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PDP-8 advertising

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  PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-23 16:37 -0700
    Re: PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-14 13:21 -0700
      Re: PDP-8 advertising Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-06-14 21:01 +0000
        Re: PDP-8 advertising jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2016-06-15 13:05 +0000
          Re: PDP-8 advertising Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-06-15 16:11 +0000
      Re: PDP-8 advertising "gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339" <no.spam@thank.you.invalid> - 2016-06-14 23:18 +0100
        Re: PDP-8 advertising Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-06-15 12:19 -0700
          Re: PDP-8 advertising "gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339" <no.spam@thank.you.invalid> - 2016-06-15 21:09 +0100
            Re: PDP-8 advertising Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-06-15 18:03 -0700
      Re: PDP-8 advertising Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-06-15 08:27 -0400
      Re: PDP-8 advertising Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-06-15 12:23 -0700
        Re: PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-15 13:32 -0700
          Re: PDP-8 advertising Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-06-15 21:17 +0000
            Re: PDP-8 advertising Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2016-06-15 15:00 -0700
          Re: PDP-8 advertising "gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339" <no.spam@thank.you.invalid> - 2016-06-15 22:24 +0100
            Re: PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-16 13:29 -0700
          Re: PDP-8 advertising jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2016-06-16 12:30 +0000
            Re: PDP-8 advertising usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2016-06-17 07:37 +0000
              Re: PDP-8 advertising Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-06-17 08:27 +0000
                Re: PDP-8 advertising Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-06-17 08:31 +0000
          Re: PDP-8 advertising scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2016-06-16 12:48 +0000
          Re: PDP-8 advertising usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2016-06-17 03:37 +0000
            Re: PDP-8 advertising Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-06-17 07:40 +0000
              Re: PDP-8 advertising Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-06-17 12:32 -0400
                Re: PDP-8 advertising "Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> - 2016-06-18 09:41 -0500
                  Re: PDP-8 advertising Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-06-18 15:34 -0400
                  Re: PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-18 13:25 -0700
            Re: PDP-8 advertising jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2016-06-17 12:53 +0000
              Re: PDP-8 advertising usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2016-06-18 07:10 +0000
                Re: PDP-8 advertising barrym95838@yahoo.com - 2016-06-18 01:07 -0700
      Re: PDP-8 advertising Walter Banks <walter@bytecraft.com> - 2016-06-16 10:03 -0400
        Re: PDP-8 advertising hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-16 13:33 -0700
          Re: PDP-8 advertising Walter Banks <walter@bytecraft.com> - 2016-06-16 17:24 -0400
          Re: PDP-8 advertising Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-06-16 18:28 -0400

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#163877 — PDP-8 advertising

C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and
its variants.  Some of the ad copy is shown here.

C&A 1964-1967

PDP-8

• 1.6 usec cycle time
• 3.2 usec add time
• 12 bit word length
• 4096 word memory (expandable to 32,768 words)
• Fortran
• Field tested software
• 570,000 words/sec maximum transfer rate
• Reader punch and typewriter included

The PDP-8 is a high-speed, real time, general purpose digital
computer with all the desirable features of the popular PDP-5
plus greater speed and, as is evident, considerably smaller size.
Its 1.6 usec cycle time gives it a maximum computation rate of
312,500 additions per second, and its input/output rate is
625,000 words (7½ million bits) per second.

Besides FORTRAN, the software package includes an on-line
debugging program which gives the user dynamic printed
program status information and an on-line editing program
which lets him add, delete, change or insert single lines or
sections of his symbolic program. The system also contains a
macro assembler, floating-point software, elementary function
subroutines in single- and double-precision arithmetic, and
utility, diagnostic, and maintenance routines.

An input/output bus system permits simple connection of
numerous standard and custom devices without changes in the
central processor. Standard options include analog/digital and
digital/analog converters, analog multiplexers, magnetic tape,
paper tape, and drum memory systems, cathode tube displays,
card punch and readers and other devices.

For information about the PDP line of computers (including
the new medium-sized PDP-7 and the large-scale PDP-6),
ask any computer expert. For user handbooks and technical
specifications, call any Digital Equipment office or the main
office: DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, Maynard,
Massachusetts 01754. Telex: 092-027. Cable: DIGITAL MAYN


$18,000

OPTIONAL EGUIPMENT AVAILABLE
• IBM compatible tape
• DEC tape
• CRT displays with light pen
• Card equipment
• Analog I/O
• Data communication equipment
• Bulk storage drums
• Printers and plotters

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS


And Now, the $10,000 Computer

PDP-8/S: A full, general purpose, digital computer for real time analysis.
4K core memory (expandable). usec speeds. 66 plus instructions.
Complete, proven software, including FORTRAN.
Flexible input/ output bus. Teletype included.

