your time.

  • @louisvillaescusa
    @louisvillaescusa Před 2 lety +1

    I wonder what Dr. Forbin would think about this video.

  • @francishuddy9462
    @francishuddy9462 Před 3 lety

    And those miracle pioneers at Bletchley, during WWII, did it not for money but for duty, their country, and to save the world ...

  • @Rafaelheisecke
    @Rafaelheisecke Před 12 lety

    Pueden subtitularlo?

  • @RetroGamerVX
    @RetroGamerVX Před 12 lety

    Do you guys mind if I use a short section of this in one of my videos to promote it, I'd love to send people in it's direction :o)

  • @baumdeslebens2133
    @baumdeslebens2133 Před 3 lety +1

    Cool gruß aus Frankfurt

  • @welbertonmarques8010
    @welbertonmarques8010 Před 3 lety

    Poderia ser traduzido para Português (Brasil)!

  • @george78779
    @george78779 Před 5 lety +2

    Thanks to Alan Turin....

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 3 lety

      Alan worked on, and broke the Enigma code, whereas colossus decoded the Lorentz (German high command) Cypher.

  • @Hardaker101
    @Hardaker101 Před 12 lety +2

    6:10 older peter pettigrew

  • @ashbytimuk
    @ashbytimuk Před 12 lety +1

    And your evidence is ... ? If you are referring to the Polish "Bomby" machines, they were OK for the early versions of Enigma but with the introduction before WWII of the plugboard they were rendered useless. It was at Bletchley Park that the latter, more sophisticated versions were cracked using, firstly, the "Bombe" machines and then "Colossus".

  • @johnpolhamus9041
    @johnpolhamus9041 Před rokem

    "Smash it all up..." Uh-huh. I think not.

  • @scottfuller5194
    @scottfuller5194 Před 5 lety +1

    The heroes are the RAF "Y" service (wireless radio intercept) who listened in on German radio morse code traffic, then transcribed it....the end product, encyphered/encrypted, was sent to Bletchley Park offices (army, naval, Air Force and "other" specialized offices such as for the SS, the diplomatic service, the German labour and railway systems, etc) who then worked to decrypt them via the enigma "bombe" computer or the Lorenz "Collossus" digital, high speed memory based computer, either of which "broke" the encrypted messages, which were then translated from German to English text......those then sent immediately to the British and later the American military operational headquarters via "ULTRA - Special Liaision Units" (SLUs) to field commanders. Without the "ears" of the "Y" service, no German military or government morse code transmitted messages would have been intercepted....!

    • @merlinonline67
      @merlinonline67 Před 5 měsíci

      Seriously? You do know that Y stations extended beyond the RAF. Actually, I don't think you do. Y stations were run by all three services, plus the MET Office at Dunstable, the Post Office, and the Foreign Office, it was a far bigger operation than you describe

  • @sebapagan5271
    @sebapagan5271 Před 11 lety +1

    You should put subtitles

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 5 lety +1

      You should click the CC button... LMAO!

  • @tinoblanes1
    @tinoblanes1 Před 9 lety

    name of musical track please...

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 5 lety

      Probably 'plink, plink, plonk, plonk.' Think it was somebody banging away on a piano, but I loved it as well.

  • @altareggo
    @altareggo Před 3 lety

    This sounds a LOT better at 1.25 speed!!!

  • @micheal49
    @micheal49 Před 12 lety

    @yawnyawn23 Needs citation.

  • @OlOleander
    @OlOleander Před 12 lety +1

    Google brought me here. And here brought me Google.

  • @harrickvharrick3957
    @harrickvharrick3957 Před 4 lety

    People hardly ever get the proper recognition for efforts anyway, the average folk never are able to understand and don't care too much anyway. And politicians usually are even worse.

  • @Nisgeis
    @Nisgeis Před 12 lety

    @yawnyawn23 Except, they did... History proves you wrong. If you have evidence to the contrary then it would surely be sensational, if true. Who was it that was breaking the cypher and supplying the British with the decyphered messages they used?

  • @Famousagentman
    @Famousagentman Před 12 lety

    Who's here from Google+?
    P.S. Why did the uploader have to put a speed option on this video? It is physically impossible for me not to mess around with it.

  • @TheReverendGregory
    @TheReverendGregory Před 12 lety +1

    Now they just need to get Linux running on it

  • @f4c30fh4t3
    @f4c30fh4t3 Před 12 lety +3

    Good ole' British.

