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Awesome. I've been wanting to get an AS/400 for quite a while, but every time I look they cost much more than I would spend for that side hobby. Plus, a lot of
by anyfoo 8y ago
Awesome. I've been wanting to get an AS/400 for quite a while, but every time I look they cost much more than I would spend for that side hobby. Plus, a lot of them seem very clunky (more so if you're willing to spend less, it seems), and then it wasn't always entirely clear to me whether I'd separately need to buy licenses.
AS/400 (or iSeries now) is so very different, but with many interesting concepts that did not end up getting used in mainstream desktop and now server computing, that it always seemed very compelling to play around with. Take the 128bit flat address space for example, that addresses both memory and storage.
- Angostura 8y agoThey actually made a few laptop AS/400s for sales guys to take around back in the mid 90s. I'd like to get hold of one of those :)
- d4rti 8y agoDo you know what they were called or any page with details about them? I had a quick search but nothing useful turned up.
- d4rti 8y agoI found this PDF: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/pdf/as400.pdf https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/pdf/as400.pdf > 1994 >A new generation of AS/400 computers called the AS/400 >Advanced Series is introduced in >May, including the AS/400 Advanced System, AS/400 Advanced >Server and the AS/400 >Advanced Portable.
- tapland 8y agoIsn't the Advanced Portable just a regular ATX-sized box?
- jzwinck 8y agoYes, the AS/400 9401 "Advanced Portable" is the size of a regular desktop PC. Some pictures are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/31231773@N02/albums/72157623717034546 https://www.flickr.com/photos/31231773@N02/albums/7215762371... I have one. Even at the time it was considered a toy, too small to do anything serious. Another 9401 model called "Advanced Entry" was significantly more capable, and was the smallest anyone would actually buy. Documentation (last updated in 2013, about 20 years after the machine was current): http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/printableversion.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_sm/0/897/ENUS9401-150/index.html&request_locale=en http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/printableversion.wss?docURL... The portable was more of a sales and training tool, with a base 8 MB of RAM (maximum 16 MB in 1994, 56 MB in 1995) and billed as a single-user machine: https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?appname=skmwww&htmlfid=897%2FENUS194-068&infotype=AN&mhq=9401%20as%2F400&mhsrc=ibmsearch_a&subtype=CA https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?appname=s... IBM also claimed the portable could be used for "low cost kiosks." The starting price adjusted for inflation to 2019 was over $12k.
- ianai 8y agoAddressing both ram and storage is definitely “early”, future tech. We’ll definitely get there someday. Once SSDs close the gap.