Available now, the new PDP-8/S - a direct lineal descendant
of the PDP-8, the most flexible, versatile, approachable,
on-line, real time, high speed digital computer ever made.

Both use the same basic design concept. Both have the same size
memories. Both are expandable. Both use the same instructions,
use the same software libraries.

They do not, however, work at the same speeds. And they
do not cost the same amount of money.

The PDP-8/S adds in 32 microseconds (compared with 3.0 microseconds
for its parent). If you need the speed, the PDP-8 is for you.

The PDP-8/S costs $10,000.
Think of it. Full computer. Proven hardware. Proven software. $10,000.
Any DIGITAL field office can give you the details. Or write.

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS


When you sell 650 PDP-8/S computers in the 8 months since
it was introduced, you develop a little confidence, and you
start doing things differently.

(The PDP-8/S is a full, general purpose,409612 bit word core
memory, FORTRAN-speaking, expandable digital computer
complete with ASR-33 teletype and software. It sells for
$10,000 each. Generous quantity discounts.)

For one thing, you think about stocking the computer, like
other instrument makers stock voltmeters, even if nobody has
ever done that before. And that's exactly what we've done.
Effective· now, small quantity orders of the PDP-8/S are
available off-the-shelf. Instantaneous delivery. Larger quantities
still require a short delivery schedule.

And secondly, we've put at least one in every field office we
have - 22 of them. If you must have the computer that's in
the field office, you back up your car open your trunk, and
take it. We'll send the field office a replacement. That way, it
becomes off-the-shelf instantaneous delivery not only in
Maynard, Mass., but around the country.



All time winner, move over the new PDP-8/I computer is here.

The integrated circuit PDP-8/I is a brand new computer,
but behind it are the two most successful small computers
ever built. Over 1,000 PDP-8 systems are already installed
- an all time high for real-time, on-line small general pur·
pose machines. Nearly 1,000 PDP-8/S computers are
installed - all sold and delivered within the last 15
months. Built into instrumentation. On-line in process
control.

So, PDP-8/1 starts with a history and goes on from there.
It has all the features of the PDP-8 plus a new ease of
interfacing, expanded software and new options. It is
more compact. PDP-8/I has a faster multiply-divide option
(multiply 6.0, divide 6.5 microseconds). Its standard 1.5
microsecond 4K core memory expands to 32K (first extra
4K plugs into the basic configuration without further interfacing).
PDP-8/I comes as a stand-alone console or
mounted in a standard 19-inch rack. The processor is prewired
so that it will accommodate a high-speed paper
tape reader and punch, a 100 card-per-minute reader,
an incremental plotter, and a scope display also without
further interface.

And software. The same proven software that runs the
PDP-8, drives the PDP-8/I. Auto-indexing. MACRO.
FORTRAN. On-line editing and debugging. But that is
not all. New systems software is available which takes full
advantage of 32K or more of DECdisk or DECtape
memory. Thousands of the most active computer users in
the world exchange PDP·8 programs and techniques.

Peripherals that go with the PDP·8 and PDP·8/S go with
the PDP-8/I. Hundreds of logic-compatible modules make
interfacing easy. Peripherals are field-installed by an
applications engineering and field service group second
to none.

And the crusher. PDP-8/I sells for $12,800 complete.
Quantity discounts reduce that price. Deliveries in the
spring. PDP·8 and PDP-8/S available now. Write for
brochure. We'll throw in our new Small Computer Handbook
free.


New, low cost, small computer disk.
Thanks for the memory, PDP·8.

The new, small DECdisk provides 32K words extra memory
for the PDP·8 for $6,000. Additional 32K DECdisk units cost
$3,000 each. Since a basic $18,000 PDP·8 computer has 4096
words in core, with four DECdisk units, that could give you a
high speed computer with 135,168 12 bit words for $33,000!

DECdisk is compatible with the $10,000 PDP·8/S, too. Adding
four DECdisk units gives you a slightly slower computer with
135,16812 bit words.

More memory for less cost than any other computer.
At last count, more than 700 PDP·8 computers have been
sold to scientists and equipment manufacturers. The PDp·8
is, by far, the most successful and proven on·line, real time,
small computer in the world. And that was before DECdisk.

