ae
The ANALYTICAL ENGINE
Newsletter of the Computer History Association of California
ISSN 1071-6351
Volume 1, Number 3 January 1994
Kip Crosby, Managing Editor
Jude Thilman, Telecommunications Editor
--------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
Editorial: CAMPAIGN 1994.........................................3
PROCLAIM THE DAY.................................................4
IN MEMORIAM: TOM WATSON..........................................5
LONG LIVE the APPLE II...........................................7
A DECADE OF MACS.................................................9
THINKING OF WRITING?.............................................9
SPOTTER ALERT...................................................10
SPOTTER FLASH...................................................11
DESPERATE PLEA FOR MONEY........................................11
AND SPEAKING OF MONEY...........................................12
OVERVIEW OF BUREAUCRATIC PROCESSES..............................12
ABOUT YOUR OLD, DUSTY LAPTOP....................................13
DAWN OF THE MICRO: Intel's Intellecs............................13
ORIGINS OF THE IBM 70x..........................................20
LAND OF THE SILENT GIANTS: A Day at Livermore...................28
RSN: DSP ON A Z-80..............................................34
Book Review: STAN VEIT'S HISTORY OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER.......34
ACQUISITIONS....................................................37
APPLE ONE....................................................37
SOL-20.......................................................37
ALSPA........................................................38
HP 150.......................................................38
MACINTOSH XL (MacLisa).......................................39
ATARI 800....................................................40
LETTERS.........................................................41
COMPUTER HISTORY ASSOCIATION OF DELAWARE BEGINS!.............41
PLATO AND SMALLTALK..........................................41
INVENTORY OF HAL LAYER'S COLLECTION..........................43
DETAILS OF STANFORD'S COLLECTION.............................45
IBM DISK DRIVES, AND OTHERS..................................45
MORE ON THE 1401.............................................46
MORE ON SPACEWAR.............................................48
COMPILATION PROJECT..........................................51
LOGO'S TURTLE................................................51
APPLE II DISK CONTROLLER.....................................52
EARLIEST NETWORK TOPOLOGY CITED..............................52
RE: DAVID HEMBROW'S OLD-IRON QUERY...........................53
COMPUTER MUSIC ON A PDP-8....................................54
MUSIC ON A CDC 3300..........................................54
APPLE II CIRCUIT DESIGN BOOK AVAILABLE IN QUANTITY...........54
FOOTHILL MUSEUM IN TRANSITION................................55
MORE ON ELECTRONIC MAIL......................................55
QUERIES.........................................................56
ALTOS: NEEDS A HAND WITH A BOOTLESS XENIX SYSTEM.............56
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 2
ATARI 2600: REALLY GETTING INTO IT...........................56
ATARI x00: STRANGE ERROR MESSAGE.............................57
BASIS 108: QUERY.............................................57
BUGS 'N' LOOPS (GAME) QUEST..................................57
BURROUGHS 205: THEN WHAT DID THE PENGUIN USE?................58
CANON CX-1: CALLED "OBSCURE" BY NEW OWNER....................58
CDC CYBER 180: POWER RATING WANTED...........................58
CIMLINC: DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF "OLD".................58
CROMEMCO S3: EXPERIENCE SOUGHT...............................59
DATA GENERAL MP/20: WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME?..................59
DATA GENERAL NOVA DISK CONTROLLER: SPECS, OR MORE, WANTED....60
DEC SBC-11: SLIGHTLY PUZZLING................................60
DECWAR (GAME): IN SEARCH OF..................................61
DYNASTY SmartALEC: BOY, THAT Z-80 SURE GOT AROUND............61
GNAT: ALL WE GOT.............................................61
HP 9000/3xx: NICE SAVE AT THE LAST MINUTE....................62
HP 9810: HELP AND DOCS WANTED................................62
HOME COMPUTERS: HOW HEAVY WAS IT?............................62
IBM 029: I'M SURE WE ALL REMEMBER.... ......................63
IBM 610 "AUTOPOINT": FOLKLORE OR DOCS WANTED.................63
IBM 709, 7090, 7094: DINOSAUR HUNTING........................63
IBM PROGRAMMER APTITUDE TEST: DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?............64
INTEL 8008: HLL's WANTED.....................................64
INTEL MDS: INFORMATION NEEDED................................65
LEEDATA MINI: HELP WANTED WITH BAD DISK......................65
MOTOROLA VME/10: ANY ADVICE?.................................65
NIXDORF PC-05: DOCS NEEDED...................................66
PHILIPS P8xx: MATERIAL WANTED................................66
PIED PIPER: NEEDS TO KNOW WHERE IT'S AT......................67
RADIO SHACK TRS-80: ANALYSIS PAD?............................67
RICE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER: WANTED, USERS OF...................67
SAGE: MULTI-MEDIA PROJECT....................................68
STRIDE 460: IN NEED OF ATTENTION.............................68
TANDY 6000HD: DOCS WANTED....................................68
TEKTRONIX 8550: DETAILS WANTED...............................69
UNIVAC M642B: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND SOUGHT...................69
VOLKER-CRAIG: FOLKLORE WANTED................................70
WHITECHAPEL WORKSTATIONS: FORGOTTEN BUT NOT GONE.............70
ZILOG TAPE DRIVE: GETTING IT ROLLING AGAIN...................70
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED...........................................71
ADDRESSES OF CORRESPONDING ORGANIZATIONS........................73
THANKS TO.... .................................................73
NEXT ISSUE......................................................73
GUIDELINES FOR DISTRIBUTION.....................................74
GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION.......................................74
SUBSCRIBE!......................................................75
NINES-CARD......................................................75
ADD MONEY, MAIL.... ...........................................77
PRELIMINARY BALLOT..............................................78
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 3
-------------------------------------------------
Editorial: CAMPAIGN 1994
-------------------------------------------------
The Association begins a new year, and everything we had dreamed
of doing, we're doing. The ENGINE gets thicker, the e-mail
deeper. New computers -- well, new old computers -- are lugged
to our doorstep. Delivery vans bring boxes of books and files.
Collaborations are proposed, exhibits planned, names written
excitedly on scraps of paper and then logged. And under it all
the certainty, slightly awed still: _This thing is working._
We promised to build, from the outset, an organization with room
to grow -- an organization that could start with a few like-
minded individuals, and smoothly become a major voice for the
preservation of computers and their history, without spending
scarce energy to rethink and rebuild. The blossom is implicit in
the seed, the song foresung by the note and the many awaited by
the few.
Well, it does seem that in these few months (where'd they go?)
the CHAC and the ENGINE have earned the interest and respect of
an illustrious community. The chorus of welcome has convinced us
that CHAC can bloom into a great, broadly representative, and
truly grass-roots organization -- even though right now, so to
speak, it's still folded tight.
All signs suggest that growth is crucial for us -- and soon.
CHAC is legally established as an organization; it has an
eagerly awaited newsletter; it's beginning to attract media
attention (see SPOTTER;) and, as for collecting hardware,
software and docs, just read the ACQUISITIONS column on page 37.
Really, it's been almost more than we can keep up with.
Now we need size. Size means weight; presence; recognition;
visibility. Size convinces donors that charitable organizations
are worthy and credible. Size helps us reach out to potential
members. Size brings down costs through economies of scale. Size
will make the ENGINE a more attractive, more comprehensive
newsletter.
And size alone won't build a museum -- but it's a key ingredient
in the dealing we'll need to do, between now and 1999.
So we're calling our own bluff. By the end of 1994, a year from
this publication, we want 1,994 new members and ENGINE
subscribers for the CHAC. Promotions, perks, collaborations,
colloquia, prizes, press releases, or (even) a party -- whatever
it takes, we'll do.
In coming months, look for mentions of the CHAC in the computer
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 4
and general press, at trade shows, on bulletin boards --
electronic or otherwise -- and on the net. The more you see, the
more it means we're accomplishing.
Meanwhile, join, if you haven't. That _is_ what this is all
about. That _will_ make the biggest difference. One person, one
subscription, one check _does_ matter. _You_ are the spirit, the
meaning, the bootstrap load, the inspiration of the Computer
History Association of California -- because the history we try
to save is _yours._
You've done the work! Now take the credit! Join the CHAC today!
-------------------------------------------------
PROCLAIM THE DAY
-------------------------------------------------
Looking at our science -- that ungainly, anarchic, thrilling
thing that even today plows so much of its own energy back into
growth -- it seems so unlikely that anyone could reasonably use
the words "electronic computer" and "fiftieth anniversary" in
the same sentence. But the day is almost upon us; because
February 16, 1996 will be the fiftieth anniversary of the
dedication of ENIAC, the first complete and functional
electronic digital computer in the United States.
Our good friend and great resource, Douglas Jones of the
University of Iowa's Computer Science Department, has suggested
that that day should be one of remembrance and celebration, to
remind ourselves -- and others -- of how far computing has
progressed in so short a time, how much the world has gained
from computing and computers, and (not incidentally) how much
work it all was and by how many. Another phrase rarely found in
conjunction with "electronic computer" is "pat on the back," but
if this revolution is fifty years old and still going strong,
it's time for one.
Given two years at our disposal, the CHAC means to run with
this. We hereby propose for the first time in public, and will
propose to appropriate agencies of the Federal Government, that
February 16, 1996 should be proclaimed National Computing
Science Day throughout the United States. A recognition long
sought in itself, this can also be an occasion for forums and
promotions about computing science and its contributions to
economic production, education, research and entertainment.
On page 78 of the electronic ENGINE, or on the mailing cover of
the paper edition, you'll find a Ballot. Please use it to jot
down and submit _your_ ideas of what a National Computing
Science Day could and should be. The more ideas we receive, the
better the case we can put to the powers that are.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 5
-------------------------------------------------
IN MEMORIAM: TOM WATSON
-------------------------------------------------
Thomas J. Watson jr., whose foresight and dedication transformed
IBM from a manufacturer of accounting machinery into the world's
most formidable computer company, died at Greenwich Hospital in
Greenwich, CT, on December 31, 1993. His death followed a short
illness.
Few captains of industry have faced a more difficult mission
than Tom Watson did, or carried it out with such strategic
foresight and attitude. He was the son of Thomas J. Watson sr.,
first president of IBM, one of the world's most meticulous
visionaries and autocratic managers; as Tom Watson recounted in
his 1990 autobiography, _Father, Son and Co._, relations between
the two were often strained and perennially difficult. The
younger executive would make decisions with full awareness of
their far-ranging consequences, only to be overruled by the
older one, who could point to his own record of success. In the
thirty years between 1922 and 1952, Watson sr. had built IBM
from a modest producer of general business hardware into an
international corporation that dominated the market for
electromechanical accounting machinery. His achievement was
prodigious.
Yet after World War II, when American business began to be
intrigued by the possibilities of electronic computing, Watson
sr.'s confidence in his own methods prevented him from offering
the necessary leadership. IBM's first commercially available
stored-program computer, the Selective Sequence Automatic
Calculator (SSEC), was an electromechanical machine that owed
much to prewar concepts. IBM was then in danger of falling
behind other companies, such as Remington Rand, which realized
that the potential benefits of digital computing justified a
clean break with past practice.
In January 1951, at the age of thirty-seven, Tom Watson bet his
own reputation -- and then the whole company, as IBM did time
and again -- on comprehensive adoption of digital technology.
The Defense Calculator or Model 701, meant for scientific use
and discussed at length on page 21 of this issue, was quickly
followed by the Model 702 for business applications and the
smaller Model 650. The 650 stunned the market by selling in the
hundreds, rather than dozens; it was IBM's most popular computer
model for many years, and 1,800 were eventually sold.
Lifted on a wave of renewed confidence, IBM was then ready for a
second great expansion. The company proved to the world that its
electronic computers shared the legendary reliability of its
accounting machinery. Furthermore, because IBM computers used
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 6
IBM tabulators and printers for input and output, sales of the
older equipment were helped rather than hurt when computers were
sold. Tom Watson had masterminded a strategy that let his
company reap the benefits of both approaches -- the prestige
derived from headlong entry into a new age, and the sales volume
that accrued from extending the useful life of existing design.
Watson then spent the revenues of this success on research and
development that would fortify IBM's seemingly unassailable
position. IBM's labs developed ferrite core memory for the Model
704, transistor logic and circuit printing for the 7030 and
7090, the RAMAC disk memory....the list is nearly endless. Yet
computing technology matured so quickly that by 1960, in the
context of design, IBM was no more than first among equals. Its
preeminence in the market was endangered.
In December 1961, the internal SPREAD committee recommended that
IBM should commit unprecedented resources to development of a
completely new, internally consistent line of computers. The
products of this commitment might sweep the market, or sink the
company. Watson -- a seasoned combat pilot, Alpine skier and
powerboat racer -- trusted his often daring judgment and
concurred with the report. The development of System/360 cost
five billion dollars; it was the single most expensive American
industrial project in history. But its impact was in proportion.
In his definitive _Historical Dictionary of Data Processing_,
James Cortada calls System/360 "perhaps the most dramatic
success story in the history of American products, even
surpassing....the Ford Model T car." At the end of 1965, the
first full year that System/360 shipped, IBM had captured almost
two-thirds of the domestic market for computing machinery. Under
Watson's guidance, this success was repeated, notably with the
System/370 introduced in 1970.
The dividends of this success were stunning. In 1952, when Tom
Watson assumed the presidency of IBM, the company's annual
revenues were about $300 million; in 1971, when health problems
compelled him to resign from the chair of the board, they
exceeded $8 billion. By 1979, when he stepped down from the
chair of IBM's executive committee, annual sales were almost $23
billion. Watson had won his bet, again and again.
He returned to "private life" and spent his retirement, so-
called, in public service. His belief that sound diplomacy
depended on honesty and trade, and his affection for the Russian
people that arose from wartime experience in the Soviet Union,
led President Carter to nominate him U. S. ambassador to that
country in 1979; he continued in that capacity under President
Reagan. In this occupation and numerous others, Watson
demonstrated that the drive of a renowned businessman could be
tempered and refined by the humanity of a statesman.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 7
This text was originally intended as commemoration of Mr.
Watson's 80th birthday, which he would have celebrated on
January 8th, while this issue was still on press. We profoundly
regret making a more definitive use of it. The Association
offers condolence to Mr. Watson's wife, Olive Cawley Watson; to
his children, Thomas J. Watson 3rd, Jeannette W. Sanger, Olive
F. Watson, Lucinda W. Mehran, Susan W. Whitman, and Helen W.
Blodgett; to his many grandchildren, and to his colleagues and
friends around the world.
-------------------------------------------------
LONG LIVE the APPLE II
April 1977 -- November 1993
-------------------------------------------------
Apple Computer has announced the end of production for the Apple
IIe, the last Apple II model still available from the company's
educational catalog. After almost seventeen years and over 5.5
million machines, this dynasty is brought to its end.
When the Apple II was introduced at the First Annual West Coast
Computer Faire, in San Francisco's Civic Auditorium, on April
16, 1977, it marked a risky departure for the fledgling computer
company. Apple's earlier product, the Model One [see
ACQUISITIONS] had enjoyed a modest success; it was powerful for
its day, well-designed, and reliable. However, it was a
hobbyist's computer that required the proud owner to add a case,
a power supply, and I/O capability; it was also expensive, at
nearly US$700 for the main board alone. Roughly 200 units were
sold.
The Apple II was intended for a far wider audience. A revision
of the "insanely great" Apple One motherboard, combined with all
the bits that made it an operable computer, was housed in a
sleek, tapering beige case that evoked fleeting thoughts of
science-fiction movies. It was meant to appeal to hi-fi buffs
and buyers of modern appliances, and at US$1,195, it could
almost qualify as an impulse purchase. Apple's three top
executives, business manager Steve Jobs, circuit designer Steve
Wozniak, and president Mike Markkula, hoped that this would
become (to borrow a later Apple slogan) the first-ever "computer
for the rest of us."
It came close. So many people found it attractive; computer
professionals who wanted a machine at home for recreation,
executives who realized that an Apple II running VisiCalc(tm)
was an analytical tool more agile than any minicomputer,
students who wanted to edit papers without retyping,
administrators of clubs and churches who ran their mailing
lists.... An Apple II brought the power of computing to so many
familiar activities, slowly perhaps, but easily too, and without
being scary.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 8
Roughly a year after the Apple II's introduction, Apple brought
out the Disk II 5.25 floppy drive, a stroke of genius that may
even have surpassed the computer itself. Earlier floppy drives
had been hardware-heavy and complex, which made them expensive,
finicky and fragile. The Disk II reduced hardware to an absolute
minimum and trusted to software for control and timing, keeping
the drive affordable (though still a major moneymaker for Apple)
and reliable enough for the mass market. At a stroke it banished
the bitwise mysteries of paper tape and the eternal frustrations
of data cassettes, and brought speedy data retrieval to millions
of delighted users.
Over the years -- so many years -- a procession of new models
brought more capability to faithful users. The IIplus and IIe
added memory and agility. The IIc made (or tried to make) an
already small computer explicitly portable. The IIGS, by adding
vastly improved color graphics and the beginnings of true
digital sound, brought the family to the very edge of today's
infatuation with computer-driven "realities." But while these
descendants pushed the envelope, they never tore it. If you've
ever run one Apple II, you can sit down at a different one and
at least get off to a good start. Almost every model has its
partisans -- mention of the perennial IIe brings smiles from
teachers, while some designers still call the IIGS "the best
[deleted] computer Apple ever built" -- but they're all inviting
and ingratiating.
In the end, perhaps the II's greatest contribution was to
education. Millions of children have encountered a IIplus or IIe
on the same day they began primary school; and the magnitude of
this contextual shift is hard to overstate. In the popular
imagination of 1975, a computer was a vast, wildly expensive,
unapproachable cluster of machines, hovered over by specialists
in an air-conditioned room. Ten years later, a computer was
something that a seven-year-old could walk up to, play with for
ten minutes, and wander away from. Without giving Apple credit
for the entire micro revolution, we can still admit that that
dilatory child was _probably_ playing (and learning) with a IIe.
(And a few of those seven-year-olds grew into twelve-year-olds
who could run MS-Windows or Finder, and are now sixteen-year-
olds messing with Linux or hacking C++ ....but that's a
different story and only begun.)
The educational market finally faded, the IIe accounted for only
two per cent of Apple's shipments in 1993, and the II series is
at last a closed book. With the turn of the century so close,
it's a shame that we won't see an Apple II Millennium Edition.
But no doubt a few hundred thousand of the originals will be
pumping bits in the year 2001, proving that a 6502 chip and a
pocket calculator's worth of RAM still add up to a useful,
amusing and beautiful computer.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 9
Long live the Apple II!
-------------------------------------------------
A DECADE OF MACS
-------------------------------------------------
While we're under the Apple tree, happy tenth anniversary of the
Macintosh! which was introduced to the world on January 24,
1984. In those ten years the Mac has -- time after time -- set
new standards in digital sound and graphics composition, video
manipulation, and ease of use. Few feelings in the world of
computerdom are as intense as the devotion of a hard-core Mac
user.
We'll try to have a Mac article for April, but we don't know
what's in it yet. Have faith.
(Speaking of the apple tree, here's a trivia question: What was
the text, in tiny letters, that ran around the edge of the
picture frame in the original Apple logo? First correct answer
before March 28 gets published in the April issue.)
