Title: Gordon
1Gordons Personal View ofPersonal Computing
before the PC
- Vintage Computer Society
- 27 September 1998
- Gordon Bell
- gbell_at_microsoft.com
- http//www.research.microsoft.com/gbell
2(No Transcript)
3Apple II
4First personal computer
5Micral
6In the beginning Manchester Baby ran the first
program 22 June 1948
7English Electric Deuce Console 1955
8Whirlwind 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
9Whirlwind console, drum, 1 Kw core
10SAGE Control Room c 1962.
Whirlwind used for first experiments.
11SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) Operator
Console
12TX-0 Console c1959 one of the first
transistorized personal computers
Speech, handwriting recognition, neuro data
analysis, etc. Interactive editors, debuggers,
etc.
13MIT Speech group with TX-0, c1959.
14DEC Computer before PDP-11
1957 1961 1963
15DEC PDP-1 c1961
16Wes Clark LINC c1962 Personal computers for
bio-medical research
17PDP-5 c1964 PDP-8 predecessor
Process control, real time experiments. Fortran
ran in 4 K, 12 bit words
18Gbell with LINC and PDP-8 c1965
19PDP-8 first mini
First OEM computer. OS/8 (from timesharing)
begot RT-11 begot CPM
20PDP-8 Modules
21PDP-8/E
22PDP-8 and Linc Family Tree
23PDP-8 12 bit word price (t)
24PDP-8 prices (t)
25Timesharing given everyone their own, low cost,
personal computer
26PDP-6 c1965 First commercial time shared
computer. Gbell Alan Kotok
27PDP-6 Development team c1965
28PDP-6/10/ DECsystem 10/20 family tree
29There is no reason anyone would want a computer
in their home.
- Ken OlsenPresident, Chairman and founder of
Digital, 1977
30Equating yourself to the averageuser/buyer
is risky . . . unless youre an average user.
31Why didnt Digital lead personal computers?
Thats another talk
32Minis and timesharing contributions
- SpaceWar demonstrated the importance of
interactive graphics - Editors, calculators, interactive debuggers,
interpreters were in use - Mail and chat used timesharing
- Minis established embedded computers