Photos: Britain's best-loved computer turns 50

This year sees the 50th birthday of the UK's best-loved computer, premium bonds number picker Ernie, short for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment.

Fifty years ago, the original Ernie, above, was commissioned to pick out the random numbers that were to choose premium bonds winners. The machine was built by engineers in Dollis Hill, north London and then moved to Blackpool - the seaside town that has remained Ernie's permanent home ever since.

Like many of its contemporaries in the computing world, Ernie was no small fry. The machine filled a room, cost £25,000 in old money to build and took 10 days to make the draw.

According to a National Savings and Investment (NS&I) spokesman, Ernie picks the lucky winners by a system of white noise. The machine creates entirely random white noise, with each 'blip' corresponding to a number between one and nine. "The same principle has remained all the way through the Ernies," he told silicon.com.

Photo credit: NS&I