-------------------------------------------------
THINKING OF WRITING?....
-------------------------------------------------
....an article for the ENGINE? We'd be delighted to have some,
but even more delighted to have some about:
1.) Minis. A sober assessment of our first three issues
demonstrates that we've published a lot about big iron, a lot
about micros, and not much at all about minicomputers -- which
have been crucial to all manner of research, simulation,
programming, automation, process control, and hackerly
weirdness. Minis are Good Things and we know that many of our
correspondents share that opinion. So, dear readers, what
interesting things did you do with one? In California, of
course.
2.) Scarcer large machines. We're very fond of IBM and DEC both
-- having had forebears who were spear carriers on both sides of
the Hardware Wars -- but no less fascinated by machines that
weren't quite as ubiquitous. Certainly there's every reason to
write proudly and at some length about the roomful of Amdahl,
AT&T, Burroughs, CDC, Cray, Data General, Datamatic, ERA, GE,
Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, NCR, Philco, PRIME, RCA, SDS,
Sperry, Tandem, UNIVAC, Xerox, or What-did-I-Miss? iron that you
cut your teeth on. So when can you start?
3.) Distinctly historical machines in current use. To take one
beguiling example, a couple of ENGINE subscribers would _swear_
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 10
that some large company in California is still using a
System/360. Is this true? Who'd like to prove it?
4.) Languages. We recognize that it isn't easy to write about
languages in a way that holds the interest of non-programmers,
but we did get a terrific response from Aaron Alpar's Smalltalk
article in October. Comparable treatments of other dialects
eagerly solicited.
5.) Computer-related social and economic history. The tremendous
impact of computing in California has comprised far more than
hardware and software. Why did you go to work for a computer
company, when you did? What were the effects when your hospital,
or bank, or university adopted its first EDP? Just as a computer
is more than the sum of its components, computing is more than
the sum of its computers.
-------------------------------------------------
SPOTTER ALERT
-------------------------------------------------
On November 24, 1993, the CHAC office prepared a press kit that
consisted of a release about INITIATIVE 1999 and the
Association, a copy of the short piece entitled "Millennial
Chaos for Computers" that appeared in the November 15th New York
_Times_, and a copy of the October-December ENGINE. This mailing
was our first contact with print media.
Kits were mailed to these publications:
Byte Government Computer News
Computer Currents Information Week
Computer Technology Review InfoWorld
Computer World MacWeek
Data Communications MicroTimes
Datamation PC Week
Defense News Science
Digital World T.H.E. Journal
Dr. Dobbs' Journal Whole Earth Review
Electric Engineering Times WIRED Magazine
Federal Computer Week
If you spot any mention of CHAC or the ENGINE in one of these
periodicals, _please_:
* If your copy of the piece is clippable, clip and mail to
the El Cerrito address.
* If you can't spare the physical copy, send the text as
net.mail to cpu@chac.win.net, or photocopy and fax to the El
Cerrito address.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 11
* If you're too busy for that, just send the publication
name, date and page number and we'll do the hunting.
Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------
SPOTTER FLASH
-------------------------------------------------
At the moment before publication, our press campaign has brought
its first results. Emeryville's _Computer Currents_ (January 11-
24, page 10) devoted a quarter-page to a fair and clear
treatment of INITIATIVE 1999. We appreciate the coverage.
It was their editorial decision to publish CHAC's voice number
-- rarely used, to put it mildly -- rather than our more popular
e- mail address. We were startled when the garage got pelted
with phone calls! Our callers had several interesting
propositions or suggestions and, if this exemplifies the power
of the press, we're all for it. Thanks again.
-------------------------------------------------
DESPERATE PLEA FOR MONEY
-------------------------------------------------
CHAC needs money. What else is new? Well, what's new is that
we're getting some....not a tremendous amount, but enough to
produce the ENGINE, pay for postage, telecomm and storage, and
very, very cautiously purchase significant hardware. CHAC is in
the black -- for the moment -- and here to stay.
When we take the strategic view, we realize -- and hope you'll
concur -- that the need for ready cash is greater than ever. The
process outlined in October, of "forging links with trade
publications, industry executives, and foundations....in a word,
being taken seriously," has begun; see this issue's
"Acquisitions," "Spotter Alert," and "Land Of The Silent Giants"
for examples. We've also begun to recruit our Advisory Board.
In the near future, we will be starting research into foundation
support, filing grant applications, traveling throughout
California to meet with industry representatives, and trying to
rescue some larger hardware. We're considering a public,
promotional event at mid-year to celebrate the first anniversary
of the ANALYTICAL ENGINE; later in 1994 we may collaborate on a
significant publishing project. This will all take money that we
_don't_ have now. But if we mean to fulfill our ambition of
"getting much bigger over the years," we don't dare squander the
momentum that CHAC has built up in only nine months.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 12
To those who have donated: Thank you, you've kept us moving. To
those who haven't, yet: Please give _soon_ and make the biggest
difference you can. Microeconomics is an unforgiving science,
and tomorrow's donations have a hard time paying today's bills.
-------------------------------------------------
AND SPEAKING OF MONEY....
-------------------------------------------------
With respect to our nonprofit certification, the mills (and
stores) of pertinent gods are grinding very slowly indeed -- it
seems like months since that paperwork went out of here.
Happily, the CHAC can act like a nonprofit while it's still
waiting to become one. Our accountant says that, since our
application is correct and pending, all donations to the
Association are fully deductible for the donor. This includes
ENGINE subscriptions. (The $10 per year surcharge for paper
copies can't be deducted because it's a reimbursement of our
production and mailing costs.)
If you don't have an ENGINE subscription yet, but you're hunting
for charitable deductions, all we can do is encourage you to
subscribe. Today -- did we mention today?
-------------------------------------------------
OVERVIEW OF BUREAUCRATIC PROCESSES
-------------------------------------------------
The last quarter of 1993 didn't produce much on this front --
largely because the easiest work had already been done. Much is
on its way to completion, visible results are scant. But here's
what we hope to have accomplished by April:
* Certification of California nonprofit status
* Application for Federal ditto (which we can't do till
the state's certified papers are returned to us)
* Application for a nonprofit postal permit (mailing the
ENGINE is expensive)
* Research on grants and filing of proposals
* Contact with Bay Area colleges and universities to
discuss a possible internship
* More formal accession and registration of our computer
collection
* Acquisition of more storage space, somehow!!
Naturally, more will come to light between now and then. And no,
we still can't take credit cards.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 13
-------------------------------------------------
ABOUT YOUR OLD, DUSTY LAPTOP....
-------------------------------------------------
If you have an older 386SX or 386DX laptop computer sitting
around, and you're not doing much with it, would you consider
donating it to the CHAC so we can trade it for some fine old
iron?
A nonprofit organization in Northern California has been given
an elaborate, significant and bootable Compupro micro system,
complete with a fourteen-inch hard disk. They can't really use
it, because no one on the staff is familiar with it. They don't
want to scrap it, for reasons obvious to us and to you. And --
here's that bureaucracy again -- because it's donated material,
they can't sell it or give it away, except to _another_
nonprofit organization.
They, on the other hand, desperately need a portable computer
that they can use for on-site demos. They'd be perfectly happy
with some sort of 386 that had about an 80MB drive and a mono
screen. If we _had_ such a thing, we could donate it to them
("another nonprofit organization") and trade it for the
Compupro. Given that Bill Godbout's Compupro company spent its
entire life in the Bay Area, it's thoroughly within our mandate
to acquire this.
If you have a Toshiba 3100SX -- or something like it -- that you
could donate to consummate this deal, please call us at +1
510/527-7355 or send e-mail to cpu@chac.win.net. We'll give you
a tax deduction equal to the laptop's current AmCoEx close
price, which should be about $650. Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------
DAWN OF THE MICRO: Intel's Intellecs
-------------------------------------------------
by Kip Crosby
Even sitting on a plain formica table, not powered up, it
looks incredibly gutsy and serious. Thanks to the cheerful
cooperation of CHAC member Hal Layer, I'm looking at one of
California's -- and the world's -- first micros, the Intel
Intellec 8.
This sky-blue beauty first appeared sometime in 1972 or
1973, two years or more before the Altair 8800 often
credited as the "first microcomputer" by standard histories.
Yet there's nothing tentative or prototypical about the
Intellec 8, whose design and construction puts many later
(and cheaper) "hobbyist" computers to shame. The story of
its origins is scarcely known, even within Intel itself.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 14
BACKGROUND
-------------------------------------------------
Founded in 1968 by former Fairchild employees Robert Noyce,
Gordon Moore and Andrew Grove, the Intel Corporation
immediately set to work designing and fabricating IC memory
and microprocessors. The first Intel micro chipset, the
4004, was a four-bit, three-chip combination developed by
Marcian "Ted" Hoff at the request of ETI/Busicom, a Japanese
calculator manufacturer.
The 4004 design was a success, and Hoff lobbied Noyce to
renegotiate the contract with ETI, securing the right to
sell this chipset on the open market. Paradoxically, Intel's
marketing department raised objections. The company's
primary volume was in memory chips, which were easily
produced and found an established market; if Intel began to
sell microprocessors in significant quantities, profits
might be overwhelmed by increased support costs.
But Intel had taken a step from which there was no retreat.
CTC (Computer Terminal Corporation, later called Datapoint)
commissioned an 8-bit version of the 4004 chipset -- capable
of handling an extended-ASCII character as a single word --
for its line of video terminals. Hoff and Intel's chief of
semiconductor design, Federico Faggin, were excited by the
sales potential of these microprocessors and foresaw
opportunities for further development; but the 8008 project
dragged on, and CTC cancelled its development contract with
Intel, eventually awarding it to Texas Instruments instead.
When the 8008 appeared in 1971, it had cost a fortune, faced
an uncertain market, and already had to prove itself against
competition.
To find a way forward, the company took stock of its assets.
Intel's highly qualified staff of electronic designers were
experienced at both chip and board levels, having produced a
wide variety of plug-compatible processor and memory boards
for OEM's. Their product line included a complete array of
support logic chips. Finally, the company could fabricate or
outsource other components -- chassis, cases, power supplies,
and input-output devices -- at competitive cost while
maintaining high quality. The formidable imperative of the
microprocessor, bolstered by Intel's broad and deep
abilities in production, set the stage for the Intellec
series of "development systems" -- which would be revealed in
retrospect as the first American microcomputers.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 15
INTELLEC SERIES HARDWARE
-------------------------------------------------
The Intellec series of development computers comprised four
models of CPU:
4 Mod 4 4004 chipset
4 Mod 40 4040 chipset (a later superset of the 4-bit 4004)
8 Mod 8 8008 chipset
8 Mod 80 8080 chipset
MDS-800 8080 chipset
Intel maintains that the 8 Mod 8 was first produced in 1973
and discontinued in 1975. Tony Duell has an 8 Mod 80 CPU
board dated 1972, and the 8 Mod 8 and 4 Mod 40 are both
listed in the Intel Data Catalog published in February 1976,
so the actual period of production may have been somewhat
longer. (Pertinent Intel docs must be read carefully because
the names MCS4, MCS40, MCS8 and MCS80 were used almost
indiscriminately to refer to chipsets, computers or full
systems.) The number of 8 Mod 8's built is an open question
since the company has no contemporary figures on file, but
given that this author found only five in the course of six
months' research, they aren't common.
The line of modules and peripherals, known collectively as
the Microcomputer Development System, was comprehensive and
included a fast paper tape reader for each CPU model; single
or dual diskette drives with the available Intellec MDS-DOS
operating system; a universal PROM programmer; two in-
circuit emulator boards and three ROM simulator boards. The
Intellec chassis was available as a rack-mountable barebone,
supplied with a CPU board, RAM board, PROM board, I/O board
and twelve empty slots.
Adroit combination of these components could bolster
microcomputer development from initial hardware stages to
product prototyping; whatever was completed of the
developer's system could be cabled to the MDS, which would
simulate, emulate, or provide the pieces still on the
drawing board. Product literature emphasized speed and ease
of use. The Intellec paper tape readers, "20 times faster
than [a] standard ASR-33 teletype," would "load 8K...program
memory in less than 90 seconds." Really impatient customers
were advised to order the MDS-DOS 8" diskette subsystem and
MDS-DRV second drive, each of which would hold up to 200
files per 256K soft-sectored diskette. (This format,
compatible with the IBM 3540 diskette reader for mainframes,
was later adopted for the drives of several early CP/M
micros.)
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 16
INTELLEC SERIES SOFTWARE
-------------------------------------------------
The 1976 Intel Data Catalog lists the following software
available for the Intellec series, all written in FORTRAN
IV:
Cross assemblers: MAC40 for 4040/4004, MAC8 for 8008, MAC80
for 8080
Simulator/debuggers: INTERP/40 for 4040/4004, INTERP/8 for
8008, INTERP/80 for 8080
Language/compilers: PL/M HLL, a micro port of IBM's PL/I by
Gary Kildall, with cross compilers for the 8008 and 8080
All software included a source editor and docs; it was
supplied on 9-track tape at 800 BPI. Compiled or assembled
code could be tested against the appropriate simulator, then
run on an Intellec computer or the developer's own system,
or encoded in BNPF ("Begin-Negative-Positive-Finish") format
to burn ROM's.
THE REAL ARTICLE
-------------------------------------------------
Clearly, Intel's conception of appropriate hardware and
software for the MDS was far broader and more profound than
the ideas governing contemporary development of so-called
"hobbyist computers." At US$2,395, the Intellec 8 was
substantially more expensive than a later Altair 8800 or
other 8080-based kit computer, but delivered solid value for
money. Twenty years after it was built, Layer's 8 Mod 8
looks as if it could still boot and run for another century.
Its dimensions of 7"x17"x14" (18x44x36 cm) make it slightly
smaller and taller than a modern AT-class desktop box, and
at 30 lb (13.6 kg) it might be a bit heavier. It has a
_very_ real front panel, tastefully silkscreened in white on
navy blue, with three banks of sixteen red LED's:
[Text in _uppercase_ is the actual panel text.]
Bank 1:
STATUS: cpu RUNning, cpu WAITing, cpu HALTed, console access
HOLDing, cpu address SEARCH COMPLete, console ACCESS
REQuested, console INTerrupt REQuested, INT DISABLE [not
used on the Mod 8].
CYCLE: FETCH instruction, cpu MEMory read/write, cpu I/O
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 17
read/write, DmA, READ/INPUT, WRITE/OUTPUT, INTerrupt cycle,
STACK [not used on the Mod 8].
Bank 2:
ADDRESS access: [15 and 14 not used on the Mod 8,] 13-0
display memory during access.
Bank 3:
INSTRUCTION / DATA: 7-0 display instruction or data between
cpu and memory or input/output.
REGISTER/FLAG DATA: 7-0 display contents of cpu data bus or
register on execution.
above two rows of white rocker switches:
Row 1:
ADDRESS / DATA: MEMory ADDRESS HIGHer bits for dma, I/O
ADDRESS for manual access, SENSE DATA input.
ADDRESS / INSTRUCTION / DATA: MEMory ADDRESS LOWer bits for
dma, INTerrupt INSTruction for fetch, DATA deposit to memory
or input/output, data for load to PASS COUNT register.
Row 2:
ADDRESS CONTROL: LOAD PASS count to register, DECRement
loaded address by one, INCRement loaded address by one, LOAD
high and low address to register for dma.
MODE: cpu input SENSE data, I/O ACCESS for edit at cpu wait
mode, MEMory ACCESS for edit at cpu wait mode, execute to
SEARCH point and WAIT, enter manual WAIT state. (Tony
Duell's comment on SEARCH/WAIT: "Very nice feature....You
could set a trap on a particular location, and also set a
counter. Then, the CPU would be forced into a wait state on
the nth access to that location. Great for single-stepping
the exit condition of large loops.")
CONTROL: single STEP through program or CONTinue from search
complete, DEPosit 8-bit word during access, DEPosit 8-bit
word AT programmed HaLT, cpu fetch/execute manual INTerrupt,
RESET program counter to zero.
[Switches listed as "not used on the Mod 8" were enabled on
the Mod 80 only.]
To the right of these controls and indicators is a
combination keylock/power switch, and a PROM socket! with a
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 18
power switch of its own....no need to pull the case and card
when blowing or reading a fresh EPROM on an Intellec. Oh,
and it's a ZIF socket, nothing new under the sun.
But let's pull the case anyway....woops....it doesn't pull,
it's a flip-up case with a piano hinge at the back --
something that all too many micro owners might prefer even
today. Underneath the case, the sides of the card cage are
hinged too, then securely fastened to the frame. Access to
components is excellent by any standard, certainly by
comparison to modern nanotower cases and postcard
motherboards.
An early clue to component quality is the startling size of
the power-supply capacitor, as big as a small fist. The
power supply is so conservatively rated that, when Layer
bought the computer, the seller advised him to salvage the
supply and junk the rest! Other low-stress components
include a giant muffin fan in the backplate, and the cage
itself, made out of aluminum bar stock.
The passive mainboard's sixteen slots run front-to-back and
the slot guides are yet more satin-finish aluminum. Each
modular card plugs into a full-length hundred-pin connector
(identical to S-100, although the connections aren't,) and
is supported by nylon card guides at both ends; the card
guides are riveted to the crossbars of the cage. Fliplocks
at the top corners of each card protect against creep and
vibration, although I suspect that only a trip through a
paint shaker would loosen a card accidentally.
Seven standard card modules were supplied with the 8 Mod 8:
imm8-82 Central processor module with 8008 CPU, memory
and I/O interface, interrupt logic and crystal
clock
imm6-28 (x2) 4K RAM module: 32x1Kbit 2102 static RAM chips
imm6-26 2K PROM module: 8x2Kbit 1702A static EPROM
chips, eight empty sockets
imm8-60 I/O module: four 8-bit inputs, four 8-bit
outputs, a UART, and serial TTY connectors
imm6-76 PROM Programmer module cabled to the 24-pin
EPROM socket on the front panel
and the control module for the front panel. Nine slots were
left empty. The stock machine was delivered with 8K static
RAM and the Mod 8 system monitor (with paper tape support)
burned into the 2K PROM; by combining and swapping other
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 19
cards and chips, any combination of RAMs, ROMs or PROMs
could be installed, up to the 16K addressable by the 8008.
Unusually, RAM and ROM boards could be installed globally
set to the same addresses, and their individual chips then
enabled or disabled with jumpers.
[Available accessory cards included an Output module with
eight 8-bit ports (8-62,) a breadboard for wire-wrap sockets
(6-70,) and the 6-72 "pop-up" card with extended connectors
to raise any module clear of the card cage.]
The backplate carries out the theme of sturdy construction.
On each side of the fan mount, a subordinate cage provides
five sockets for DB37 connectors. Hefty 3-wire power and a
current loop interface through a Jones plug cater to the
anticipated Teletype connection.
BUT IS IT A MICRO?
-------------------------------------------------
The Intellec 8 has been denied the reputation that it
deserves -- as California's and, possibly, America's first
microcomputer -- for two reasons that I find cogent.
Primarily, any 8008-based device is relegated to the archaic
age of micros. Like Nat Wadsworth's SCELBI-8H and Jonathan
Titus' Mark 8, the Intellec saw only limited production and
never entered the "popular" legend and culture of computing.
