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I've actually seen this machine in person, I have a punch card with my name on it somewhere that it printed out. As someone who missed this era of computing en
by AdamJacobMuller 9y ago
I've actually seen this machine in person, I have a punch card with my name on it somewhere that it printed out.
As someone who missed this era of computing entirely, but was quite familiar with it, it was very awesome to see in person. One thing that I really wasn't expecting was the smell in that room. I spend a lot of time in data centers but the room at the CHM with the 1401 smelled more like a machine shop than any data center I've ever been in.
The CHM, in general, was awesome to visit, but definitely go on a day when you can get the 1401 demo.
- kens 9y agoYes, you get that characteristic machine oil smell from the old machines. The older punch card machines from the 1930s actually have a bunch of metal oil tubes running through them to keep everything lubricated.
- khedoros1 9y agoMy grandfather was an engineer and manager at IBM in the era that the 1401 was built. He worked on the IBM 1620, and always framed them as kind of in competition with each other. The 1401's internal codename was "SPACE", and the 1620's was "CADET" (apparently as a kind of matched pair?) It was definitely a treat to see it, with the personal connection I had. I'll be going back if I'm ever in Mountain View again.
- djsumdog 9y agoThe owners manual about keeping things oiled and preventing cards from binding (it's read in a mellow British accent in the music piece I mentioned in another comment). I never thought about it until now, but I guess being around this machine would be more like working on a car or factory equipment than what we would consider a data center machine.
- WWLink 9y agoThat, and a day when they're doing the PDP-1 demo?