    • @onekerri1
      @onekerri1 Před 3 lety

      Yeah right.
      It was Bill Tutte who broke the Lorenz SZ-40-42 (12 rotor) cipher machine and did that alone without ever seeing a Lorenz. After Bill did that incredible feat, his work went to Tommy Flowers who then conceived, designed, built and put into operational use, a new electronic, memory-based, digital high speed, computer called the Colossus, to accelerate breaking the Top Secret Lorenz encrypted ciphers of Hitler and the High Command of the German General Staff who used the Lorenz cipher system (through its teletypewriter) to send Top Secret command and control operational orders and directives to the senior general field officers in Command and in reply receive their very detailed operational and logistics status reports. Colossus began with Bill Tutte's work without which It would not have been created....Tommy Flowers made the Colossus and its rapid decryption process of Lorenz possible. Read Captain Jerry Roberts Book: LORENZ, (Jerry was a team leader, German linguist and cryptographer, the last living member of that team!

  • @allanegleston4931
    @allanegleston4931 Před 4 lety

    wow. all who came before .

  • @notrut
    @notrut Před 12 lety

    Brilliant inspiring story... but please delete the piano backing music..
    I have tinnitus and I want to hear what the old heroes are saying!

  • @maryrafuse3851
    @maryrafuse3851 Před 3 lety +1

    Imagine how sensible Canadian's feel about the Diefenbaker Government's destruction of the Avro Arrow, not only the blueprints but the six completed interceptors that were years ahead of their time. The same ignorance displayed once again so many years years after the end of WW2. I can vote for the Progressive Conservatives in my Province, if they have a good leader and candidates, but not for the Federal Conservatives.

  • @zacharycat
    @zacharycat Před 11 lety +1

    This project may have won the war, and certainly shortened it. Who knows, we might all be speaking Russian today otherwise.

    • @douglaskay9959
      @douglaskay9959 Před 5 lety

      No you're all speaking American instead.

    • @andyconner8725
      @andyconner8725 Před rokem

      Why would we be speaking Russian?

    • @merlinonline67
      @merlinonline67 Před 5 měsíci

      @@andyconner8725 Because they would have got to Paris, we would have be glaring at them over the channel

  • @heman248
    @heman248 Před 2 lety +1

    I like the girl

  • @Kellysg126
    @Kellysg126 Před 5 lety

    5:00 to 5:10 false

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 5 lety +1

      Ok, go find an original then.

    • @xenon53827
      @xenon53827 Před 3 lety

      OK, 2 of them did go to GCHQ after WWII, but they were also broken up later.

  • @jonathanbain14
    @jonathanbain14 Před 7 lety +6

    I think its disgraceful that this entire video has completely overlooked and failed to cite Sir Alan Turing for his work. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

    • @Mattmurr150
      @Mattmurr150 Před 7 lety +11

      Alan Turing is rightly considered a genius and he is definitely a key figure in the Bletchly Park story. However, this video is specifically about Colossus, and Turing was not as prominently involved.

    • @philparr2724
      @philparr2724 Před 7 lety +11

      Turing had nothing to do with Colossus, he didn't even know that it had been built, he worked on enigma not Lorentz and was not told about it, Tommy Flowers is a true genius...

    • @michaelbruce5415
      @michaelbruce5415 Před 6 lety +11

      Alan Turing was not involved in the development of Colossus. What is truly disgraceful however is that despite the vast impact of computers in the world today, hardly anyone knows the name of the inventor of the worlds first reprogrammable computer - a man who devised this machine against the 'wisdom' of the 'experts' of the day and got paid just £1,000, most of which he paid to his helpers. Absolute shame on the British government for not affording him any honour or recognition, and shame on the Royal Society for not awarding him FRS. Tommy Flowers, I salute you and your magnificent achievements. True Genius, true patriot.

    • @KrisKitchen
      @KrisKitchen Před 5 lety +2

      You might want to watch the The Forbin Project. Colossus is still Classified.

    • @Kellysg126
      @Kellysg126 Před 5 lety +2

      You are stupid

  • @Davethehedgehog
    @Davethehedgehog Před 4 lety +1

    Imagine if those hadn't been destroyed but developed. Silicon Valley would have been in the UK, not the US. The whole world would have been different. Disgusting.

  • @markhughes7927
    @markhughes7927 Před 11 měsíci

    2:14 Can’t watch this any more - the music is irrelevant and distracting - the speech is out of sync - and the witness - tho’ always precious from people involved - is basic and subjective. What are you intending to communicate? Or are you de-culturing?

    • @merlinonline67
      @merlinonline67 Před 5 měsíci

      That's what happens when someone copies the original and posts on CZcams

  • @sigmaupsilon3768
    @sigmaupsilon3768 Před rokem

    First hack. wow