The 8008 went on to become an embedded processor in
Datapoint Beehive terminals and DEC PDP-11/34 front-panel
boards; its successor the 8080 seized its day to power
cheap, commercially available kit-built computers that
helped ignite the micro revolution....leaving the 8008 to be
part of history in a more limited sense, as the
preoccupation of historians.
Secondarily, the Mod 8 had an especially narrow declared
purpose, as a system to build systems. It was diffidently
marketed by Intel, which was still wary of selling
microprocessors in volume to the general public. Certainly
the company's strategy, to create broad-based demand
incrementally through the good opinion of influential
hardware and software developers, was
defensible....especially in light of the results. But it did
mean that awareness of the Mod 8 was limited to a small
population of technical specialists -- to those specialists,
furthermore, who thought that the potential of micro
development and programming justified a sizable investment
in an MDS system. In a way, this asked MDS customers to have
more faith in the future of microprocessing than Intel
itself had. But in 1994 it's hard -- almost literally
"unthinkable" -- to recreate the mindset of respected
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 20
computer professionals who thought the micro was a dark
horse, a sucker bet, a testbed, or a toy. Only a handful
knew what the micro even aspired to, not to mention what it
would achieve.
But a computer's importance to history has never been a
function of its CPU type, nor should it be. And special
purpose is no deterrent to general fame -- certainly ENIAC,
which "only" computed artillery tables, and COLOSSUS, which
"only" screamed through brute-force solutions to Germany's
encoded military traffic, are two of the historian's all-
time favorites. The Mod 8 was a deeply considered, robustly
built, versatile, well-documented Real Computer (tm) with an
architecture heavily biased toward systems development. A
similarly meritorious Mod 8, or better yet MDS-800,
optimized for general computation or business programming
might have become the first widely sold commercial
microcomputer. One good look at the Mod 8 will confirm that
Intel could have built such a machine, if their corporate
strategy had called for one.
Still, there's no need to play "might have been" with an
Intellec, which is a fairly formidable box as it sits. Like
a long-fendered prewar roadster or a Schneider Trophy
seaplane, it embodies a vanished past so pure that it
becomes evocative. Sit for two hours, if you ever get the
chance, with a Mod 8 and its manuals; when you stand up,
you'll know a _lot_ more about computers.
-------------------------------------------------
Thanks to Tony Duell, Jodelle French, Doug Jones, Benjamin
Ketcham, Klemens Krause, Hal Layer, Jay Maynard and "Milan"
for source material, answers and encouragement. -- KC
-------------------------------------------------
ORIGINS OF THE IBM 70x
-------------------------------------------------
[Introduction:
In every issue of the ANALYTICAL ENGINE, we proclaim and
celebrate "computing in California." Why, then, is this issue's
big-iron article about the pride of Poughkeepsie -- the
trailblazing IBM 701?
Because, at the very outset of the digital computing era, the
701 conclusively demonstrated that the Golden State was wild for
all the computer power it could get! Bearing in mind that only
nineteen machines were ever built, look at these serial numbers,
sites and delivery dates:
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 21
2 University of California, Los Alamos, NM March 23, 1953
3 Lockheed Aircraft Company, Glendale, CA April 24, 1953
5 Douglas Aircraft Company, Santa Monica, CA May 20, 1953
8 U. S. Navy, Inyokern, CA (China Lake) August 27, 1953
10 North American Aviation, Santa Monica, CA October 9, 1953
11 Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, CA October 30, 1953
13 University of California, Los Alamos, NM December 19 ,1953
14 Douglas Aircraft Company, El Segundo, CA January 8, 1954
16 University of California, Livermore, CA April 9, 1954
18 Lockheed Aircraft Company, Glendale, CA June 30, 1954
In other words, including Lawrence Radiation Lab's acquisitions
for Los Alamos, over half the total production went to
California purchasers. (Of those, half went to aircraft
companies, fulfilling Konrad Zuse's prediction that digital
computing would become a necessity for aircraft design.)
It's an impressive list, especially since leasing a 701 was a
major commitment for even the largest institution. Anyone who
wants to construct the timeline of California's love affair with
computing can anchor the origin right here. -- Editors ]
-------------------------------------------------
ORIGINS AND LEGACY OF THE IBM 701
-------------------------------------------------
Douglas W. Jones
Department of Computer Science, University of Iowa
Internet: jones@cs.uiowa.edu
THE HISTORICAL SETTING
-------------------------------------------------
In January, 1951, Thomas J Watson jr., Executive Vice President
of IBM, convened a meeting in his office to discuss a proposal
by his assistant, J. W. Birkenstock, for a new computing machine
using CRT memory with about 20,000 digits of memory per tube,
and with a clock cycle allowing it to multiply two numbers in
one millisecond. The proposal suggested that up to 30 machines
might be made, beginning with a single prototype, the Defense
Calculator, under government contract and nominally a response
to computing demands posed by the war in Korea.
At this time there were about twenty electronic stored-program
digital computer projects in the world, all but three using
binary number representations. Most were patterned after Von
Neumann's machine at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study,
with 40 bits per word. The Defense Calculator was planned with a
slightly shorter word, 36 bits, and far better input/output
facilities than the IAS machine. The difference in word length
was corollary to the selection of a 6-bit byte when recording
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 22
data on magnetic tape, a new storage medium IBM was currently
developing.
The Defense Calculator was designed fairly quickly, based on the
experience with the IAS machine and with early experimental
systems at IBM. Newly developed component packaging methods
resulted in a machine remarkably compact for its time. The logic
was packaged in 64-pin modules with a row of 8 vacuum tubes on
the front of each module; logical operations were performed by
germanium diodes in the base of each module. Modules were
plugged into a backplane, and the design permitted modules to be
swapped while the system was powered up. The resulting CPU
occupied a cabinet about the same size as was used 25 years
later for the VAX 11/780; a second similar-sized cabinet held 72
cathode ray tubes storing 512 memory bits per tube, for total
memory of 1K words.
By April 1952 the prototype Defense Calculator was fully
assembled; within two months, the complete system was in use and
undergoing debugging. The first production model was shipped in
December 1952, to IBM's corporate headquarters at 590 Madison
Avenue in New York, and became an instant favorite with sidewalk
gawkers. The second machine was delivered to Los Alamos on April
1, 1953, and was working at the site within three days. (In the
context of this amazing feat it is worth noting that Los Alamos
was operated by the University of California, and that relations
between the university and the laboratory were far closer then
than in later years.)
Thomas J. Watson sr., preoccupied with his company's almost
sacred commitment to electromechanical punched-card technology,
still had doubts about the new machine; but they were probably
alleviated by the monthly rental of a fully equipped 701, which,
at US$17,600, was about ten times the price of a typical family
car. His son, on the other hand, noted that customers continued
to honor their contracts even while the announced rental fee
more than doubled from its original US$8,000. "That was when I
felt a real _Eureka!_," he noted decades later in his
autobiography. "Clearly we'd tapped a new and powerful source of
demand."
On April 7, 1953, the Defense Calculator was publicly unveiled
at an event attended by over 150 guests, including John von
Neumann, William Shockley, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and a roster
of highly placed scientists and executives. At this event, the
machine was newly described as the "IBM Electronic Data
Processing Machines, known as the 701." A doctored photograph of
the prototype Defense Calculator was used in a two page
advertisement in National Geographic in 1953, referring to it
simply as "The New IBM Electronic Data Processing Machines."
In early 1953, the 701 memory units were upgraded from 512 bits
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 23
to 1024 bits per CRT, [was this the first implementation of
double-density? -- Ed.] and a reference manual was produced.
The entire planned series of eighteen IBM 701's was produced and
shipped in only nineteen months -- from December 1952 to June
1954 -- proving that assembly and testing of massive, complex DP
machinery held few terrors for this uniquely experienced
company. IBM's first venture into commercial electronics at this
scale was accomplished with the thoroughness that had become
their best-known trademark. After the eighteenth 701 was shipped
to Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, CA, enough spare parts remained
on hand to assemble a nineteenth machine, which was delivered to
the U. S. Weather Bureau on the last day of February, 1955.
THE IBM 701 INSTRUCTION SET
-------------------------------------------------
The IBM 701 had a 36 bit word packed with two 18 bit
instructions. Each instruction had a 6 bit opcode, leaving 12
bits for the memory address. Memory was addressed to the half-
word, so the architecture allowed up to 2K words, the entire
capacity of the upgraded CRT memory subsystem developed in 1953.
The sign bit of each instruction determined whether the
instruction was being used to address words or half-words.
Negative instructions were word addressed, while positive
instructions were half-word addressed. Half words were packed
into words in big-endian order, with odd addresses being used to
reference the least significant halves.
Numbers were stored in signed magnitude form, and all of the
documentation assumed that the values being stored were signed
magnitude fractions, with the point immediately to the right of
the sign bit and left of all of the magnitude bits.
The machine had an accumulator and a multiplier-quotient
register, and new complexity was introduced by two extra
magnitude bits at the most significant end of the accumulator.
These extra bits allowed sequences such as "load, add, add, add"
to be performed before a check for overflow was needed, and
allowed such sequences to arrive at correct results even when
intermediate values were out of bounds.
The instruction set included 21 programming instructions and 8
input/output instructions. The programming instructions included
the expected load, store, add to accumulator, and subtract from
accumulator instructions, but also load negated and add or
subtract absolute value. As expected, the machine had multiply
and divide instructions, but it also had round and multiply and
round instructions that incremented the accumulator if the most
significant bit of the multiplier-quotient register was one.
Finally, there were left and right arithmetic shifts in single
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 24
and double precision form and a logical and instruction that
operated from accumulator to memory.
Control structures were constructed by branch and conditional-
branch instructions, but programmers who wanted to code using
procedures were forced to write self-modifying code. Conditional
branches could branch on zero, branch on positive, or branch on
overflow. A special instruction was included to write the
address field of a half-word in memory, allowing straightforward
self-modification, and there was a halt instruction.
The input/output instructions included instructions for starting
unit record read or write operations, for copying one data word
to or from a unit record, and for sensing or setting device
status or control bits. Special instructions were included to
handle backwards reads from tape, to write end-of-file marks on
tape, to rewind tape units, and to set the drum address of the
next drum transfer, but the central I/O instructions were, to a
remarkable extent, equally applicable to all devices.
As noted previously, the sign bit of each instruction was used
to determine whether the memory address was a half-word or full-
word address, and with a 6 bit opcode field, this would seem to
leave room for only 32 instructions. In fact, the 5 control-flow
instructions were always used to address half-words, and the 4
shift instructions and I/O instructions did not use the sign
bit. As a result, there was plenty of space in the instruction
set to extend the machine as later models were introduced.
INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES
-------------------------------------------------
The 701 was developed soon after IBM had constructed an
experimental Tape Processing Machine, and the success of that
experiment encouraged extensive support for 7-track magnetic
tape on the 701. The decision to support 7-track tape, with 6
data tracks and one parity track, led to the selection of a
multiple of 6 for the word-length; this tape format, originating
with the 701, quickly became an industry standard that was
almost universal for the next 15 years.
The 701's tape drives could be supplemented with a fixed-head
drum that allowed random access to individual words. Each drum
unit had a capacity of 2048 words, and was clearly thought of as
swap-space and not as a device for storing files. Other
peripherals offered on the IBM 701 were modifications of
standard IBM unit-record data processing machines, a card
reader, a card punch, and a line printer. These were all
"programmable" peripherals, with patch-panels controlling
operations on the data encountered. All three devices were
limited to 72 characters per line of data printed, punched, or
read, with the patch panel controlling the mapping between the
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 25
72 columns seen by the computer and the presentation of that
data on punch card or listing.
Input/output was complicated particularly by the utterly bizarre
data formats of cards and print records. For example, cards were
read row by row, so that two 36 bit words of input contained one
row of data from the punched card, while the character code used
on the card used each column to hold one 12 bit character. This
comes very close to the philosophy espoused in Jackson W.
Granholm's "How to Design a Kludge" (Datamation, Feb. 1962, page
30), and many programmers were forced to spend hours writing
code to translate between character data formats.
Another problem with input-output was that all data transfers
were done under program control, which -- assuming moderately
high performance of tapes and drums -- placed stringent timing
constraints on I/O code. On later systems, the life of
programmers was greatly simplified by the introduction of direct
memory access I/O devices.
THE DESCENDANTS OF THE 701
-------------------------------------------------
The IBM 701 and 702, introduced within weeks of each other,
defined two parallel lines of development for electronic
computing, with the 701 intended for scientific and military
customers, while the 702 was aimed at the business market. (The
702 was a decimal digit serial computer descended from the
experimental Tape Processing Machine; it was developed in
parallel with the 701, using similar technology, but it was not
related to the 701 at the instruction set level.) Watson jr.
understood that the 701 was, to use today's term, a "power
user's machine," and provided energetic support for the quick
development of a more capable successor.
At the end of 1953, while the earliest 701s were still being
delivered, Gene Amdahl -- later well known as the co-designer of
the IBM System/360 and the founder of Amdahl Corporation -- was
put in charge of developing a follow-on to the 701. On May 7,
1954, this was unveiled as the IBM Type 704 Electronic Data
Processing Machine. The 704, almost three times as fast as the
701, was the first commercially available computer to
incorporate floating-point arithmetic, and the first IBM
computer to have index registers. The 704 systems control
program (SCP), which monitored the progress of calculation and
offered program control for input/output, can be considered
IBM's first operating system.
Perhaps the primary innovation of the new model was ferrite core
fast memory, which was announced in October 1954, even before
the first 704 was delivered. The first core memory unit for the
704 was installable in sizes up to 4,096 words; within two
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 26
years, 32K words of core could be installed. This technology
contributed much of the 704's speed and offered greatly improved
reliability. However, the expansion of 704 main memory to over
2K words posed a problem that programmers have faced with
annoying frequency on later machines, that of addressing a large
main memory with a small direct address field.
SHARE
-------------------------------------------------
In August 1955, IBM gave a seminar in Los Angeles, as a briefing
for potential 704 customers. Several executives who attended
that seminar met again almost immediately, on August 22, to
establish a group for mutual support and pooling of information
on the 704, called SHARE. The rapid growth of SHARE -- possibly
the first, certainly a very early, computer users' group -- was
particularly important to the success of the IBM 704. By the end
of 1980, SHARE had grown to represent over 1,500 computer
installations, of which the majority did scientific work.
LANGUAGES
-------------------------------------------------
The speed and power of the 704, its register architecture, and
the SCP's ability to perform low-level grunt work, encouraged
the development of larger applications which incorporated
subroutine programming. Code reusability became an issue, and
conformity to agreed coding guidelines became crucial to this.
Even at the inaugural meeting, members of SHARE agreed on the
need for a uniform assembly language format for the 704;
eventually, an assembler written by Roy Nutt of United Aircraft
emerged as the standard.
Higher-level languages also received attention. As early as late
1953, John Backus began to argue for the development of a
compiler for the 704 specifically, and in 1956 a group under his
direction completed this project, by then known as FORTRAN.
Optimized for numeric calculation, this language offered
unprecedented computational power and guaranteed the future of
the 704 for years to come. The 72 column limit originally
imposed by the 701/704 card-reader continues to puzzle FORTRAN
programmers to this day.
BEYOND THE 704
-------------------------------------------------
IBM eventually sold 123 Model 704's, a gratifying improvement
over sales of the 701 and a total that absolutely mandated
aggressive development. The 704 was followed by the Model 709,
the last vacuum tube machine in this series, and by the
experimental transistorized machine known internally as the
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 27
709TX. Borrowing heavily from the advances of Project STRETCH
while remaining fully compatible with the 709, the impressive TX
was re-designated 7090 when the first example was sold to
Sylvania in October 1958. The 7094 and 7094 II, announced in the
early 1960s, were faster still.
WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED?
-------------------------------------------------
The 70x family accomplished more for IBM than could, probably,
ever have been foreseen when the original specification was laid
down. It defined a computer architecture that endured for
thirteen years, and might have lasted much longer. It gave
notice that IBM, long the dominant vendor in tab card equipment,
intended to be as formidable a competitor in the lucrative new
world of computer-driven data processing. It proved that IBM's
polished sales force could sell computers as effectively as they
had sold less sophisticated products -- a transition managed
less well by many of IBM's competitors. Finally and
conclusively, it dethroned Remington Rand as the primary
American builder of computers.
The 7094 II marked the end of the line for the 701 architecture.
Lack of market was not an issue; demand for these computers and
for compatibles could have continued for many years. Rather, the
SPREAD report of December 1961 changed the underlying direction
of IBM's marketing policy for computers.
Until 1964, IBM built two parallel lines of computers for users
in different categories. Construction for science, higher
education and the military was exemplified by the 701, 704, 709,
7090/94, and 1620, while machines meant for business and
industry included the 702, 705, 7070, and the 1401 and its
successors. Naturally, potential customers didn't line up into
the two long neat rows that IBM would have preferred, and many
users ran "business" applications on "scientific" computers or
_vice versa_.
IBM never argued with success unless it envisioned greater
success. The SPREAD report warned that, although this two-
pronged approach had resulted in tremendous market share for
IBM, it entailed wasteful division and duplication of effort
internally. The company's array of niche machines should be
replaced by a line founded on a single basic architecture, with
enough gradation in power, capacity, and peripheral capability
to fill the needs of any prospective customer for an IBM
computer. This idea, and five billion dollars, resulted in the
innovative and immensely superior System/360.
Without a doubt, the 360 series justified its titanic investment
-- the largest in any single American industrial project to that
time -- and went on to become the "greater success" that Tom
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 28
Watson and Vin Learson had predicted. But for many computer
users and historians, a 701, 704 or 709x remains the machine
that quintessentially defines "big iron."
REFERENCES
-------------------------------------------------
Most of this material comes from _IBM's Early Computers_, Bashe,
Johnson, Palmer and Pugh, MIT Press, 1986. This book gives an
excellent overview of IBM's role in the early part of the
computer era, and it gives moderate technical detail. Incidental
reference has also been made to Cortada's _Historical Dictionary
of Data Processing_, Greenwood Press, 1987, and to Tom Watson's
autobiography, _Father, Son & Co._, Bantam, 1990; the quotation
above is from page 243 of that edition. [The introductory table
is abridged from "Customer Experiences" by Cuthbert Hurd,
_Annals of the History of Computing_, Volume 5, Number 2, page
175, (c) April 1983 IEEE, and reprinted by permission. -- Ed. ]
I have also used my 1953 copy of IBM's "Principles of Operation"
document for the IBM 701. This agrees in most places with the
technical appendix in Bashe, Johnson et al, but gives far more
detail on instruction timing and I/O data formats. It begins
with an introduction to programming that is remarkably timeless;
the machine may be obsolete, but the fundamental material a
programmer must know in order to program in machine language has
not changed!
-------------------------------------------------
LAND OF THE SILENT GIANTS:
A Day at Livermore
-------------------------------------------------
On October 27, 1993, we -- Tom Ellis, Tim Swan and KC -- met at
CHAC's garage and rolled up our sleeves for the drive. In El
Cerrito it was a bright, warm fall morning; the heat in
Livermore, thirty miles further from the coast and bordering the
Valley's stony desert, might be punishing by comparison.
