3 ms·
The IBM 1401 had instructions for reading a punch card, printing a line on the printer, and punching a card. It also had an instruction (Write, Read, and Punch)
by vincent-manis 5y ago
The IBM 1401 had instructions for reading a punch card, printing a line on the printer, and punching a card. It also had an instruction (Write, Read, and Punch) that did all 3 at once (this machine had no channels/DMA, so this was how you got overlap). I'm told that watching a program run was funny: the machine would sit silent, then all 3 peripherals would spring into action, and then there would be silence.
The past is truly a different world.
- Dr_Jefyll 5y agoPicking up on the "three at once" theme, the 1-bit computer I built in the 1980's has an instruction that does three things. The computer only has one instruction, so I didn't bother to give the instruction a name. But it performs an input, an output and a 2-way branch. I hope this is weird enough to deserve mention in this thread. :) The project was mentioned at least twice previously on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12469790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12469790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616831 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616831