DECdisk was developed, like all DIGITAL peripherals to
customize a basically inexpensive computer to special appli-
cations. Yours. DECtape was developed the same way. The
unique 3 X" reels of magnetic tape not only provide low cost
storage, but permit you to carry your program library in your
pocket. And displays - did you know that DIGITAL was the
first computer manufacturer to put a CRT on a computer?

Computer manufacturers who worry about what the cus-
tomer needs, worry a great deal about peripherals. DIGITAL
has one of the largest lines of peripherals in the industry.
Write, and we'll send you a free "Small Computer Handbook"
and tell you all about our peripherals.

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#165128

On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and
> its variants.  Some of the ad copy is shown here.

Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this 
thread would generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.

 

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#165133

On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:21:42 -0700, hancock4 wrote:

> On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and its variants. 
>> Some of the ad copy is shown here.
> 
> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this thread would
> generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.

I never programmed a real one. But I have built (and possess) two 
SBC-6120 machines. That's pretty real, as they use the same chip and run 
OS/8.

-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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#165205

Bob Eager wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:21:42 -0700, hancock4 wrote:
>
>> On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and its variants.
>>> Some of the ad copy is shown here.
>>
>> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this thread would
>> generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.
>
> I never programmed a real one. But I have built (and possess) two
> SBC-6120 machines. That's pretty real, as they use the same chip and run
> OS/8.
>
All of DEC's diagnostics were dup'ed on a PDP-8/I.  Some might remember
the trays which held 10 or 12 papertapes labelled with the DEC
retrieval number, name, etc.  I haven't seen one of those since I
made them.  It used a Burpee punch and I would swear that's the reason
I now alwyays hear peepers peeping.  Nobody liked that job; it was
so boring.  The 8/I was in the machine room across the hall from
Tape Prep offices in building 12-1.  If you walked into the front
door of DEC, Maynard, the machine room was straight ahead, Ken
Olsen was left and Tape Prep was along the hallway on the right.
At the end of this hallway were stairs which went up to 12-2
(Dave cutler's domain) and 12-3 which contained System 40's
operations, some diag people and small computer documentatino
people.

The top of the stairs led to a ramp which slanted up to
3-5.  The first set of offices on the right were diagnostics
and the rest of the floor was PDP-10 software development.

Sorry, got sidetracked trying to remember how we got from here
to there...

/BAH

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#165238

On Wed, 15 Jun 2016 13:05:56 +0000, jmfbahciv wrote:

> Bob Eager wrote:
>> On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:21:42 -0700, hancock4 wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com
>>> wrote:
>>>> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and its variants.
>>>> Some of the ad copy is shown here.
>>>
>>> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this thread would
>>> generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.
>>
>> I never programmed a real one. But I have built (and possess) two
>> SBC-6120 machines. That's pretty real, as they use the same chip and
>> run OS/8.
>>
> All of DEC's diagnostics were dup'ed on a PDP-8/I.  Some might remember
> the trays which held 10 or 12 papertapes labelled with the DEC retrieval
> number, name, etc.  I haven't seen one of those since I made them.

I have a tray of PDP-11 diagnostics downstairs.



-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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#165136

<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message 
news:2506d647-d1c5-4a86-a1ef-0a598053f2be@googlegroups.com...
> On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and
>> its variants.  Some of the ad copy is shown here.
>
> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?

Yes.

The one thing that excited me was the short routine to implement XOR
because it relied on the knowledge of how a full adder worked.

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#165250

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 4:18:29 PM UTC-6, gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339 wrote:

> The one thing that excited me was the short routine to implement XOR
> because it relied on the knowledge of how a full adder worked.

Hmm. It's true that the last digit of the sum of two 
binary digits is their XOR.

But it's not as if there's a switch somewhere to turn 
off carries when adding.

So I would have expected that a routine using AND and 
CMA to do an XOR would be shorter than one that 
somehow managed to use TAD.

I mean, you _could_ mask out the odd and even bits, so 
as to do an XOR with a TAD on half the bits... and 
after masking again, TAD in order to do an OR... 
instead of doing things the conventional way (i.e. OR 
becomes AND with inverted inputs and outputs), but 
would it really be shorter?