National _and_ local security had dictated that the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory be plunked down in a sparsely
populated bowl of scrubland framed by far hills, cut by service
roads as straight and black as electrical tape. It's not the
moon but it could easily be, say, New Mexico or Nevada.
Very Federal white-on-blue signs direct the persevering visitor
to "Computer Museum, Pod F," a small, detached frame building
that the museum shares with a dosimetry lab. While the museum is
part of LLNL, the _building_ it's in belongs to the Livermore
School District, making the installation's status more
precarious than it otherwise would be.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 29
We were met by the Museum's curator, Barbara Costella; the
registrar, Alice Pitts; and the Lord High Fixer, Roger Anderson
-- all volunteers or nearly so, and three-quarters of the Museum
staff. (Docent Jim Tracy wasn't on deck that day.) This
operation has been a labor of love for decades and is still
considered somewhat marginal by Powers that Are in the
Department of Energy. Which is too bad, because it's one of the
most exciting computer museums in California. "_National_" here
is no passing epithet; you won't see this collection of
hardware, documentation and ephemera anywhere else.
Ever since it was established in 1952, LLNL has performed
advanced computation considered to be in the most stringent
national interest. This loosened traditional limitations that
might have forced some big companies, or even other government
agencies, to settle for less overwhelming devices. Livermore's
computers have always been the fastest and crunchiest available,
even if they were experimental at the time they were installed,
even if they have _very_low serial numbers, like 5, or 6, or
even One.
Case in point: The Control Data 6600, announced by CDC in August
1963, was supposed to be delivered to Livermore in October 1964,
at a cost of US$3.8 million. It inaugurated a firm tradition of
teething troubles with supercomputers (not unreasonably, since
it launched the category too,) and it got to the site six months
late. But once it arrived, it must have liked the weather,
because thirty years later, there it still is.
The main unit looks like a big, dull-gray bank vault; in fact,
the resemblance is eerie, because you enter it by swinging open
a three-inch-thick metal "door." But, surrealistically, behind
the door there's another door, that swings open too.... These
are the component planes for 350,000 hand-wired, individual
transistors, mounted in frames that might survive geological
eons. The whole box weighs three tons, and what it required for
power, I can't imagine. Naturally it was meant to have its own
room and a Praetorian guard of tape drives and printers; sitting
in that little school building surrounded by its descendants, it
looks almost aloof and pained, as if to say _Of all Real
Computers I was the Most Real._ For a while.... The console is a
Formica desk with plenty of wing space, a nice solid keyboard,
and two big _round_ green-on-black screens directly in front of
the operator, like something out of a fifties s-f movie. At the
operator's bidding, the fastest processors of the day, a
gargantuan 128K sixty-bit words of fast core....I sat and
imagined that Seymour Cray's looming maiden effort, the first,
the _only supercomputer in the world,_ was waiting for me to
type in the bootstrap commands and spin the drives. Dizzying.
Wrenching! (Later on, the 6600 even acquired LLNL's first hard-
disk array, a gargantuan Bryant with several platters mounted
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 30
vertically on a common horizontal shaft; each platter was _three
feet_ in diameter and held 244 million words of data. The whole
array must have really tried the patience of angular momentum.)
But all things must pass, and where more quickly than here?
Because sitting next to the 6600, and not even five years newer
(it arrived in January 1969) is a CDC 7600, looking absolutely
audacious by comparison.... a tall column, shallow V in cross-
section, sheathed in dawn-blue plexiglass and uninspired
woodgrain. Behind the plexi are rows and rows of quick-change
aluminum circuit modules, each a little bigger than a (US) pack
of cigarettes, painted black, and with a robust multipin
connector at the back end. These plug into the main backplane
not unlike Legos, and did a great job of minimizing downtime,
because they could be swapped out so easily. The 7600 has four
times the main memory of its predecessor _and_ probably four
times the speed, but only cost about thirty-five per cent more.
"Top that," it says, with every line.
Volumes could, and should, be written about these two machines
alone.
But walk a few steps....
and there's a CRAY-1....
which just Is.
A CRAY-1 doesn't even look like a computer, unless you know what
you're looking at. The tall column, in a logical (but weird)
development from the 7600, is a hollow cylinder with one quarter
cut out of it; the wiring goes around the inside surface of the
cylinder, to be short, and the access panels for the circuit
boards go around the outside, for easy fiddling. Flanged around
the outside base is what looks like a padded bench, which earned
these computers the nickname of "loveseat" forever....it's the
casing for the power circuitry and cooling hydraulics, readily
visible in the example at hand, because Ms. Costella had two
segments of the casing neatly replaced with clear plexiglass.
Step back and be generally reminded of, say, a strange phone
booth in an airport.
Fast? You bet. All chips and still couldn't be cooled with
water, had to use peculiar pink Freon. Over twice the main
memory of the 7600 -- a million sixty-four-bit words -- and up
to forty times the speed, depending on the operation. Seymour's
masterpiece; gonzo; long since replaced by faster machines,
including variations on the same architecture, yet still
considered sort of...._out there._ Always will be. It was just
too different.
Also, not the computer you'd choose to add up the grocery budget
-- even of a small country. To begin with, programming was
grueling even for experts, because the whole language was biased
toward speed of execution. Secondly, the main computer (four
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 31
tons this time) consumes _four megawatts_ of power, or about
US$720 worth per hour at PG&E's current prices. The four tons got
easier to understand when Tom slid a circuit board out of its U-
channels and handed it to me; I almost dropped it because the
components were mounted on a sheet of solid copper about five
millimeters thick. Seymour Cray has ideas about computer design
that have never been subscribed to by _anyone_ else.
This in turn has led to folktales about his designs being
Immaculate Conceptions, after a fashion, devoid of compromise
and devoted to the speeding electron above all. Well....yes and
no. Any time you get near people who actually worked on a Cray,
you start hearing furtive whispers about _the mat,_ and how _the
mat_ is why these computers could never be mass-produced,
because _the mat_ used to leave its own engineers red-eyed with
fatigue and whimpering with frustration....
_The mat_ is the web of wiring around the inner surface of the
cylinder. Here again, in the name of truth, justice and
insatiable curiosity, one of the opaque covers has been replaced
with plexi -- and behold, this dreaded mat in all its dire
glory. Not just spaghetti, but _boiling_ spaghetti, a
bramble-thick mesh of overlapping loops covering the whole
panel, uncountable thousands of wires that would be nightmarish
to trace even with a total schematic. How this machine was ever
repaired, I have no idea. Tim stood in front of that Rosetta
Backplane, stock-still and gaping, as if he were waiting for
something to move. This too, at the time of its creation, was
the fastest computer in the world.
From here we need to step back and look at some theory,
particularly as it applies to Livermore. The lab examines very
large phenomena at very high resolution; thus it needs to
process input as fast as it possibly can, if the results are
meant to arrive in any reasonable time. But that's only half the
story. Once these data have been collected and stored, they need
to be _retrieved_ as quickly as possible, lest these power-
sucking, coolant-fuming CPU's get bored.
So LLNL's most pivotal question -- with some of the most
fascinating answers -- became rapid access to information.
Livermore began using computers in the days of punched-card data
storage [see page 21] and progressed rapidly to tape; but with
its unending need for vast blocks of data _NOW!!,_ it must have
been one of the first installations for which tape alone was
flatly inadequate. Tape is reliable, dumb, and forever slow,
because you spin the tape _to_ every item you need, and if you
happen to be nearly a whole tape's length away, it can take a
while. Spin the drives faster, make the reels lighter, be ever
more inspired about the sequence of records on the tape, and you
only buy yourself breathers, because serial access is limited in
its very nature. My friends the twelve-year-old Visual Basic
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 32
programmers would pipe up with "Why didn't they just use hard
disks?" and -- they did and do, lots of them; but the Lab's need
for torrential flows of information in real time meant that disk
storage, classic nine-track tape, cartridge tape and optical
storage all overlapped in a chaos of urgency.
Nine-track handling was expedited with many devices, including
wonderful robot arms that searched through tape cabinets,
grabbed the desired reel, drew it out of the cabinet, and auto-
mounted it. CDC provided the cartridge tape, and IBM the optical
storage, with devices so innovative (in very different ways!)
that they honestly deserve to be called heroic. IBM's photo-
optical storage memory, the Model 1630, held thousands on
thousands of strips of what amounted to stiff microfilm
carefully slotted into small gray plastic boxes; the boxes had
spring-loaded covers and sat in an array of cells on a wall.
When the computer whistled, the device swung into action, found
the right cell in the array, drew out the box, popped the cover,
pulled the right strip and read the data from it optically.
Halfway between tape and a disk, it had one dimension of serial
access and one dimension of random access, and it was faster
than tape. Since this whole machine was finished, supported and
documented to Big Blue's usual standard, and IBM only ever built
three of them, it must have cost a [deleted] fortune.
CDC's MASS 38500 contained 16,384 plastic cartridges -- not much
longer or thicker than your middle finger -- with shutters, that
protected short, fat tape strips spring-wound on spindles. Each
strip held a million of the sixty-bit words for the 7600. That's
a _terabit_ in the array.... And it could find any file in a
second.
All these devices are on display along with a Concise History of
the Hard Disk, starting with a single, millstone-sized, twenty-
five-pound platter from the Bryant array. From there the disks
got smaller and faster and smaller and faster.... development
chronicled here by a selection of platters in several sizes, all
flashing the glossy gold-bronze finish that is the highest
aspiration of all rust.
So it is with the whole Museum. Bits of hardware, from the
massive to the tiny, were plucked off the conveyor belt to the
scrap heap, meticulously arranged and sagely explained. A full-
house PDP-8 concentrator stands next to its ASR-33 Teletype, and
you can almost hear the clatter; across the room, one wall is
devoted to an anarchic-looking PDP-10 (originally used for file
transport control) that had my fingers itching to flip dimly
remembered switches. On the other end of the scale, there are
tubes of core wire and little heaps of cores in three sizes:
tiny, tinier, and where's-the-hole? Tim was startled to realize
that core planes were assembled by hand; Tom said that the
display board of core memory gave the best explanation he'd ever
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 33
read, and I imagine he's read a few. Further over, a reel of
UNIVAC steel tape hangs from doubled-up fishline, with an Alice-
in-Wonderland sign that says "LIFT ME." In one corner, two
Commodore PETs cower like kittens among cheetahs.
Yet older equipment includes a nice selection of IBM EAM
hardware, including keypunches, summary punches, a sorter, and
an early alphabetic tabulator, all finished in the invariable
battle-ready gray. I took the control drum out of the 026 and
remembered too much about odd jobs in college, including the way
the insanely springy metal locking flap always chipped one end
of the control card.... Control Data peripherals got rescued
too. The purplish, stair-carpet ribbon of the band printer will
still get your fingers very dirty. The T-handled plastic dust
covers of the disk packs still look like cake protectors. It's
all here, all clean and polished, none of it on a pedestal but
most of it with intimations of bootability. In a world trembling
on the edge of mania for virtual reality, a day's worth of
_real_ reality is a refreshing and almost shocking change.
But the scavenger's apotheosis is the Programmer's Office in
another corner. As Leo Damarodas recalled in last July's ENGINE,
while you were coding in the fifties and sixties you _weren't_
at the console, and this is where you were....at this long oak
table, flanked by blue-on-brown boxes of IBM card
stock....that's your dark cloth coat and fedora on the wooden
coat-tree. Framed awards and pictures line the wall, OEM models
adorn tops of filing cabinets, and a few "internal souvenirs" --
like a nameplate from an IBM 7094 -- are tacked to the bulletin
board. Sitting at the long table, puzzling over a cork in your
code, you might idly pick up the plugboard punch, no bigger than
a screwdriver but superbly finished in gray and red with the IBM
logo in white. Then it's back to the fanfold, as you try not to
notice the clock, and reach for the pack of Camels in the
ashtray. With the cigs, there are matches from a Chinese
restaurant, emblematic of the days before ANSI Standard Pizza
conquered the programming world. But _it's a pack of matches
from a Chinese restaurant in the 1950's._ Only love could have
accomplished this.
This is where you were. Maybe. Or maybe, like my pre-teen object
hackers who don't know that a hard disk spins, you never were
and only need to be. Back to FORTRAN, overpunches, absolute
addressing, smudged fingers, the chewy chatter of paper tape,
and the sickening thud of a card box hitting the floor. _Iron._
Since the dawn of computing, LLNL has built unique systems --
like the CHORS hard copy output service, the RJET remote job
entry terminals, the TMDS video sub-network, and the 50-MHz,
multichannel OCTOPUS backbone -- to respond to completely
exceptional needs. All of this had to be kept patched together
by brilliant improvisational engineering. As much money as
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 34
Livermore had, as much clout with the hardware companies, still
its retrospective history gives a clear impression of scrambling
to keep up -- of building levees and dams to channel tidal waves
of information that constantly threatened to overwhelm the whole
network. Counting file data, print jobs, remote job entry, and
output to televisions and CRT's, the two big trunk channels
often handled over half a million messages an hour. There were
few parallels to this, no matter where in the world. And all the
history that makes this understandable, that makes it _live,_ is
packed tight into a tiny, borrowed school, protected -- by four
diligent volunteers -- from the rote indifference of a
government department on another coast. Somehow, the Computer
Museum even seems miles away from the Western-redwood-serene-Zen
architecture of the Lawrence Livermore Visitor Center, which the
DOE _does_ care about.
To speak plainly: This Museum needs protection -- the protection
of fame which arises from recognition. Visitors, ink, and word
of mouth and keyboard can keep this unrivaled historical asset
from declining to "hardware in storage" and slipping away.
Make the appointment, take the drive, prowl and exclaim, stand
and stare. You'll love it. We did!
Lawrence Livermore Computer Museum
Pod F North
1401 Almond Avenue
Livermore CA 94550
Hours by appointment only
+1 510 447-6109 or +1 510 373-1373
-------------------------------------------------
RSN: DSP ON A Z-80
-------------------------------------------------
We had announced Doug Mandell's article on early digital signal
processing for this issue; unfortunately, in the interim, Doug
went mission-critical and got swept away by a code tsunami. We
sympathize (no doubt along with many of our readers) and look
forward to publishing this article when it's ready. -- Editors
-------------------------------------------------
Book Review: STAN VEIT'S HISTORY OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
Asheville, NC: WorldComm, 1993
Photos, Index, 304 pages, US$19.95
Reviewed by N. C. Mulvany
-------------------------------------------------
Stan Veit's _History of the Personal Computer_ presents and
expands a series of columns that have appeared during the past
eight years in _Computer Shopper._ Veit writes that "This
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 35
history is intended to give the reader the feeling of the times
when, in a few short years, the personal computer appeared and
grew to be a mighty force for change," and _feeling_ is a key
word; this book succeeds exceptionally at conveying the
atmosphere surrounding early microcomputing.
The charm of this book resides in its very personal account of
personal computing, and of the industry that developed from it.
This is no dry historical tome that outlines the progression of
PC development machine by machine, but a chatty insider's
account of some people, places, and technology that were most
important to "computing for the people" in precisely its most
dynamic, anarchic era.
Veit's story begins in 1976 with the optimistic opening of his
Computer Mart in New York City -- the first retail computer
store
on the East Coast and the second one in the world. "Started in
the back of a toy store on New York's Fifth Avenue, it grew so
quickly that the customers and shoppers filled the entire floor
and interfered with the sales of Barbie dolls and wind-up cars."
The description of retail sales, assembly, maintenance and
support of systems such as IMSAI 8080, South West Technical
Products (SWTPC) 6800, SOL computers, and Apple computers gives
a vivid picture of computer retailing at its very outset,
constantly veering from excitement to frustration and back
again. Cash flow was a problem not only for the retailer, but
for small manufacturers, who depended on cash to produce the
systems ordered. Often the retailer had to pay up front for
systems sight unseen and hope that they would be delivered
within a reasonable amount of time. Once the systems arrived,
technicians worked overtime to assemble them and make them
bootable. This was indeed risky business! And for every computer
like the IMSAI 8080 --the dark-horse bestseller that got
Computer Mart up and running -- a seemingly comparable machine
like the Sphere M6800 might prove to be a near-total flop.
Veit's account is punctuated with anecdotes and many wonderful
photographs of early systems, and his prior background as a
technical writer is used to good advantage. Technical
developments and specifications are integral, but presented in
"plain English" so as not to disrupt the flow of the story.
[Unfortunately, the book's most distracting faults are timid
editing and slipshod proofreading, which could easily have been
avoided. -- Ed. ] He also chronicles the chaos and thrill of
early computer shows, followed by the maturation of an industry
with the emergence of PC distribution channels. His tenure as
publisher and editor of _Computer Shopper_ gives him authority
to delineate the important role that computer publications
played in the development of the PC market.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 36
This book is an unfolding, meandering, first-person story best
read cover to cover, as if sitting in Stan Veit's living room
and listening to him reminisce. Its allure is hard to describe
in a review, but typified by Veit's memorable description of
setting up at the first national computer show in Atlantic City
in 1976. Computer Mart shared its booth with a "long-haired
hippie and his friends" -- Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Dan
Kottke. As Jobs was readying the Apple display, Veit's
formidable mother-in-law noticed that his jeans were torn. She
looked him up and down and said, "Young man, your backside is
sticking out of holes in those jeans! You are NOT going to be in
_my_ booth like that. Take em off and I'll sew them up, now!"
Unusually meek, Jobs slid behind a curtain and handed over his
pants for mending.
Particular companies and their products are given in-depth
treatment. Proceeding from the MITS Altair and IMSAI 8080, Veit
describes the SWTPC 6800, early Apples, the Cromemco S100 boards
and whole systems, Sphere systems, SOL computers, TRS-80,
Commodore, Atari, North Star, Osborne, Vector Graphic, and the
rise of the IBM PC. Many other computers such as the DEC
Rainbow, Sinclairs, Heathkits, and Morrows -- to name a few --
are considered more briefly. Even so, there are omissions and
near- omissions -- only three sentences are devoted to the
notably popular Kaypro CP/M machines.
Printers were clearly Veit's favorite peripheral equipment, and
we are reminded that early Centronics dot matrix printers, which
cost at least US$2,000 and as much as $6,000, could be an
investment that dwarfed the computer itself. The arrival in 1981
of the Epson Model 70, selling for US$600 and printing at 60 cps,
was a key breakthrough and universally acclaimed.
This book wraps up with the introduction of the IBM PCjr in
November 1983, but says comparatively little about IBM's entries
in the field. This is not the definitive history of the personal
computer, but a valuable addition to the collective history, a
bird's eye view from inside the whirlwind of activity that
spawned a revolutionary industry. In these days of
telemarketing, credit cards, and overnight delivery it is easy
to forget how much devotion and effort microcomputing consumed
as it began. Stan Veit's unparalleled perception of the early
days leaves us absolutely amazed at the changes and advances of
the past seventeen years.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 37
-------------------------------------------------
ACQUISITIONS
-------------------------------------------------
APPLE ONE
-------------------------------------------------
A generous donation from Larry Tesler, Chief Scientist of Apple
Computer, underwrote the Association's purchase of an Apple One
from Winston Gayler of Cape Coral, FL. Naturally this is any
collector's favorite Apple, but it's also a printed-circuit
design so pristine and uncompromising that it's still used as a
teaching example in serious EE courses.
