4 ms·

It's also interesting to me that these sorts of posts have so much, and so better presented information than was available back in the day to those who had to m

by abraae 7y ago

It's also interesting to me that these sorts of posts have so much, and so better presented information than was available back in the day to those who had to maintain these machines. For example I found this fascinating animation by kens more useful in understanding how the hydraulically powered 1403 printer worked than any training at the time http://righto.com/ibm1401/printchain.html http://righto.com/ibm1401/printchain.html.

masswerk 7y ago
This animation is great and really informative! Loosely related: https://www.masswerk.at/misc/card-punch-typography/ https://www.masswerk.at/misc/card-punch-typography/ :-)
masswerk 7y ago
One thing I was wondering, but is probably a bit too ephemeral to find out more about in primary sources: I have always been amused by the "DEC Chair", which came with all bigger PDPs. Some of the Royal McBee materials suggest (loosely so) that the LGP-30 came with its own chair as well and that this may have been a broader habit in the first few decades of computing, when computers were still voluminous and expensive. (However, I don't think that IBM did ever ship a chair with their equipment. But this is just a personal impression.) – Are there any personal memories?
- abraae 7y ago
  Never heard of that, but the Cray-1 (not that I ever saw one) came with a magnificent circular seating arrangement around the machine itself https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10/7 https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10.... I can only imagine the rarefied conversations that would have taken place in such a setting.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
    >> I can only imagine the rarefied conversations that would have taken place in such a setting. Yes, me too. Typical conversations you hear in data centers: Alice: "I ...aid the... is... ...misf..." Bob: "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Alice: "I ...AID THE ... ERF... MEF... NAH!"
- kps 7y ago
  The CDC 6600 (another fascinating design) came with an orange-red chair, matching some cabinet trim.
  - kragen 7y ago
    Also designed by Seymour Cray, but I have no idea whether he designed the upholstery as well.

by abraae 7y ago

masswerk 7y ago

This animation is great and really informative! Loosely related: https://www.masswerk.at/misc/card-punch-typography/ https://www.masswerk.at/misc/card-punch-typography/ :-)

masswerk 7y ago

One thing I was wondering, but is probably a bit too ephemeral to find out more about in primary sources: I have always been amused by the "DEC Chair", which came with all bigger PDPs. Some of the Royal McBee materials suggest (loosely so) that the LGP-30 came with its own chair as well and that this may have been a broader habit in the first few decades of computing, when computers were still voluminous and expensive. (However, I don't think that IBM did ever ship a chair with their equipment. But this is just a personal impression.) – Are there any personal memories?

abraae 7y ago
Never heard of that, but the Cray-1 (not that I ever saw one) came with a magnificent circular seating arrangement around the machine itself https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10/7 https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10.... I can only imagine the rarefied conversations that would have taken place in such a setting.
- YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
  >> I can only imagine the rarefied conversations that would have taken place in such a setting. Yes, me too. Typical conversations you hear in data centers: Alice: "I ...aid the... is... ...misf..." Bob: "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Alice: "I ...AID THE ... ERF... MEF... NAH!"
kps 7y ago
The CDC 6600 (another fascinating design) came with an orange-red chair, matching some cabinet trim.
- kragen 7y ago
  Also designed by Seymour Cray, but I have no idea whether he designed the upholstery as well.