John Savard

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#165257

"Quadibloc" <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in message 
news:468f8f54-c101-4456-9b02-902c2993d5f9@googlegroups.com...
> On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 4:18:29 PM UTC-6, gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339 
> wrote:
>> The one thing that excited me was the short routine to implement XOR
>> because it relied on the knowledge of how a full adder worked.
> Hmm. It's true that the last digit of the sum of two
> binary digits is their XOR.
> But it's not as if there's a switch somewhere to turn
> off carries when adding.
> So I would have expected that a routine using AND and
> CMA to do an XOR would be shorter than one that
> somehow managed to use TAD.
> I mean, you _could_ mask out the odd and even bits, so
> as to do an XOR with a TAD on half the bits... and
> after masking again, TAD in order to do an OR...
> instead of doing things the conventional way (i.e. OR
> becomes AND with inverted inputs and outputs), but
> would it really be shorter?

What you do is this ...

First you TAD  together the two operands and store away

Then you AND the two operands to determine from which bit
positions the carries will be generated.

But the carries propagate to the next highest bit.

So you shift left the AND result and then subtract it (CIA, TAD)
from the original TAD result and Lo1 And Behold! You are
left with the XOR ...

...  OF _ALL_ 12 bits.

This was given in one of the PDP8 programming manuals, and, like
you, I read it with disbelief until I analysed it and realised the beauty
of what was being done.

It is a few instructions shorter than creating A and not B or not A and B.

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#165270

On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 2:09:45 PM UTC-6, gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339 wrote:

> Then you AND the two operands to determine from which bit
> positions the carries will be generated.

Ah, yes, I didn't think of that, but it certainly makes sense. Since carries do 
go left, and leave the number, naturally, by instinct, one wouldn't trust to 
match them by such a thing, and thus one would fail to examine this possibility.

John Savard

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#165192

<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
> On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:37:41 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>> C&A had numerous ads for the Digital PDP-8 computer and
>> its variants.  Some of the ad copy is shown here.
> 
> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this 
> thread would generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.
> 

I did a bit.  It wasn't anywhere near my first, and I never cared for it.

-- 
Pete

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#165251

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 2:21:43 PM UTC-6, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> Didn't anyone here ever program a PDP-8?  I thought this 
> thread would generate a lot more responses than the PL/I thread.

Well, you just quoted advertisements; you didn't make 
any controversial statements anyone would be inclined to 
correct.

And so while you might have gotten a reply from someone 
in whom your post excited a flood of sentimental 
recollections, it was by no means guaranteed.

I learned to program in BASIC on a PDP-8/e, but while I 
picked up the small computer handbooks from recycling 
bins and read them with interest, I never had subsequent 
occasion to program one for practical purposes, although 
I had used a couple of other minicomputers.

John Savard

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#165261

On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 3:23:33 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:

> Well, you just quoted advertisements; you didn't make 
> any controversial statements anyone would be inclined to 
> correct.

Well, given it was apparently a popular machine, I was
wondering if the advertising hype meant reality.

Years ago, some kids in school would somehow get access to a
PDP machine.  I think it was the -8 (what was the most common 
PDP model 45 years ago?)  They loved it.  Apparently, they could
do a lot more than what we could do with BASIC or FORTRAN, or
even mainframe assembler.  (For whatever reason, learning mainframe
(or 1130) assembler wasn't a big deal; but learning the PDP was
exciting to the kids back then.)

Within computer geekdom, getting an entry level job in an IBM-
mainframe computer room was 'ok', but getting a job working on a PDP
was supercool.


(From my own personal perspective, when I was a kid, IBM mainframe 
computer sites were fascinating, but tended to be a bit stodgy,
everyone was always in a tie and jacket, talked in professional
soft voices, very polished and proper atmosphere.  In contrast, a
PDP computer room was far more informal.

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#165263

On 2016-06-15, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

> Within computer geekdom, getting an entry level job in an IBM-
> mainframe computer room was 'ok', but getting a job working on a PDP
> was supercool.
>
> (From my own personal perspective, when I was a kid, IBM mainframe 
> computer sites were fascinating, but tended to be a bit stodgy,
> everyone was always in a tie and jacket, talked in professional
> soft voices, very polished and proper atmosphere.  In contrast, a
> PDP computer room was far more informal.

I worked in small mainframe shops, and always had a bit of DEC envy.
The mainframe mindset was batch jobs, fixed-length records, ISAM, and
protocols designed for sending files across the country, not messages
across the room.  Serial port handling was very complicated, and the
software interfaces made damned sure you didn't forget it.  Even when
I was one of the so-called experts at the local Univac branch office,
setting up a new customer's terminal network consisted of copying an
existing configuration and tweaking it as required.  I only ever met
one person who really understood OS/3's ICAM (Integrated Communications
Access Method) - we flew him in from Montreal a couple of times when
we had to do something out of the ordinary.  On one such occasion,
after we got a customer's 90/30 to talk to their IBM System/38, we
were shooting the bull at the end of the day, and this fellow was
scrambling and unscrambling a Rubik's cube while keeping up his end
of the conversation.  That's the kind of mind it took to understand
that stuff.