Gayler was as careful with this computer as he was with the
IMSAI discussed here in October; the Apple arrived with a
complete spare chipset, sealed original manuals with duplicates
for reference, as well as cassette software, program listings,
schematics, correspondence, articles, magazine ads.... It's all
here, and to spare. We haven't booted it because we don't have
the right kind of, er, TV set. Look for a full-length article by
an appropriate Apple guru in a forthcoming issue of the ENGINE!
SOL-20
-------------------------------------------------
The Association purchased a Processor Technology SOL-20 from
Dave Coughran of Turlock, CA, with funds donated by Tom Ellis.
Walnut side panels?! What is this, _stereo equipment?!_
Actually, the adornment was less frivolous than it seemed. When
Bob Marsh and Lee Felsenstein introduced Proc Tech's SOL
computer, at PC '76 in Atlantic City, NJ, a year and a half had
passed since the Altair 8800 was announced in _Popular
Electronics_; and the rule of thumb about microcomputers, that a
new generation would arrive every eighteen months, applied
firmly even then.
The SOL-20, built -- like earlier Altair and IMSAI machines --
around the Intel 8080 CPU, needed to stand out from a growing
herd of workalikes. Worse yet, Zilog's new and potent Z80 chip
threatened to dent the sales of all 8080-based machines
indiscriminately. Proc Tech's highly regarded memory and I/O
boards proved that their circuit design was sound, but in the
fiercely competitive market of microcomputing's Big Bang, good
internals weren't enough to sway picky buyers. So Marsh,
Felsenstein, and partner Gary Ingram broke new ground by making
their computers....pretty.
Polished wood end-plates, a high-quality bright blue finish, and
a CPU with an integrated keyboard all contributed to the SOL-
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 38
20's taut and "businesslike" appearance. With the monitor on top
of the CPU, and the Helios (Persci) twin 8-inch floppy drive
next to it, the whole assembly would fit on a -- somewhat lavish
-- secretarial desk, and without a dangling cable in sight. Proc
Tech photographed just such a setup to use in their own
advertising, with the caption "Introducing the Monday Machine."
But in May 1979 Proc Tech closed its doors forever. The
unreliability of the Persci disk drives had wounded it; a long,
damaging litigation over the ownership of the company's BASIC
had brought it low; and aloofness from the SOL's user and dealer
base finished it off. Lee Felsenstein and Bob Marsh went on to
work for Osborne, where Felsenstein led the design team of the
Osborne I.
The SOL-20 itself was largely without blame for Proc Tech's
collapse. It was highly regarded for its reliability,
compactness and good looks; the surviving examples have become
some of the most sought-after of the pre-Apple micros. We're
certainly glad to have ours.
ALSPA
-------------------------------------------------
A little-known ALSPA microcomputer has been donated to our
collection by Jack Brown of Adaptec Corporation.
We haven't popped the case on this one and we know only that a
Z80 CPU somewhere in the box talks to the standard 64K of RAM.
The case format is unusually deep and narrow, leaving room
enough in the front panel for two 8" drives and not much more.
There's a nice assortment of ports on the backplate.
Minimal, or fewer, docs are part of this package, but there's
probably a boot disk. At a rough guess we would date it between
1978 and 1980. The full and unrestrained gratitude of the CHAC
will devolve on anyone who tells us more about this computer
than is set forth here.
HP 150
-------------------------------------------------
Revenue from subscriptions to the ANALYTICAL ENGINE was used to
purchase a Hewlett-Packard Model 150 touchscreen computer from
Dave Lee of San Francisco, CA.
The year 1984 was marked by a creative high tide that has rarely
been equaled in the micro world. Speaking of hardware alone, it
saw the introduction of the IBM PC AT, the Apple Macintosh, the
Sinclair Quantum Leap, the Coleco ADAM, and this HP 150, among
many others. Naturally some of these machines were more
innovative and successful than others; but few can have been
more innovative than this H-P.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 39
When Hewlett-Packard implements a new technology, they generally
pursue its development until they feel that the customer can
receive maximum benefit from it. So it was here. The touchscreen
was coupled with an unadorned, but effective, graphical
applications suite that (for example) lets the user touch the
"tab" of a Rolodex card to display its contents. Similar
attention to detail is evident throughout the design and it's
obvious that, by producing a touchscreen computer that was
intuitive and rewarding to use, the company hoped to introduce a
world-beater.
The 150 was not that. Instead, it became one of the last
computers to be doomed by lack of "IBM compatibility".... But,
ten years after, how fascinating it is to explore a micro so
different from the common run! -- because the touchscreen is
only one of its idiosyncrasies. An optional thermal printer
could fit on top of the CRT, under a hatch in the top of the
computer. The floppy disk subsystem uses the (then) scarce
3.5-inch disks, compact and rugged; 5MB and 15MB hard-disk
subsystems were also available and could be daisy-chained. The
keyboard has scads of color-coded function keys to facilitate
its use as a diskless 2623A terminal. Clearly this is a
"multi-environment" computer meant to be equally at home in an
MIS department, a library, a laboratory, a medical examining
room, or in the field.
This HP 150 is the Association's first Hewlett-Packard computer.
It won't be the last and, if they typically have this much to
offer, we may need quite a few.
[Note to MIS packrats: We have an abiding vision that the 15MB
disk model HP45660A, the 5MB disk model HP45655A, or the wedge
thermal printer, model HP2674A, are sitting in somebody's
stockroom, dusty but functional. If you have such things and no
longer need them, we would _particularly_ appreciate donation of
the rest of the bits for this box.]
MACINTOSH XL (MacLisa)
-------------------------------------------------
Al Kossow of Apple Computer has donated an Apple Macintosh XL to
the Association's collection, and it's been hanging out on the
desk in our office ever since! This mysterious machine, a vital
way-station on the road to the Macintosh, was meant to bring the
graphical, iconic, mouse-oriented Lisa interface to home and
business users -- but at a price that the desktop computer
customer of 1984 would find attractive.
The XL has the same case as a Lisa, with an 11" (28cm) paper-
white monitor on the left and the floppy on the right; but
whereas most Lisas had dual 5.25 "twiggy" drives of dubious
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 40
reputation, the XL has one double-density 3.5 drive. Ours also
has an external, 5MB ProFile hard disk sitting on top. (At the
moment, the ProFile won't cold-boot, but a patient approach will
trick it into warm-booting. Once it's up, it runs indefinitely.)
We have it set up with the surprisingly complete Lisa Office
System -- LisaCalc, LisaDraw, LisaGraph, LisaGuide tutorial,
LisaProject, LisaTerminal, LisaTest diagnostics, and LisaWrite
-- but we could also run MacWorks XL, an early integrated
application written specifically for the hardware.
By almost any standard, this machine is impressive, and the more
so the more you look. First of all, its click-to-load windowing
and its tear-off-the-pad file metaphor make it an uncorrupted
descendant of the Xerox Alto and other PARC computers. Consider
also that in 1984 this Mac competed in the marketplace with the
IBM PC XT or some of the later, more powerful CP/M systems --
which may have had bigger disks, but couldn't come near the XL's
futuristic interface. Want to look back from today's perspective
of MS-Windows, X-Windows or OS/2? Well, the whole Lisa Office
System runs in 512K RAM and fits on _half_ that 5MB disk....
_And,_ when you're done for the day, you can hit the power
switch without closing anything. The operating system will
meticulously put everything away for you, and bring it back out
when you return in the morning.
Someday, sadly, we will have to put this computer in storage,
and some other intriguing box on the office desk. But we're in
no hurry.
ATARI 800
-------------------------------------------------
At press time -- literally on the eve of the upload -- the
Association received a fully equipped Atari 800 from Shellie
Stortz of San Francisco. It includes a 410 cassette recorder, a
Wico joystick, and one peripheral we hadn't seen before, a CX85
numeric keypad.
This Atari arrived in a bedraggled but still garish pink-and-
silver box that proclaimed it to be "THE PROGRAMMER," so
presumably Atari BASIC is its forte. We don't know a lot about
it, other than that its dual cart slot and real keyboard make it
a much more congenial machine than the smaller 400, and that it
seems to have 48K RAM. Of the documentation in the box, some
applies to the 400 and the rest is puff. If anybody has real
Atari manuals that they're not using, we'd welcome the donation.
Anybody with Atari manuals that they _are_ using, please call us
or leave us net.mail to discuss the box's capabilities.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 41
-------------------------------------------------
LETTERS
-------------------------------------------------
COMPUTER HISTORY ASSOCIATION OF DELAWARE BEGINS!
-------------------------------------------------
> Well, I've started the process. I registered the name
"Computer History Association of Delaware" this afternoon - it's
funny, you've got to check a set of ledgers to ensure that the
name hasn't already been registered. I would have been _very_
surprised if I'd found a match in the 1901-1925 ledger :-)....
Would you be willing to forward me a copy of your Statement of
Incorporation and organizational bylaws as a starting point for
discussions? In Delaware, you only need a single person for
incorporation and no assets.... It's occurred to me that if you
get a flood of interest in starting other state organizations,
it might be worthwhile for me to put together a set of
boilerplate applications materials for incorporation in
Delaware....
Let me know what you found useful (and not) in setting up the
organization in California.
Now, where did I put those RK03 drives...
Thanks!
-- Tony Eros, Digital Equipment Corporation
[Thanks to you, Tony! As I write this we've already sent you
some material by net.mail, but as we look back over the process
of assembling this organization, there's been a whole lot to it
-- even so far. As we build the CHAC, we'll put together -- and
try to update -- a suggestion file which will be available from
our request daemon.
PLATO AND SMALLTALK
-------------------------------------------------
> While we're on the subject of Smalltalk, here's a bit of
history the world is forgetting:
In the mid 1970's, there were only two organizations in the
world with a large body of experience working with bit-oriented
graphics. The group we remember best today is the group at
Xerox, working with the Alto computer, the Smalltalk language,
and various exploratory windowing environments. The other group
was centered on the University of Illinois PLATO IV computer
system. This system supported close to a thousand interactive
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 42
terminals, each with a plasma display panel where the rest of
the world expected a CRT, and it supported the TUTOR programming
language, a dismayingly mixed blessing, with very high level
input output facilities geared to the bit-addressable plasma
panel, and control and data structures straight out of the stone
ages.
The two groups developed their ideas about how to handle bit
addressable display hardware quite independently, but in the mid
1970's they got together and traded visiting staff members,
hoping to learn what they could about each other's best ideas.
Both sides clearly had some excellent ideas, too. Xerox had
windows, mice, the object oriented paradigm, and the fundamental
idea of bit-mapped CRT displays, while PLATO had notesfiles,
input judging, touch-panel input, and the flat panel bit
addressable display.
The exchange was lopsided, though. The PLATO people who went to
Palo Alto found Smalltalk to be impossible to learn. The reason
was that, as TUTOR programmers, with background in other
languages like FORTRAN and BASIC, they found object orientation
almost impossible to grasp. On the other hand, the Xerox people
visiting Urbana picked up TUTOR very quickly, complained about
its backward control structures and data structures, and very
quickly came to appreciate the brilliance of its dialog
management tools.
The other side of the coin is also interesting. The people at
Xerox were being funded largely out of a hope that they would
provide a new technology for the "automated office of the
future". In doing this, they put in too much time trying to
provide computer analogs of the paper tools of a conventional
office. While the Xerox community talked about electronic memo
distribution in very learned tones, they tended to miss the fact
that digital communication could take off in an entirely
different way that bore little resemblance to the way we
communicate with paper and typewriters.
The PLATO project was intended as an experiment in computer
aided instruction, and they were so set in this orientation that
they used the word "lesson" for what all of the rest of us would
call a program. PLATO had a large on-line user community, and
interactive multi-user games were the single most intensive
application through the 1970's, despite a string of official
policies discouraging such use. In this context, there was no
effort to mimic the paper and pencil world; instead, as user
demand grew, and as tools succeeded, they were improved on.
The result was a world of inter user communication based on E-
mail and notesfiles, where a notesfile is exactly analogous to a
newsgroup on USENET today. From their start in 1973, Notesfiles
were moderated, but the need for unmoderated notesfiles emerged
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 43
very quickly. Because of the educational setting, the PLATO
project ended up taking a very mature stand about the need for
anonymous postings (a stand that is far more mature than the
stands currently being taken by the majority of Internet sites
today).
Another example of this was the PLATO on-line user's manual,
AIDS. The AIDS system was entirely non-linear from its start in
1973. Today, we would call it a hypertext document, but that
term had yet to spread from California to the interior. The
PLATO manual was never intended to be linearized into a paper
document (although that was eventually done), and the
interconnected structure of AIDS was a marvelously effective way
to present information.
I was at Illinois from 1973 to 1980, working with PLATO but not
for it. My MS project, in 1976, was a re-implementation of the
TUTOR language on a minicomputer; this was the first
implementation of TUTOR on any machine other than a CDC 6600.
This write-up centers on what I learned at lectures by the
visitors from XEROX PARC, as well as being based on my own
visits to XEROX research facilities and on my memory of what
other PLATO people said about their experiences during the PARC
PLATO exchange.
-- from Doug Jones, via Internet
INVENTORY OF HAL LAYER'S COLLECTION
-------------------------------------------------
> Outstanding!! Wonderful Vol. 1, No. 2!! Enjoyed it immensely.
I agree with other correspondents in feeling alone in the
pursuit and rescue of artifacts before they were thrown out by
companies too involved with survival and the future to be
concerned with the industry's history.
I have been collecting in the categories of calculators, video
games, and computers. for several years. If of value to your
readers, here is my list of acquisitions, so far, in the
computer category, with my best estimate of dates.
computers..........................
1956 Heath Electronic Analog Computer kit (front panel only),
(Heath)
1964 EAI analog computer, Model TR-20 (EAI)
1971 Compumedic analog computer, (Compumedic)
1972 GRI Minicomputer, Model 99/IIB (GRI) *
1973 Intel Intellec-8 micro, CPU: 8008, (Intel)
1974 Intel Intellec-4-40 micro, CPU: 4040, (Intel))
1974 Scelbi-8H Mini-Computer, CPU: 8008, (Scelbi)
1974 IMP-16P. micro (front panel only), CPU: IMP-16, (Natl
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 44
Semicond)
1975 HP 3000, Series II, minicomputer (front panel only),
(Hewlett Packard)
1975 IBM 5100 Portable Computer , CPU: IC module, (IBM) w/cart
dr & printer
1975 Altair 8800 micro, CPU: 8080, (MITS)
1975 Sphere-1 micro, CPU: 6800, (Sphere) *
1976 Altair 680b micro, CPU: 6800, (MITS)
1976 IMSAI 8080 micro, CPU: 8080A, (IMS Assoc.)
1976 Sol Terminal Computer--20, CPU: 8080A, (Processor Tech)
1976 SC/MP Development Sys., singleboard, CPU: SC/MP, (Natl
Semicond)
1976 Intel 80/10 singleboard micro, CPU: 8080, (Intel)
1976 Intercept, Jr. singleboard micro, CPU: IM6100, (Intersil)
c.1976 Z-80 Starter Kit singleboard micro, CPU: Z80, (SD Sys.,
Micro Design)
1977 Byt-8 micro (front panel only,, CPU: 8080A, (Byte Inc.)
1977 Byte 8080 micro, CPU: 8080A, (Byte Inc.)
1977 COSMAC VIP singleboard micro, CPU: 1802, (RCA)
1977 E&L MMD-1 singleboard micro, CPU: 8080, with BUG Books,
(E&L)
1977 Apple II, Model "0," with "Language Card", CPU: 6502,
(Apple)
1977 Home-brew one-bit micro, CPU: MC-14500B
c.1978 Am-2900 micro (singleboard), CPU: 2901, (Adv. Micro
Devices)
c.1978 Microcomputer-in-a-Suitcase Trainer, CPU:
NEC8255,(Integrt Comp. Sys.) *
c.1978 IASIS Computer-in-a-Book, (singleboard), CPU: 8080,
(IASIS)
1978 SPARK-16 micro w/cassette recorder, CPU: 9440 (Fairchild) *
1978 Instructor-50 micro, CPU: 2850 (Signetics)
1978 SYM-1 micro, (singleboard), CPU: 6502, (Synertek)
c.1979 Microcomputer/Terminal, Model ESAT-200B, CPU:1802
(ElectroLabs) *
1980 Sinclair Z80 micro, CPU: Z80, (Sinclair)
1981 Osborne Model 1 portable micro, CPU: Z80A, (Osborne)
1981 Z8 Basic/Micro Computer (single-board), CPU: Z8, (Micro
Mint)
1982 Timex Model 1000 micro (Sinclair ZX81 design)
1983 TRS-80, Model 100, portable micro, CPU: 80C85, (Tandy)
1983 Sinclair 1500 micro, CPU: Z80A, (Sinclair)
1984 Apple IIC micro, CPU: 65C02, (Apple)
computer-related miscellany.................................
1948-90 Library of computer literature, manuals, pamphlets, etc.
1966 Lockheed mechanical digital timer (USAF) *
c.1970 Dektak Inspection/Scriber machine [w/microscope for IC
Wafers] *
1970 Comp-U-Kit 10 (Sci. Measure., Skokie, IL)
1971 Pulsar LED digital watch (Hamilton)
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 45
1972 Desk-top IBM card reader, Model D-150 (Documentation, Inc.)
1973 Pop Electronics Digital Logic Microlab (SWTPC)
1974 CPU board with 4004 (Pro-Log Co.) *
c.1975 Intel System Interface & Control Module MCB 8-10 *
1975 Microsoft black paper-tape programs, BASIC, etc.
c.1976 Processor Technology paper-tape programs, games, etc.
c.1976 Processor Technology & Godbout boards
1975 Paper-tape readers, mscl.
c.1978 Intel keyboard, Model MDS-CRT
c.1978 Pro-Log 80 (tester of 8080 CPUs) *
* If anyone has documentation or information for these items
I would like to hear from them.
Hal Layer, AV/ITV Center, S.F. State University 1600 Holloway
Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94132 voice ph: (415) 661-6958, email:
hlayer@sfsu.edu
DETAILS OF STANFORD'S COLLECTION
-------------------------------------------------
> In the editorial of ENGINE #2, you wrote: "But at the moment,
there's no such institution in and for California. That's the
rationale, or part of it, for CHAC. Certainly Silicon Valley, in
order to tell the story of what happened there since Hewlett and
Packard built their first oscillator in 1938, could endow and
support an institution comparable to TCM!"
In fact, Stanford has had a "Stanford and the Silicon Valley"
project in the Department of Special Collections since 1985. We
have dozens of archival collections relating to the history of
computing, the semiconductor industry, physics, etc. Since you
mentioned H & P, one should also be aware of the archives at H-
P. Stanford's collections have been widely used and are well
known to historians of science and technology.
We have a modestly informative brochure, which I can send to
anyone who requests it. Also, see my article in ARCHIVES OF
DATA-PROCESSING HISTORY: A GUIDE TO MAJOR U.S. COLLECTIONS for a
description of the computer-related archival collections we have
(as of 1990).
-- from Henry Lowood, via Internet
IBM DISK DRIVES, AND OTHERS
-------------------------------------------------
> It is interesting how some generic terms creep into our
language no matter how technically precise it is supposed to be.
