Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Just noticed a Dell ad in the latest PC Magazine (August 9, 2005). It is
announcing the new Dell 5100.

This brought back some old memories. The first "personal" computer I did
software development for was called the 5100. It was made by IBM 5 or 6
years before they invented the current PC architecture in 1981. See:

http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5100.html
http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/ibm/5100/

....or google for "IBM 5100".

The IBM 5100 had built-in (ROM) Basic as well as APL. It used cartridge
tapes for storage and had 32K of memory. The OS was stored in ROM.

- David Harper

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You go way back! Very cool. When I was in college, back in 1974, I
remember my first day at the universities computer center. A low, concrete,
brick and glass building with a series of huge double glass doors at the
entrance. An air curtain kept dust from entering as you went between doors.
The engineers all wore white coats in there. As I recall the mainframe was
a Control Data machine. Rows of bookshelf sized tape drives and six
"washing machines" where stackable disks were kept, similar to a huge record
player.

It was very sci-fi in there.

"David Harper" <dharper@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
news:M5SAe.139047$6g3.116149@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Just noticed a Dell ad in the latest PC Magazine (August 9, 2005). It is
> announcing the new Dell 5100.
>
> This brought back some old memories. The first "personal" computer I did
> software development for was called the 5100. It was made by IBM 5 or 6
> years before they invented the current PC architecture in 1981. See:
>
> http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5100.html
> http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/ibm/5100/
>
> ...or google for "IBM 5100".
>
> The IBM 5100 had built-in (ROM) Basic as well as APL. It used cartridge
> tapes for storage and had 32K of memory. The OS was stored in ROM.
>
> - David Harper
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Kevin wrote:
>
> You go way back! Very cool. When I was in college, back in 1974, I
> remember my first day at the universities computer center. A low, concrete,
> brick and glass building with a series of huge double glass doors at the
> entrance. An air curtain kept dust from entering as you went between doors.
> The engineers all wore white coats in there. As I recall the mainframe was
> a Control Data machine. Rows of bookshelf sized tape drives and six
> "washing machines" where stackable disks were kept, similar to a huge record
> player.
>
> <snip>

Back in college, we used an IBM card puncher. Each line of code
was punched on a single card. 1000 lines of code, 1000 punch cards.
Inevitably, on the way to turning in our final project, one of us
nerds (fortunately, not me) would drop his box of 1000s of carefully
laid out cards, right in front of the science tower and... well...
There went his final project!

Ah, the good old days! <g>

Notan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You brought back memories as well. My first experience was working for FADIC
in 1966. (FADIC was a "portable" computer used by the Army in Viet Nam to
electronically aim Howitzers (field artillery).
Input the temp, pressure, etc. fire one 50 cal round, fwd observer makes
correction and the artillery shell should drop within 50 meters or less.)

BTW, my first personal computer was a TI-994A. (Anyone else remember these
little jewels? Great game machine.)

">> This brought back some old memories. The first "personal" computer I
did
>> software development for was called the 5100. It was made by IBM 5 or 6
>> years before they invented the current PC architecture in 1981. See
)

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 23:02:05 GMT, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, "Dennis"
<nobody@verizon.net> wrote:

>You brought back memories as well. My first experience was working for FADIC
>in 1966. (FADIC was a "portable" computer used by the Army in Viet Nam to
>electronically aim Howitzers (field artillery).
>Input the temp, pressure, etc. fire one 50 cal round, fwd observer makes
>correction and the artillery shell should drop within 50 meters or less.)

My first computer experience was with electro-mechanical special purpose
analog computers used on board Navy ships for missile fire control, starting
with Navy class C school in 1967. Sometimes disparagingly referred to as
'washing machines' by those who didn't know and love them.

Several years later they started the switch to digital computers: a military
version of the Univac 1219B computer. Magnetic core memory, all transistor
(no IC chips), I/O console with a paper tape reader and a teletype; later
installations had a magnetic tape drive and a fancier printer. The computer
was roughly the size of two file cabinets side by side and a little over six
feet tall.

>BTW, my first personal computer was a TI-994A. (Anyone else remember these
>little jewels? Great game machine.)

Commodore Vic-20 for me.

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>