Problem number one: there was no such thing as a "national" computer. At all. That was a contradiction in terms, like talking about a black sun or a square triangle. You could put a flag decal on the side of a computer. You could hide it in a military base. You could pay for it with taxpayer money. But talking about "American" computation was like talking about "American" mathematics or "American" physics. It just didn’t come with flags.