[In ENGINE #2,] Laurence Press refers to the IBM 1301 disk as
being a "Winchester disk subsystem". If you check with the
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 46
people at IBM San Jose where all IBM disk subsystems were
designed from 1957 to the recent past, you will probably find
out that the term "Winchester" applies to a single technology
developed in late 60's. It is derived from the development
project's code name. Each new system, or subsystem, developed at
IBM was given an internal code name before it was given a unit
number ID, like 1301 for a disk or 7094 for a computer....
During the late 60's IBM was developing a new series of disk
drives with the main technical objective of storing at least 30
megabytes and having an average access time of 30 milliseconds
or less, so it was known as the 30-30 _a la_ "Winchester" rifle
fame. The Winchester performance advance could only be achieved
with a new read/write head technology, so any disks made with
this head technology have commonly been called a Winchester
disk. (What is strange is that newer head technologies have been
developed since then, principally "Whitney" for the peak, as in
storage/performance goals; but we still call the resulting disk
a "Winchester". Why is that?) So, the 1301 wasn't a Winchester;
the IBM 3340 was the first in a long family of IBM "Winchester"
disks. Maybe someone out there knows what the 1301 development
code name was; after all, the 1300 series disks provided the
basis for the explosive growth of the IBM San Jose facility.
I hope that people affiliated with this organization might find
a way to record the views of the disk drive pioneers who reside
in this area, especially IBM veterans or Al Shugart, who worked
for IBM and then went on to found one or more of the disk drive
manufacturing companies in the Valley. I can still remember
seeing Mr. Shugart's first 8" floppy disk drive at the San Jose
Labs. Maybe he has one of them or the drawings. It was elegantly
simple, especially the track positioner, and the reason it was
designed at all is especially interesting, not what you would
have predicted considering the industry that it spawned along
with the single chip microprocessor. It would have made an apt
segment of the "Connections" series.
-- from Dean Billing, via Internet
MORE ON THE 1401
-------------------------------------------------
(passages headed with >> are from Damarodas part 2)
>> The only way you could get the machine to do something was
put a deck of cards in the card reader and hit the start button.
And that would read the card deck, load the program into memory,
and start executing it. It was slow; there was no multi-
processing, no nothing. Just a really simple machine.
> As Leo well knows [and as he mentions later], this isn't
right. What the start button did was read *ONE* card from the
card reader [as he said into locs 1-80] and started executing at
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 47
location 1. The first instruction was always "set word mark, 7,
13" or something like that. A word mark delimited the end of an
instruction [the 1401 had variable length instructions]. By
setting _two_ [one was at the end of the first instruction,
itself, of course] it marked the _second_ instruction, which [as
I recall] was also a set word mark. In fairly short order you
got to reading in another card.
>>Yes, in fact the bootstrap program didn't even take a whole
card. The bootstrap program was about a dozen characters long.
Somewhere I have a framed white poster, about four inches high
and ten or twelve inches long, with that program written on it.
> It'd be neat if he could find the bootstrap and post it! I'd
be tickled to see that old code again! But I think he has it
wrong about the length. I quite clearly remember that the first
two instructions in the bootstrap were 'set word mark'
instructions, each seven bytes long.
-- from Bernie Cosell, via Internet
>>_Did the IBM 1401 use the ASCII system, or was it EBCDIC, or
did it have...?_
>>The memory locations were set up looked just like an 80 column
card -- plus two more bits. So there was a bit that represented
zero through one, eleven and twelve, which were the zone
overpunches, and then there were what was known as the record
mark and the word mark. They were two other memory... well, what
we would consider bits. They weren't called that, but memory
looked like a punched card with two additional positions. Each
memory location was like a column on a card. The addressing
structure used three positions to represent 1K. But then you had
overpunches, and I know the overpunches were used on the left
and the right... there's a combination of four overpunches, so
you can... Is five enough to get up to sixteen? Yeah. If you had
no overpunches, it would be zero through a thousand. or zero
through nine-nine-nine. I can't remember exactly what the scheme
was, but they used the overpunches to make up the difference.
> The 1401 used a 6 bit "byte", appropriately named BCD for
binary-coded-decimal. The core memory in the 1401 was actually
an 8 bit system because it included a parity bit and there was a
Word Mark bit in each character that defined field length. Six
bits was enough to encode 64 characters or enough for the
standard 48 character set that was a product of the TAB machine
days, 26 alpha characters (CAPS), 10 digits, space and 11
special characters such as comma, period, dollar, $ * ( ) - + =.
(Which is enough to do accounting clearly.) The other character
was the record mark. Word mark was a bit in each memory
position, but record mark was a specific bit combination.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 48
> The bits were labeled:
C - (Check or Parity bit)
B - (I think these were called zone bits, but they didn't
A - correspond to zone punches of the tab card, rows 11- 12.)
8
4
2
1
M - (Word Mark)
on the machine lights. You would need a 1401 programmers card to
convert from the 12 rows of the tab card to the 6 bits of BCD.
Mr. Damarodas' recollection of addressing is accurate. The 1401
used "decimal" addresses using 3 "bytes" from 0-999, then used
combinations of the B & A bits to extend addressing up to
whatever the maximum installed core memory was, [which] I
suspect....was 16 or 20K (and this K=1000). The 1410/7010 series
was the same architecture and I have heard of them having 40K of
core. Obviously, if you used all 18 bits available in three
characters, you could address 256K characters, but there may
have been some other limitation on the bit combinations. I
remember that it was a rather arcane system and it seems to me
the limit was 100K.
-- from Dean Billing, via Internet
> What was the origin of the convention that a column binary
card was identified by the presence of a 7-9 punch in column 1?
It was well-established by the time I first met a binary card in
1962, but I've never run into any comments about *why* that bit
pattern was chosen. Was it just an arbitrary pattern selected
because it cannot occur in the BCD character set?
-- from Joe Morris, via Internet
MORE ON SPACEWAR
-------------------------------------------------
(passages headed with >> are from Robinson)
>>Each ship could be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, fire
reaction engines that eventually ran out of fuel, and fire
missiles of finite range and finite number. The ship obeyed
Newton's laws, accelerating and decelerating under the influence
of its engines and of solar gravitation....
> But one thing it *didn't* do was do gravity on the torpedoes,
and so there were a LOT of sexy techniques that took advantage
of that anomaly. Also, Scott didn't mention the wonderful
Starfield. Peter Samson had added it to the original SPACEWAR.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 49
IT was a *real* star field, generated by some incredibly clever
code so that it had real constellations in their real positions
and they slowly drifted across the background.
>>... Collision of two ships produced a vivid, graphically
depicted explosion on screen, and both players were out,
whereupon the game restarted.
> One should probably note that for folks weaned on 'Star Wars'
and Super-VGA PC games, it wasn't really 'vivid'. Kind of a
little star-burst. Very nice, and crystal-clear what had
happened. But nonetheless fairly simple.
>>The display was a vector-type CRT and the quality of the
graphics exceptional. The motion was perfectly smooth, with no
aliasing artifacts noticeable.
> This is just wrong. The display was a *point*plotting*, no
memory scope. ALL displays were 'animated' since there was no
display memory: if you wanted something to persist on the
screen, you had to be in a loop constantly redisplaying it. The
scope had a neat, special phosphor which displayed green when
fired, but then faded for short while in yellow. This made the
display flicker a *lot* less, and it also meant that things left
'trails' as they moved around. It made for some quite wonderful
3-D effects.
-- from Bernie Cosell, via Internet
> The SPACEWAR to which I refer was run on a PDP-1/B at BBN in
Cambridge. ((one of the) first Timesharing machines -- but
that's a different thread)
I believe this was the identical SPACEWAR to that run on the MIT
PDP-1; certainly many of the same MIT programmers worked at BBN
too. (See hakmem threads also).
SPACEWAR at BBN was probably the first "object oriented" program
(nothing new under the sun), the program had translate, explode
and rotate, etc. generic object functions that would operate on
whatever object you fed to them (mostly the two ships).
The DECScope had 64(?) intensities (6 bits?). Peter Sampson
programmed a rather remarkable Starfield over Cambridge, that
rotated a 24 hour day (in about an hour of play time) as the
background. (when last heard from, Peter was at System Concepts
who were making -10 -20 clones)
Standard (no bit diddling) SPACEWAR was 2 ships, sun with
gravity for ships not torps, 8(?) torps with life about 3/4
screen (about 2-3 inches/second); hyperspace survival
probability started at about 75% and decreased per use to about
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 50
20% (?), everything wrapped, torps could be shot down by other
torps. Torp speed was additive to shooter's speed (by some
function) but you could shoot yourself down if you fired ahead
whilst going too fast, or you could "leave mines" by firing
opposite the way you were going. All this in 4k of 18-bit PDP-1
words (including Peter's Starfield database)
Control was accomplished using testword switches (I/O
instruction readable) the 4 on the left for one ship, the right
4 for the other. (order may be wrong, but...)
rotate left rotate right torps thrust
(Actions a whole lot like Netrek)
left ^ right => hyperspace.
Program had patchable locations that controlled number of torps
at a time and their spacing, life, and speed. Also, rotation
could be "by thruster rocket" or "by gyros" -- Gyro would rotate
while the switch was thrown and stop when off, whereas Rocket
rotation would start and increase angular momentum while the
switch was still thrown. To stop, you had to try to thrust the
other way for exactly the same time.
The sun had switchable gravity and I think you may have gotten a
choice whether torps were affected by gravity. SPACEWAR ships
and torps would wrap, although that may have been another
option. For a challenge, there was billiard SPACEWAR; single
shot on the screen at a time, no kill counted unless it had
wrapped at least twice.
PDP-1 SPACEWAR was the source of the first computer-induced
medical problem (well before Carpal Tunnel Syndrome), "Spacewar
Elbow." Occasionally Cosell (Bernie) and I would spend a night
playing SPACEWAR, only to find that leaning on the elbows for 7
or 8 hours straight would leave us unable to straighten our arms
for quite a while.
BBN outlawed SPACEWAR occasionally, mainly because switches
died. The life of testword switches was shortened by this game.
(it took me 5 hours to replace the first switch that needed
fixing; I got it down to 22 minutes by the time the machine
left.)
Someone posted that the PDP-1 at the computer Museum was one of
the MIT machines, I believe that too. (It has joystick control
boxes)
-- from Paul M. Wexelblat, via Internet
> I ran into SPACEWAR when I was a freshman at MIT in 1962/63,
and added a couple of lines of code to it. (I have no idea what
those lines were, nor if they were included in any versions
after I left. I do have the source listings (promised to the
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 51
Computer Museum) but I hadn't yet learned the concept of
footprints to mark changed code.)
When I first saw it the user interface to SPACEWAR was a pair of
wooden boxes about the size of a small file card box, each of
which had two telephone key switches (turn left/right, rocket
on, go to hyperspace) and a button (fire torpedo). When we got
the second PDP-1 someone went over to Eli Heffron and Sons
(motto: "We have Surplus Surplus") and bought a pair of Air
Force drone controllers to serve as input devices.
And the PDP-1 we ran it on was really an amazing box: Memory of
FOUR K! (well, actually that's 4K words of 18 bits each), and a
blazing memory cycle of 5 uS.
The game was so popular that it "signed" the console log itself:
You might see entries for an hour or two for the staff
programmers, a block here and there for a student, an occasional
Big Name (Marvin Minsky, for example), and huge blocks of time
merely noted as "Spacewar."
When we got DEC's first drum (Wow! 32 tracks, each of which held
exactly one coreload of 4K words!) one of the tracks was
instantly dedicated to SPACEWAR, and the console load tape for
it shrunk to a bootstrap a couple of feet long.
-- from Joe Morris, MITRE
COMPILATION PROJECT
-------------------------------------------------
> For the entire 1960's, most of this information [requested for
the Compilation Project] can be gleaned from the June issues of
Computers and Automation -- that was their annual "directory"
issue that printed a directory of the entire computer industry.
-- from Doug Jones, via Internet
LOGO'S TURTLE
-------------------------------------------------
> ....as near as I can tell, the original turtle was a
remarkable little robot that crawled around the floor under LOGO
control! It had a hemispherical plexiglass top, two wheels, and
a pen, and it could drive forward, rotate, and lift or lower its
pen under command of the LOGO system. I've seen photographs. As
I understand it, the split screen came later. I'd love to
program a real LOGO turtle!
-- from Doug Jones, via Internet
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 52
APPLE II DISK CONTROLLER
-------------------------------------------------
> I have often read about the supposed unique simplicity of
Steve Wozniak's disk controller for the Apple II. According to
most of the material on the subject, Woz created the basis of
his controller long before he actually studied the standard
methods of floppy control. Apparently his resulting controller
used far simpler methods to handle disk functions than any other
controller on the market. Can anyone out there give me a good,
technical explanation of Woz's method for controlling disk
drives as opposed to the more conventional approaches?
-- from Don Congdon, via Internet
EARLIEST NETWORK TOPOLOGY CITED
-------------------------------------------------
> Concerning the citation of the Pierce Loop in Aaron Alpar's
article, ENGINE #2: A timeline for network history that I have
been developing includes the entry :
1969 NewHall LAN topology (token ring)
as the earliest instance of token ring LANs. I believe this was
some British work based on Cambridge slotted ring networks.
Unfortunately, I do not currently have the reference for....this
citation.... Anyone familiar with sources for these LAN
developments? I have it that Ethernet (the term coined 22 May
1973 by Robert Metcalfe) was based on Aloha radio network
protocols, and token rings descended from Cambridge rings, which
tried to remove the media contention in Aloha by assigning each
station a unique time slot for data transmission. Verification
would be appreciated.
-- from Stan Kulikowski II, via Internet
> I have just prepared a class lesson on the GUI design and its
place in human-computer interfaces....in this lesson I describe
how the GUI was developed at Xerox PARC circa 1970-73 on the
Alto. is there a source for getting screen images of the
original Alto GUI? I would like to show how this evolved into
the standard designs we see today. I understand that the Xerox
STAR was in this line of descent, but I have no sources on how
the GUI figured in there.
-- from Stan Kulikowski II, via Internet
[Before our press time, Lee Wittenberg had suggested "Designing
the Star User Interface" by David Canfield Smith, et al.
originally published in BYTE, April 1982, and reprinted in
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 53
_Perspectives on the Computer Revolution_, edited by Pylyshyn
and Bannon (Ablex, Norwood NJ, 1989). We'd like to suggest
getting in touch with Larry Stewart at the DEC Computer History
Project, stewart@crl.dec.com. ]
RE: DAVID HEMBROW'S OLD-IRON QUERY
-------------------------------------------------
> Concerning David Hembrow's request for "Old Iron" specs
(ANALYTICAL ENGINE, Vol. 1, No. 2, October 1993), you should be
aware of the surveys of computer hardware done by the military.
They appeared in three separate editions:
Office of Naval Research.
A Survey of Automatic Digital Computers.
Office of Naval Research, Washington, 1953.
I have the second printing, with revisions, of this, which is
dated November 1954 and specs nearly 100 computers in 109 pages.
The later editions were:
Martin H. Weik.
A Second Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing
Systems.
Ballistics Research Laboratory Report No. 1010.
US Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Services, June
1957. 439 pp.
Martin H. Weik.
A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing
Systems.
Ballistics Research Laboratory Report No. 1115,
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
Department of the Army, March 1961. 1131 pp.
This final version is a massive work, fully illustrated. These
are hard to find in the second-hand book arena, but are all
readily available through inter-library loan.
-- from Dr. David B. Sarrazin, University of Colorado, via
Internet
[Thanks, Doctor! You may be interested in this card from our
reference database:
A FOURTH SURVEY OF DOMESTIC ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTING
Weik, M. H.
Ballistic Research Laboratories Report Number 1227
Aberdeen Proving Ground, 1/1964
This is as cited in H. H. Goldstine's PASCAL TO VON NEUMANN,
page 120 in both the 1972 hardcover edition and the 1980/83
paperback; Princeton University Press. ]
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 54
COMPUTER MUSIC ON A PDP-8
-------------------------------------------------
> Some hackers at MIT in the middle 60s actually wrote a note
generation system for a PDP-8. With the system, you could input
sheet music and it would play on a standard AM radio.
WTBS (the ORIGINAL WTBS -- broadcasting with 5 watts from high
atop Walker Memorial at MIT) used to play Petula Clark's
"Downtown" recorded via the above.
-- from Jim Ebright, via Internet
MUSIC ON A CDC 3300
-------------------------------------------------
> The CDC 3300 had a loudspeaker under the console/desk, and it
was wired in to the top three bits of the A-register. You could
get a max-volume sound, even a clean note, by toggling the A-
register (bits 23, 22 and 21 -- it was a 24-bit machine) all on,
then all off, at a frequency you could adjust. The system was
entirely designed around multiprogramming, so a non-operator
running such a job might produce distracting sounds or just
garbage, depending on what else was in the machine running.
On the CDC 3300 (and other machines in that series), the real
purpose of the loudspeaker was as an operator aid, and it was
very useful that way. The printer de-spooler made the speaker
chuckle a little, the reader made so much noise that the speaker
didn't matter, and most programs that we ran frequently made
characteristic patterns of sounds. And, of course, we did have
programs designed specifically to produce music. CDC used the
feature to make the expansion and shrinking of certain system
tables very obvious -- when one table was changed in size, the
system would "whoop" up or down very noticeably.
-- from Edward Rice, via Internet
APPLE II CIRCUIT DESIGN BOOK AVAILABLE IN QUANTITY
-------------------------------------------------
> I am the author of _The Apple II Circuit Description_, Howard
Sams & Co., 1983, which has been out of print for several years.
I....would like to donate about 200 copies to schools or
computer clubs. Here is my offer: Available for the cost of
surface UPS only: new copies of the book (second printing); 1
carton minimum order, 28 copies to a carton.
The book is 8.5x11 inch format, plastic comb bound, with 194
pages (172 standard-size pages plus 22 fold-out pages....which
display schematics, timing diagrams, etc. Cover price: $22.95.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 55
The book is a very complete, clock-edge-by-clock-edge, circuit
description of the Apple II Plus (and earlier) motherboard's
CPU, memory, video (text, lo-res, hi-res, color), I/O, etc.
Great for anyone troubleshooting an Apple II to the IC level, or
who wants to understand the workings of the Apple II
specifically or similar computers in general. Sorry, it applies
in general to the Apple //e (and later), but does not contain
specific Apple //e schematics or description. My favorite part
of the book (to research and write about) was the way in which
software and TTL chips combine to create an NTSC signal for
color graphics display on a standard TV set.
-- from Winston Gayler, via Internet
FOOTHILL MUSEUM IN TRANSITION
-------------------------------------------------
> A few years ago I visited a wonderful little museum--I think
it was called the Foothills Electronics Museum--on the campus of
a small college above Silicon Valley. I recall a modest but
interesting collection, including some things from Nolan
Bushnell's garage/attic/whatever.
Did this museum close? If so, what happened to its collections?
-- from Dr. Paul Ceruzzi, via Internet
[We have heard from Dr. Seymour Stein, treasurer of the Perham
Foundation in Los Altos, that the Foothill Electronics Museum is
"in containers but very much alive -- 40,000 square feet of
materials." Their old building at Foothill College was taken
over for classroom use, but they're negotiating for a 99-year
lease (no fools they) on a new building in Kelly Park in San
Jose. These negotiations have made it out of committee and the
proposal will be made to the City Council of San Jose shortly.
