gordon’s personal view of the early days of digital…
DESCRIPTION
DECWorld, 16 June 2001Gordon BellTRANSCRIPT
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Gordon’s Personal View ofThe Early Days of Digital…
DECWorld, 16 June 2001
Gordon Bell
[email protected]://www.research.microsoft.com/~gbell
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Whirlwind c1953 … 1st generation, 16-bit word; 4 KB memory; 8 K drum
Whirlwind begot TX-O/TX-2 begot DEC PDP-1 Real time, first compiler, ECAD, text editor
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Whirlwind console, drum, 1 Kw core
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SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) Operator Console
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TX-0 Console c1959… one of the first transistorized personal computers
Speech, handwriting recognition, neuro data analysis, etc. Interactive editors, debuggers, etc.
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MIT Speech group with TX-0, c1959.
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DEC Computer before PDP-111957 1961 1963
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DEC PDP-1 c1961
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DEC PDP-1 c1961Being testedBuilding ?
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PDP-1 Production Line c 1962
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Livermore Labs machine: they bought one of everything in our virtual catalog
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Wes Clark & LINC c1962: Personal computers for bio-medical research
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PDP-4
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PDP-5 c1964: PDP-8 predecessor
Process control, real time experiments. Fortran ran in 4 K, 12 bit words
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PDP- 5:as pulseheightanalyzer
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PDP-8 Modules
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PDP-8: first mini
First OEM computer. OS/8 (from timesharing) begot RT-11 begot CPM
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Gbell as old man,with LINC and PDP-8 c1965
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PDP-8/E
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PDP-8 and Linc Family Tree
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PDP-8 12 bit word price (t)
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Timesharing: giving everyone their own, low cost, personal computer
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PDP-6 with GB at the console
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PDP-6 c1965 : First commercial time shared computer. Gbell & Alan Kotok
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PDP-6 team
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Gordon’s Packaging Folly: double sided connectors for PDP-6
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PDP-6/10/ DECsystem 10/20 family tree
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Minis and timesharing contributions• Editors, calculators, interactive debuggers,
interpreters, including mail and chat from timesharing
• Minis established embedded computers, importance of I/O to interconnect anything
• SpaceWar demonstrated interactive graphics and settled lots of later law suits
• OEM Distribution and marketing model… Harlan Anderson, after Tecumseh
• SCO’s all-in-one module and computer handbooks…
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Equating yourself to the average“user/buyer” is risky . . . unless you’re an average user like me. G. Bell
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Why didn’t Digital lead personal computers?
That’s another story…
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There is no reason anyone There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their would want a computer in their home.home.
Ken OlsenPresident,
Chairman and founder of Digital,
1977