So, no, it didn't get scattered to the winds.... ]
MORE ON ELECTRONIC MAIL
-------------------------------------------------
> Hi Kip, I have one suggestion about the ENGINE. Have you
considered including email addresses in the attributions of
articles? I might like to correspond with some of the authors or
letter writers if we had acquaintances or interests in common.
-- from Tom Van Vleck, via Internet
[I take your point, but nothing is simple on the net -- where
"uninhibited communication" is as loaded with contradiction as
"paperless office" -- and this is actually a holy skirmish of no
mean order, kept alive by the dedicated followers of fashion for
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 56
whom an unlisted net.address is as cool as, say, an unlisted
pager number, so to speak. Read the letter and reply
"Attribution of Electronic Mail" in the October ENGINE, but the
kernel here is, we print e-mail addresses only with pre-existing
permission.
Now, certainly we can print _yours_ and personally I wish we
could print _everybody's_, but to say so would be flame-bait,
which we avoid....not only are we a Respectable Publication, but
net.kickboxing takes time we don't have, he said yawning.... ]
-------------------------------------------------
QUERIES
-------------------------------------------------
[Queries are sorted by subject, and within that, by model if
applicable.
If the person querying has permitted us to publish an e-mail
address, we have done so, and please reply directly to it;
otherwise, reply to cpu@chac.win.net or the El Cerrito address,
and we will store and forward.
Necessary warning: Income from subs keeps the ENGINE robust and
lack of same, unfortunately, makes it lose weight. Currently we
try to publish queries that we receive from anyplace in the
world, on the premise that, even if the subject and author
aren't in California, the answer well might be. If the ENGINE
has to get thinner, we may be compelled to require a California
source or tie-in for published queries. Vote _against_ this dire
possibility by subscribing today! EOPlug ]
ALTOS: NEEDS A HAND WITH A BOOTLESS XENIX SYSTEM
-------------------------------------------------
> I have recently acquired an old Altos 486 computer running
Microsoft XENIX 3.1. The set of install disks is incomplete so I
need to know how I can make a bootable system disk and set of
backups so I can restore the system if something gets trashed.
If anyone remembers this particular XENIX implementation and
knows how to do this, please email me with particulars. Thanks
in advance.
Don Congdon, dcongdon@delphi.com
----
> On the old Atari 400/800 computers (c. 1980), if you had the
BASIC cartridge plugged in, it generated error messages like
"ERROR 12 AT LINE 1320". You then had to look up the error
number in the manual to find out exactly what the error was. The
first entry in the lookup table was "ERROR 0: Power not on."
Since it hardly seems possible that you're going to be seeing
any error messages at all if the power isn't on, I've always
wondered whether this was a joke or whether it could conceivably
have referred to something else, like a peripheral device.
-- from David P. Mikkelson, via Internet
BASIS 108: QUERY
-------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know of or have experience with a Basis 108? It
is/was an Apple II compatible (6502?) with a Z80 (CP/M) as a
second CPU. I think it was made in Germany.
-- from Peter F. Bastien, via Internet
BUGS 'N' LOOPS (GAME) QUEST
-------------------------------------------------
> c. 1973-1976, my co-workers and I used to amuse ourselves at
lunchtime with a game that ran on our IBM/360/370. The game was
called "Bugs 'n' Loops," and it was based on the concept of a
Turing machine emulation. When your turn came, you had to code
the next instruction in the program; one which would execute
without forcing the pointer off the end of the tape (a "bug"),
or one which would force the instructions to reiterate
indefinitely (a, well, you know ...). You were given something
like 45 seconds to figure out what your next instruction would
be, and if you overran your allotment, you lost however many
subsequent turns were necessary to make up the deficit. It
remains one of the most intellectually stimulating and
challenging games I have ever played on a computer. Oh, yeah, it
was written in APL.
Does anyone else have recollection of or experience with this
game? More to the point, does anyone have a copy of the source
that can be made available, either in the original APL (I'll
refresh myself) or, even better, in some more contemporary, IBM-
PC compatible language?
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 58
Eagerly and gratefully awaiting your replies.
-- from Steve Gross, via Internet
BURROUGHS 205: THEN WHAT DID THE PENGUIN USE?
-------------------------------------------------
> Was the (Bat)Computer used by Batman & Robin on the TV series
(60s) a real Burroughs Datatron 205 computer?
-- from Marcelo Savio, via Internet
CANON CX-1: CALLED "OBSCURE" BY NEW OWNER
-------------------------------------------------
> I have been assaulted with a CANON CX-1. So far I have only
read one of the manuals. And I wonder if the OS called MCX is
related with CP/M or is it some other obscure beast. Any info is
appreciated.
-- from Lennart Sandberg, via Internet
CDC CYBER 180: POWER RATING WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> I once had to use a CDC Cyber 180 machine for a few months
(180/640 or some such detail). It had a UNIX emulation (VX/VE),
and the oversize(?) NOS/VE native operating system -- SCL
programming was fun in a macabre sort of way because it was,
IMHO, so disgustingly complex....
It was a regular monster, but I never did learn very much about
just what kind of machine it was.... I don't really miss it,
except for a certain nostalgia that any such beast would surely
bring about.
So here are my questions: Would some one out there know just how
"powerful" these machines were? How fast? How would they compare
with mainframes from their time periods, or minis like the VAX
series? And how would they rank against the 32 bit RISCs?
-- from Shyamal Prasad, Department of Computer Science, Southern
Methodist University, via Internet
CIMLINC: DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF "OLD...."
-------------------------------------------------
> I've come into possession of an old Cimlinc PowerCim 68020
workstation. It has a 19" Hitachi color monitor, 8Mb of RAM, and
an external chassis with 70Mb disk and a 60Mb tape. It's built
on (gag) a Multibus chassis.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 59
The problem, as usual, is that no one will admit to having a
manual for it. Cimlinc is still happily in business, but hasn't
made hardware in 6 years, and the guy I talked to couldn't
locate anything. Xerox, on the other hand, wouldn't admit to
knowing anything about it at all.
A friend's dad is a regional muck with Xerox, and rescued it
from a warehouse in Atlanta somewhere, but apparently, while I
_did_ get a boot tape, there were no docs around for it (so I
don't know how to _use_ the boot tape).
I refuse to let a workstation with 24bit graphics and a 19" tube
go to waste... if I can get docs on the video card, I'll port
X11 to it (it runs 4.3 BSD, so it shouldn't be _that_ hard....)
Help??!!
-- from Jay Ashworth, via Internet
CROMEMCO S3: EXPERIENCE SOUGHT
-------------------------------------------------
> I live in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area (Charles
County, Maryland to be exact), and I am looking for someone with
Cromemco System Three experience and a kind heart (that means I
can't pay :-)) to help revive this part of computer history.
The S3 has two of the original Persci 8" drives which use voice
coils and I understand were a bear to keep working. I would be
willing to reimburse gas cost and price of a decent meal to
someone who can help me fire it up. After turning the key, the
drives spin up (yes, with a boot disk in A), but I never get
anything on the screen. I plan to keep it regardless, so buyers
need not approach me (both of you! ;-)). Anyone who can help,
please respond via private e-mail. Thanks!
-- from Allan Hamill, p00722@psilink.com
DATA GENERAL MP/20: WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME?
-------------------------------------------------
> I recently added a Data General MP/20 to my computer
collection. The system has a cartridge drive, 5.25" floppy
drive, and a 5.25" form factor hard drive. Unfortunately, I know
very little (nothing might be more accurate) about the machine,
and the point in the boot process at which I'm stumped isn't
addressed in the docs I have. When I boot the system and type
"26h" at the bang prompt to (attempt to) get it to boot from the
hard drive, it responds:
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 60
SPECIFY EACH DISK IN THE LDU
DISK UNIT NAME?
I can't find this in the docs, and have no idea what to type.
Typing anything here gives me the following:
DON'T UNDERSTAND '{whatever}'. AVAILABLE TYPES ARE:
DKB, DPD, DPE, DPF, DPG, DPH, DPI, DPJ, DPK, DPL, DPM, and DPN
DISK UNIT NAME?
I'm also looking for a set of the customer diagnostic floppies
and an AOS boot set, if anyone happens to have these and could
loan me a set. If anyone from DG reads this, I'd be happy to buy
a set (if they're still available) - please send me a phone
number to call!
As always, Thanks!
-- from Bill von Hagen, via Internet
DATA GENERAL NOVA DISK CONTROLLER: SPECS, OR MORE, WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> As part of the historic machines project (to create simulators
for machines of historic interest), I am looking for a
specification, users manual, or even an O/S driver for the NOVA
moving head disk controller (mnemonic DKP under RDOS, device 033
or 073). This controller handled a variety of drives, including
the Diablo 33 and 44, the Century 111 and 114, and DG's first
floppy disk drive.
(If I could only find MIMIC (the mini simulator system that ran
on DEC-10's), I'd have sources not only for the 8, 11, and Nova,
but DEC's whole 18b line as well.)
Please reply by e-mail.... Thanks.
-- from Bob Supnik, supnik@human.enet.dec.com
DEC SBC-11: SLIGHTLY PUZZLING
-------------------------------------------------
> Stashed under my desk I have an SBC-11, which also seems to
have been known as a "Falcon" (whether by DEC or others, I'm not
sure). According to the manual, its single-chip processor is
called a micro-T11.
Apparently this chip contains a "configuration register" which
is loaded during power up and controls various operating modes
of the processor. The manual briefly mentions that in the SBC-11
the chip is set to operate in "user mode" with "addressing
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 61
restricted to 16 bits". This suggests that the chip is capable
of operating in other modes or with more address bits, but the
manual gives no explanation. There only seem to be 16 address
lines coming out of the chip.
Does anyone out there know more about this chip and what it is
capable of? Thanks for any info,
-- from Greg Ewing, via Internet
DECWAR (GAME): IN SEARCH OF
-------------------------------------------------
> I am looking for the source to a game, which ran on a DEC-10,
called DECWAR. It is a multiplayer Trek-type game developed at
the University of Texas, in FORTRAN. If you have played Megawar
on CompuServe, that is it, but rewritten with slightly more
functionality.
All my leads have turned up negative. I heard that one of the
implementors was in Minnesota, but I have not been able to reach
him [since] he is not on [the] net.... Anyone with any
information, please contact me at hsnewman@wixer.bga.com, or
512-322-3841.
Thanks!
-- from Harris Newman, via Internet
DYNASTY SmartALEC: BOY, THAT Z-80 SURE GOT AROUND....
-------------------------------------------------
> I'm trying to locate former users of an old Z-80A PC, the
Dynasty SmartALEC, that was
manufactured by Dynasty Computer Corp. in Dallas, TX, during the
'80s. Thanks.
-- from "TORAIDHE@DELPHI.COM"
GNAT: ALL WE GOT
-------------------------------------------------
> I've heard of a GNAT. The floppy format is compatible with
some other systems of the same era (Intertec Superbrain comes to
mind) but the boot disks are not the same. I don't have any
disks for it, unfortunately.
-- from Terry Kennedy, via Internet
[Further note: We are trying to track down Thomas Lafleur, a co-
founder of the GNAT Corporation, in hopes that he might have
some tech ref. -- Editors ]
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 62
HP 9000/3xx: NICE SAVE AT THE LAST MINUTE
-------------------------------------------------
> A co-worker has come to me looking for advice on the identity
and usefulness of an HP 9000 300 system which a friend of his
caught before it hit the dumpster at the local nuclear plant. It
is apparently a series 300 with a 68010 processor and 2.5MB of
memory. (1mb on the system board, 1mb on an expansion board, and
.5mb on another expansion.) It is also equipped with a HP98546A
Display Compatibility Interface and a 35731A monitor, a
keyboard, and a 9122D dual floppy drive. On the keyboard is a
BASIC template. There is, unfortunately, no hard disk, software,
or manuals.
1) What is it? I assume it predates a 330 which is the oldest
9000 I had seen.
2) What does/did it run? Will this thing run some version of HP-
UX?
3) What more would be needed should one be inclined to turn it
into a system? Software obviously, but any additional hardware?
-- from John Ruschmeyer, via Internet
HP 9810: HELP AND DOCS WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> I have an HP 9810A calculator (1971 vintage, about the size of
a large VCR....) which almost works, but not quite. I get the
display to light up and it sort-of responds to keypresses, but
every numeral you type produces a '0' digit on the display.
Typing 3 digits for example produces '000' on the display. Does
anyone know anything about this beast? Does anyone have any
schematics for it? Anyone know any tricky things about it
(assuming I get it to work again)? The pinout of the peripheral
bus (it has 3 peripheral slots, as well as 3 cartridge slots)?
It came with 3 cartridges : Mathematics, Peripheral II, and
Printer Alpha. Anyone have any manuals that I might be able to
copy? Anyone even heard of it?
Thanks in advance....
-- from Brian Murray, via Internet
HOME COMPUTERS: HOW HEAVY WAS IT?
-------------------------------------------------
> For reasons better left unexplained, I'd like to hear about
the heaviest PCs or peripherals that you have run across (or
been run across by?). I'm looking for things that could
conceivably have wound up in someone's home which is the only
reason for the PC qualifier ("Aye, lad. I worked on the Univac
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 63
Model 0 with the Strategic Air Command. Thirty tons of lead
shielding she had, and ran on dilithium crystals..."). "It was
so heavy that..." would be great. Come to think of it, "It ran
so hot that..." would be fun too.
-- from Eric Valentine, via Internet
IBM 029: I'M SURE WE ALL REMEMBER....
-------------------------------------------------
> I have just acquired an 029 Keypunch in working condition to
use in my History of Computing course in January; does anyone
know of sources of other EAM equipment (such as a sorter)?
Tim Bergin
Department of Computer Science and Information Systems
The American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20016-8116
(202) 885-3863
IBM 610 "AUTOPOINT": FOLKLORE OR DOCS WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> Can anyone tell us about the IBM 610? I remember wiring the
602 and 603, but this does not ring a bell. (I saw it discussed
in Computing Review 9008-0469). Anyone have anything written on
the 610?
-- from Laurence I. Press, via Internet
IBM 709, 7090, 7094: DINOSAUR HUNTING
-------------------------------------------------
> Are there any restored/living 709X boxes on Earth, and, if
not, could one be built?
-- from M. Edward Borasky, via Internet
> I have a 7094-I and a 709, both complete with peripherals,
spares, documentation and software and in pretty good shape.
Neither has been powered up since I deinstalled them about 7
years ago.
There is a rumor of an intact 704 in a closet at Argonne.
IBM has at least one of almost every machine they ever made in a
warehouse somewhere in New York state. My understanding is that
they are not in general complete and probably could not be
brought up.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 64
Does anyone know if BMEWS and/or the DEW line is still up and
still run by 7090's?
Any more out there?
-- from Paul Pierce, via Internet
IBM PROGRAMMER APTITUDE TEST: DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?
-------------------------------------------------
> Reading an old (1971) journal article, I saw a reference to
the IBM Programmer Aptitude Test. The reference in the article
was:
McNamara, W. J., & Hughes, J. L.
Manual for the revised programmer aptitude test.
White Plains, New York: IBM, 1969.
From the (brief) description in the article, the test apparently
has 3 parts: completion of number sequences, geometric paired
comparisons, and word problems similar to those in junior high
school mathematics.
My questions are:
1. Has anyone out there actually taken this test?
2. How would I go about getting a copy?
Thanks in advance.
-- from Paul Palmer, Department of Mathematics, Oregon State
University, via Internet
INTEL 8008: HLL's WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> There were high level languages for this ingenious
construction: PL/M-08, and SCELBAL, a very BASIC-like language.
I'm looking for these two languages for my homebrew 8008-system.
Is there anybody out there, who has one of these languages?
You can write a cross-assembler, which translates a 8008
assembler source to 80x86-code, so that you can run your old
programs in the year 2007 on an Intel Nonium. I did this for the
80486.
-- from Klemens Krause, University of Stuttgart, via Internet
[Editor's note: !!!!!]
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 65
INTEL MDS: INFORMATION NEEDED
-------------------------------------------------
> I'm working on a project on the history of microcomputer
development systems, and need information on Intel development
systems for 8086, 80186, and 80286 systems. In particular, I am
interested in locating any Intel MDS systems or MDS system
documentation for these chips or even just information about
them. I believe that the systems I am interested in are follow-
on products to the Intellec 8/80 system.
Note: I am not looking for information about the chips
themselves.
-- from Jeremy Brest, via Internet
LEEDATA MINI: HELP WANTED WITH BAD DISK
-------------------------------------------------
> I own a LeeData System 2000 mini computer [with] a problem. I
think it has a bad sector on the HD. Every time it boots it asks
me if it should repair the filesystem because it wasn't shut
down properly. Then it starts repairing but....gives "READ ERROR
SECTOR xx" (I can't remember the number)
Also some important parts of the system have disappeared : the
/usr directory is empty, mkdir isn't there and so on.. Can
someone help me with this ? Most important I think is to mark
the bad sector but how can I do it?
System specs : it has a 80Mb HD, 5,25" DD, +/- 12 serial ports,
parallel port, Tapestreamer. It is running a XENIX version and
the machine is dated about Sept '85. I can get an old backup but
I haven't got ANY manuals.
-- from Wim van der Brink, via Internet
MOTOROLA VME/10: ANY ADVICE?
-------------------------------------------------
> Anyone out there familiar with the Motorola VME/10 computers?
I just managed to acquire a working one not too long ago. It
runs something called VERSADos--a very strange operating system
indeed.... Comments/advice welcome.
-- from Kevin Fisher, via Internet
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 66
NIXDORF PC-05: DOCS NEEDED
-------------------------------------------------
> I recently picked up a Nixdorf PC-05, a hand-held computer
with a rubber-key keyboard and a graphics LCD screen that is
capable of displaying 8 lines of text. It features an 80C88,
128KB RAM and, according to the startup message, it is
programmed in FORTH. Since it does not have any mass-storage,
files are kept in RAM and programs are added by inserting EPROMs
into slots in the bottom of the case. You can fold the display
onto the keyboard (just like a notebook). The only modules that
were included in my PC-05 were for a demo to calculate some
insurance fee. I would like to write some software but, alas, I
do not have any documentation! Although this thing was marketed
by my company, there seems to be nobody (who reads news) who
does remember the PC-05. Furthermore I think that we only re-
painted the case (grey was the "color" to go) of another
company's product.
Does anyone remember such a beast? Any documentation I might be
able to get? Any hints would be appreciated.
-- from Josef Moellers, via Internet
PHILIPS P8xx: MATERIAL WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> Looking through the latest ENGINE which dropped into my e-mail
file earlier this evening, I was reminded of an omission in
almost all lists of computers, that of Philips.
In the early 70's, Philips made a series of computers - the P800
series. The P850 was a small, 16 bit (to the programmer - 8 bit
in hardware) machine with 1 or 2K words of core (there were 2
cabinet sizes, 3U or 6U rack), I/O slots, and a processor built
from MSI TTL. All ran off a large, and heavy linear power supply
at the back. The instruction set was weird: it was sort of RISC-
like (although most instructions needed several processor cycles
to complete), and was something like 5-bit opcode, 4 bit
register, 2 bit addressing mode, 4 bit register, 1-bit
load/store flag or 5-bit opcode, 3-bit register, 8 bit operand.
The registers were split into 2 banks of 8, called A0-A7 and B0-
B7, and the second format of instruction could only use the A
registers. Register A0 was the program counter I think. I/O
instructions could set processor flags directly depending on the
I/O result, so it was quite common to have an OT (out)
instruction followed by a RB (relative backwards) branch to keep
on trying until the I/O succeeded. The Most significant bit of
the word was called bit 0.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 67
The P855 was a larger machine, with up to 32K words of core, and
some extra instructions. For example, the P850 could only do 1-
bit shifts, but the P855 could also do multi-bit shifts in 1
instruction. The operand field of the instruction was always 1
on a P850, but could be set to other values on the P855 I think.
The P851 was basically an LSI-chipped (2 custom chips, PLANET
and SPALU. SPALU was a 4-bit cascadable data-path chip, PLANET
was the control sequencer/ROM) P850 with some of the P855
upgrades. The system was now built on 6U Eurocards, and the
memory was semiconductor RAM. There was a battery-backup option
for this. There were also P852, P857 and possibly some others,
but I have no documentation on these.
Does anyone else remember these machines, and have any nice
tricks for them?
-- from Tony Duell, University of Bristol (UK), via Internet
PIED PIPER: NEEDS TO KNOW WHERE IT'S AT
-------------------------------------------------
> I have a Pied Piper Z80-based computer. Does anyone know
anything about it, or have a bootable disk for it?
-- from Magnus Y. Alvestad via Internet
RADIO SHACK TRS-80: ANALYSIS PAD?
-------------------------------------------------
> I am looking for any old TRS-80 people that recall a product
called 'Analysis Pad'. I need to know when it was released, and
who wrote it, and what company produced it.
-- from Taylor Hutt, via Internet
RICE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER: WANTED, USERS OF
-------------------------------------------------
> I'm looking for former users of the Rice Institute Computer,
also known as the Rice University Computer, or, more simply, the
R1.... If there are any R1 hackers out there reading this,
please drop me a line. I'd like to interview you for the project
I'm doing. Also, does anyone know what happened to J.K. Iliffe
after about 1972?
-- from Adam Justin Thornton, adam@rice.edu or +1 (713) 630-
8884, via Internet
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 68
SAGE: MULTI-MEDIA PROJECT
-------------------------------------------------
> Is anyone out there sitting on any information, pictures, or
film of the old Air Force SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground
Environment) system ? It ran from around 1957 to 1984 and
handled the air defense for all of North America. I am doing a
multi-media project on it. I called NORAD and even they are
looking for stuff on the system. Any help would be great, even
folklore. Thanks.
-- from Alan Spurgeon, CTIS Project, via Internet
STRIDE 460: IN NEED OF ATTENTION
-------------------------------------------------
> Recently, at an auction....I picked up a Stride 460 (10MHz
68K, 1M memory, 80M disk (having recently been a DEC person I
took one look and screamed 'RD53! Argh!' but that's another
story...)) Anyway, the machine currently has BOS installed....
For very obvious reasons, I don't want this.
So, are there any alternatives? A UNIX-derivative would be a bit
much to ask I think, given the hardware. I'm pretty sure that
the UCSD p-system was available on these machines (I have space
for 4M if 1 is not enough) and my preference is to get the
system running rather than cannibalise it... I have both
cartridge tape and floppy drive, and I can probably master a
tape on another system if you give me enough details.
Also, any documentation on the machine - operating manuals,
hardware manuals etc would be great. I have no problems paying
postage, or making you a reasonable....offer for the stuff....
Thanks for any help/ideas.
-- from Michael Smith, via Internet
TANDY 6000HD: DOCS WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> I've recently been given a dead Tandy 6000HD XENIX computer
with all the XENIX reference manuals and system disks, but
without a hardware reference manual. These manuals are the
'puffy' woodgrain-looking books circa TRS-80 Model IV. Around
this time, Tandy was putting out pretty useful hardware
reference guides, so I assume one is available for this 6000HD.
Does anyone have one that they'd be willing to sell/give/trade
to me? I'd really like to get this computer working. Currently
it displays just a raster scan, and doesn't spin either the 8"
floppy or the 15mb HD, so I'm assuming it's gonna take a lot of
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 69
work to resurrect again... Thanks bunches for any assistance.
-- from Xyanthilous Harrierstick, Student Computing Facility,
New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, via Internet
TEKTRONIX 8550: DETAILS WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know anything about the Tektronix 8550
microprocessor development system? One was being thrown out
here....so I rescued it, and would like to know a bit more about
it. So far, I've found out that it consists of 2 modules, the
8501 Data Management Unit, and the 8301 (Can't remember, but
emulator would be a good name for it). The 8501 contains a DEC
LSI11/2 CPU card, a floppy controller (Z80-based), some RAM, and
a couple of I/O cards. That box looks complete and untouched.
The 8301 contains a system controller based round the 2650A,
some more RAM, a 'language processor' (A Z80 I think), the RTPA
(A logic analyser/bus grabber), and slots for a PROM programmer,
and emulation processors. Unfortunately I don't have any
emulation processor cards, and am wondering if they have been
removed, or whether the above configuration would be useful
without them.
I have user manuals for some of it, but no service data.
-- from Tony Duell, University of Bristol (UK), via Internet
UNIVAC M642B: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND SOUGHT
-------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone have any information or historical background on
the UNIVAC M642B? It was used as a communications processor
until recently in the NASA ground network (satellite tracking
stations). The computer uses discrete transistor logic and core
memory. I think it also had a small amount of plated wire
memory. The I/O devices were a bank of 7-track mechanical tape
handlers that were later upgraded to pneumatic operation. Two
CPU/memory units were connected to an EMU (expanded memory
unit?) in a typical configuration. It used 6 bit field code
instead of ASCII or EBCDIC. I was told that it had been used as
a U.S. Navy fire control computer in a previous incarnation. It
had a "Battle Short" switch on the front panel and a really loud
fault horn that was turned on whenever the system crashed. The
instruction set and architecture were really weird. Software was
developed in a language called SYCOL.
The SCE (Spacecraft Command Encoder), another old NASA system,
used the Honeywell 316. I think this was a ruggedized version of
the Honeywell 516. There are still a few of these that are in
use. Wasn't this computer used as a node in the original
ARPANet?
-- from John A. Limpert, via Internet
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 70
VOLKER-CRAIG: FOLKLORE WANTED
-------------------------------------------------
> How many of you folks remember using Volker-Craig terminals at
some point in your hackish careers? Did you love 'em, hate 'em,
tolerate 'em; were they good for their day? And whatever became
of the company that makes 'em? I know little more than that, at
one point, Volker-Craig *was* a small outfit created by two guys
named Volker and Craig, in a rented office near the University
of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
-- from "Royal Nuisance," via Internet
WHITECHAPEL WORKSTATIONS: FORGOTTEN BUT NOT GONE
-------------------------------------------------
> At home I run a couple of Whitechapel Workstations (WCW) MG-
1s. They are NS32016-based graphics boxes running 4.2BSD. Until
recently, I thought that the MG-1 (and its colour version, the
CG-1) were the only models that WCW ever made - they went bust
in 1988, just like 80% of all 1980s workstation startups.
However, I was recently told that they also made a couple of
other machines: the MG-2 (also NSC32k based?) and the HITECH-10
(MIPS R2000 based?) which seemingly ran UMIPS.
Can anyone give me *any* information on either of these
machines?
Has anyone ever seen either of them?
Is anyone still using either of them?
Does anyone know where I can lay my hands on an example of
either?
Thanks.
-- from Iain A. F. Fleming, via Internet
ZILOG TAPE DRIVE: GETTING IT ROLLING AGAIN
-------------------------------------------------
> I acquired a 1980-ish Zilog ZEUS model 2000 system 80....
Everything worked fine until I decided to attempt a backup using
the tape drive, whereupon the rubber bit that turns the gear
thing on the cartridge tape fell apart; old age, I guess, and
less than ideal storage conditions.
I took the tape drive out and attempted to make a replacement
rubber part. Unfortunately I don't know how big the roller was
to start with. So, a few questions:
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 71
1) On the tape is a bundle of numbers and names. Can someone
tell me if the company that made the drive is still going and
would be willing/able to show me how to fix the thing? (The
roller appeared to be an integral part of the motor shaft,
although I could be mistaken, but it seems silly to have to
replace the whole motor just to fix the rubber roller on it.)
On the motor: DATA ELECTRONICS INC
301386 24VDC
8133 12207
On the ribbon cable connecting the drive to its controller
board: 59-0117-00
REV-A
On a plate on the chassis: DATA ELECTRONICS INC,
sn 34-12813
pn 301091 rev S
mn 3447-44ABDEF-S2
Somewhere (I didn't note down where exactly--probably the
read/record head): American Magnetics Corporation
Carson, California
serial no 4241
part no 301178
2) Would somebody that knows about tape drives please give an
outline of how they operate? Would I be correct to assume that
the motor is driven at some very well defined speed and that if
the roller is the wrong diameter, or is "too"
irregular/eccentric, that the data written will be useless? Is
there some kind of read after write check? I only noticed the
one head and not that many connections, so this seems unlikely.
Basically, if I want to get the drive functional again, what are
the important things to get right about a replacement roller? I
attempted to turn one out of a rubber washer, but the lathe
didn't like it, and I can't file very accurately.... Bear in
mind that this is just for fun and I that I'm a poor research
student (whose subject has nothing to do with fixing up old
computers, and whose colleagues in the department think the only
use for the machine would be to replace the heating.) thanks,
-- from Jonathan H. N. Chin, via Internet
-------------------------------------------------
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
-------------------------------------------------
_Hewlett-Packard Journal_, Volume 35 Number 8, August 1984
(photocopy). Complete details of the HP 150 Touchscreen Personal
Computer [see ACQUISITIONS]. From Karen Lewis.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 72
_Historically Brewed_, newsletter of the Historical Computer
Society.
Issue #1, Aug/Sept 1993. History of the GUI; Influence of _Star
Trek_ on personal computers; A look at PARC; Altair and
Cromemco; Review of _Stan Veit's History_. 12 pp.
Issue #2, Oct/Nov 1993. Apple Lisa; VIC-20; COLOSSUS; War
stories; Coleco ADAM; Review of Steven Levy's _Hackers_. 16 pp.
Issue #3, Dec 1993/Jan 1994. Apple II's beginnings; Art of
Computer Collecting; Computer Generation; Review of Dr. Thomas
F. Haddock's _Collector's Guide to Personal Computers and Pocket
Calculators_. 16 pp.
US$15.00 per year. From David Greelish.
_Miracles in Trust_, newsletter of the Perham Foundation. Volume
5 Number 1, first quarter 1993. The first Silicon Valley garage;
Background of the Perham Foundation; Chronology of West Coast
Wireless, part 2. 8 pp.; available for US$20.00 annual
membership. From Dr. Seymour Stein.
_The Computer Museum News_, Computer Museum, Boston. Autumn
1993. Global Networking Exhibit; 1994 Computer Bowl; Interactive
exhibits; Events calendar. 8 pp.; available with US$25.00-50.00
annual membership. Also: _The Computer Museum Annual Report
1993_. Summary of the Computer Clubhouse and other outreach and
educational work. From Brian Wallace.
"University Courses," Martin Campbell-Kelly, Department of
Computer Science, University of Warwick, presented at the
ACM/SIGPLAN Forum on the History of Computing, April 20, 1993.
Discussion and guidelines for teaching the history of computing
at the university level. From the author.
_The Z-Letter_, newsletter of the CP/M and Z-System community.
Number 27, September/October 1993. Xerox micros; Script
programming; Radio Shack Model 100; correspondence and technical
discussion. 20 pp.
Number 28, November/December 1993. ReformaTTer 8" diskette
system; Bondwell luggables; correspondence and technical
discussion. 20 pp.
US$18 for 12 issues (2 years) From David A. J. McGlone.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 73
-------------------------------------------------
ADDRESSES OF CORRESPONDING ORGANIZATIONS
-------------------------------------------------
Historical Computer Society, 10928 Ted Williams Place, El Paso
TX 79934. CompuServe 100116,217. David A. Greelish, director and
editor.
The Perham Foundation, 101 First Street #394, Los Altos CA
94022. Donald F. Koijane, president; Mike Adams, editor-in-
chief.
-------------------------------------------------
THANKS TO....
-------------------------------------------------
Al Kossow for the Mac XL.
Allen Baum for FTP space.
Hal Layer for the great tour of his collection!
Ilya Galitzen-Weiss for wizardly Apple hacking.
JAN Lee for the list of 701 sites.
Karen Lewis for the HP Journal photocopy.
Kevin Frank for proofing.
Lar Press for FTP space.
Larry Tesler, Robert Praetorius and Tom Ellis for donations.
Lauren Weinstein for FTP space.
Nancy Mulvany for that quick (?) drive to the Outer Sunset....
Rayanne Waggoner and Win Gayler for agreeing that CHAC needed an
Apple One.
-------------------------------------------------
NEXT ISSUE
-------------------------------------------------
Interviews. Macintosh, the Computer for Lots of Us. Turing's
Contradiction. Letters. Queries. And more and more and
more....
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 74
-------------------------------------------------
GUIDELINES FOR DISTRIBUTION
-------------------------------------------------
The ANALYTICAL ENGINE is intellectual shareware.
Distribution of _complete, verbatim_ copies through online
posting, Internet mail or news, fax, postal service or
photocopying is encouraged by the Computer History
Association of California.
Excerpting or brief quotation for fair use, including review
or example, is also permitted, with one exception: Any
material copyright to or by a third party and reprinted in
the ANALYTICAL ENGINE by permission shall not be used in
another periodical or context, unless the permission of the
copyright holder is separately secured for the new use.
Alterations, abridgments or hacks of the ANALYTICAL ENGINE
which change the intent or meaning of original content; or
which contrive to bring income to any person or organization
other than the Computer History Association of California;
or which contrive to injure the Computer History Association
of California, its officers, contributors, volunteers or
members; are PROHIBITED. Reproduction of the ANALYTICAL
ENGINE without its subscription coupon is abridgment in this
sense.
-------------------------------------------------
GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION
-------------------------------------------------
The ANALYTICAL ENGINE solicits manuscripts of 600 to 1500
words on the general topic of the history of computing in,
or with significant reference to, the State of California.
Articles should focus on one interesting or illuminating
episode and should be written for a technically literate
general audience. Submissions are welcome from both members
and non-members of the CHAC. Article deadlines are the first
of each month prior to publication: June 1 for the July
issue, September 1 for the October issue, December 1 for the
January issue, and March 1 for the April issue.
Each author may publish a maximum of one signed article per
year. This restriction does not apply to letters, queries or
interviews. Thank you for cooperating to protect diversity
of voices and topics. We regret that we cannot republish
previously published material, except in the case of clearly
attributed quotations or citations.
Decision of the editors is final but copyright of all
published material will remain with the author.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 75
The preferred document file format is Microsoft Word for DOS
or Windows, but almost any DOS or Macintosh word processor
file will be acceptable. Submit manuscripts on DOS 5.25" or
DOS or Mac 3.5" diskettes. Alternatively, please provide an
ASCII file attached to Internet mail. Please avoid
submitting on paper unless absolutely necessary.
-------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE!
-------------------------------------------------
Okay, we blew it in October. We put the sub coupon on the back
of the last page and didn't realize that our subscribers, being
conservative in a highly literal sense, wouldn't want to cut up
their copies. Guess how many of those we didn't get back? New
subscribers just sent in personalized checks or addresses on
scraps of paper.
However, the information we ask for on the sub blank is
information we need to service your sub properly. Therefore
we'll make you a promise. Until further notice (which translates
to "until the ENGINE changes format,") the coupon of the on-line
edition will be on the last page, separate from the rest of the
issue. The coupon of the paper edition will be part of the stiff
top sheet, which you're supposed to remove and recycle anyway.
Either way, you can use the coupon and your ENGINE will remain
inviolate.
-------------------------------------------------
NINES-CARD
-------------------------------------------------
This agony column comes to us from USENETter Lance R. Buckley:
When I worked for ADPNS, we had a major power outage (our
substation blew up). I was the bozo in charge of the machine
room at the time (4 triple-CPU DECsystem-10's, untold PDP-8's
and 11's, and a heap of washing-machine disk drives and a
zillion other things scattered throughout the building). The
power-out happened at the very end of my 12 hour night shift.
The next shift in had no one who could bring it all up again.
So....I had to wait for the power to come back. When it did, I
spent the next 8 hours booting machines (from paper tape and
front-panel switches mostly) and getting peripherals back
online. By the time all the machines were running reliably, it
was time for my shift to start again. I spent most of that time
repairing the damage done to the various filesystems by the
crash, and re-establishing recalcitrant network links.
No sleep. No breaks. Very little food. No drugs apart from
gallons of coffee. I was starting to see little black furry
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 76
things in my peripheral vision, and odd people were whispering
in my ear. By the time I got home, I'd been awake for over 44
hours, and working hard for a solid 36 of those. And I
_couldn't_ get to sleep. You've got to laugh, ain't ya?
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 77
-------------------------------------------------
ADD MONEY, MAIL....
-------------------------------------------------
and enjoy fascinating articles, letters, queries and
editorials while you support the study and preservation of
California's unparalleled contribution to computing. Annual
membership will bring you four issues of the ANALYTICAL
ENGINE and the satisfaction of working toward a world-class
computer museum for the Golden State.
____ Yes! Please enroll me in the Computer History
Association of California for the next year. I enclose
Individual membership: US$25 on-line / $35 paper
(circle)
Corporate/institutional membership: US$75 on-line / $85 paper
(circle)
Low-income/student membership: US$15 on-line / $25 paper
(circle)
and send four issues of the ANALYTICAL ENGINE to
____ Internet address: _________________________________________
____ CompuServe ID#: ___________________________________________
____ Other gateway: ____________________________________________
My mailing address is:
Name: __________________________________________________________
Company: _______________________________________________________
Suite, Box, Mail stop: _________________________________________
Street: ________________________________________________________
City: _____________________ Zip/postcode: ______________________
Country: _______________ Phone: ________________________________
____ I will submit an article to the ANALYTICAL ENGINE.
(Please refer to the guidelines for submission, above.)
____ I will help produce the ANALYTICAL ENGINE or do other
work for the Association. Please contact me.
The Analytical Engine, Volume 1, Number 3, January 1994 Page 77
National Computing Science Day PRELIMINARY BALLOT
____ I vote FOR the Federal proclamation of a National Computing
Science Day.
____ I vote AGAINST the Federal proclamation of a National
Computing Science Day.
____ I think a National Computing Science Day, if proclaimed,
should implement the following features; and/or these are my
reasons for my vote (optional):
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Please return ballots or subscription blanks via
FAX: +1 510/528-5138
Internet: cpu@chac.win.net
US Mail: 1001 Elm Court, El Cerrito, CA 94530-2602 USA
Further details will appear in the April ANALYTICAL ENGINE. See
you then!
EOF