Minis, on the other hand, had much simpler file formats, and
sending or receiving a few bytes through a serial port was trivial.
I remember how much fun it was when I set up my IMSAI, and could do
terminal I/O by simply toggling in a dozen instructions through the
front panel.  Porting Adventure and Dungeon to the mainframe was
pretty hairy, especially the terminal I/O part.

-- 
/~\  cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ /  I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
 X   Top-posted messages will probably be ignored.  See RFC1855.
/ \  HTML will DEFINITELY be ignored.  Join the ASCII ribbon campaign!

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#165266

Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> writes:
> Minis, on the other hand, had much simpler file formats, and sending
> or receiving a few bytes through a serial port was trivial.  I
> remember how much fun it was when I set up my IMSAI, and could do
> terminal I/O by simply toggling in a dozen instructions through the
> front panel.  Porting Adventure and Dungeon to the mainframe was
> pretty hairy, especially the terminal I/O part.

I first saw Adventure on vm/cms at TYMSHARE, they had brought it over
from Stanford SAIL PDP10 to their PDP10 and the fortran was fairly
straight-forward move to their vm/cms system. They told the story that
when TYMSHARE CEO found out that customers were playing games on their
systems, he ordered all games removed ... he apparently changed his mind
when they showed him that it had grown to account for something like 30%
of their revenue.

past posts mentioning adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#169 Crowther (pre-Woods) "Colossal Cave"
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2000d.html#33 Adventure Games (Was: Navy orders supercomputer)
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2001m.html#44 Call for folklore - was Re: So it's cyclical.
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2002d.html#12 Mainframers: Take back the light (spotlight, that is)
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2002e.html#43 Hardest Mistake in Comp Arch to Fix
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2003f.html#46 Any DEC 340 Display System Doco ?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#69 IBM system 370
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2003l.html#40 The real history of computer architecture: the short form
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2004c.html#34 Playing games in mainframe
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2004g.html#49 Adventure game (was:PL/? History (was Hercules))
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2004k.html#56 Xah Lee's Unixism
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2004m.html#20 Whatever happened to IBM's VM PC software?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005c.html#45 History of performance counters
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005h.html#38 Systems Programming for 8 Year-olds
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005k.html#18 Question about Dungeon game on the PDP
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005l.html#16 Newsgroups (Was Another OS/390 to z/OS 1.4 migration
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005u.html#15 Fast action games on System/360+?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005u.html#25 Fast action games on System/360+?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2005u.html#28 Fast action games on System/360+?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2006n.html#3 Not Your Dad's Mainframe: Little Iron
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2006y.html#18 The History of Computer Role-Playing Games
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#0 10 worst PCs
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007j.html#17 Newbie question on table design
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007j.html#39 Newbie question on table design
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#6 Zork and Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007o.html#8 Original Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2007o.html#15 "Atuan" - Colossal Cave in APL?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008c.html#2 folklore indeed
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#61 Primaries (USA)
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#47 Seeking (former) Adventurers
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#11 What if the computers went back to the '70s too?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008s.html#12 New machine code
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2008s.html#13 New machine code
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2009l.html#16 August 7, 1944: today is the 65th Anniversary of the Birth of the  Computer
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#57 Adventure - Or Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#75 Adventure - Or Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#82 Adventure - Or Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#84 Adventure - Or Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#4 Adventure - Or Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#33 SHAREWARE at Its Finest
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010m.html#83 3270 Emulator Software
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010m.html#88 Baby Boomer Execs: Are you afraid of LinkedIn & Social Media?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2010q.html#70 VMSHARE Archives
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#30 Colossal Cave Adventure in PL/I
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#31 Colossal Cave Adventure in PL/I
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#35 Colossal Cave Adventure in PL/I
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#41 Colossal Cave Adventure in PL/I
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#9 Colossal Cave Adventure
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#38 Invention of Email
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#58 Altair Star Trek in assembly?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#6 Some fun with IBM acronyms and jargon (was Re: Auditors Don't Know Squat!)
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#68 Should you support or abandon the 3270 as a User Interface?
http://manana.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#77 Spacewar! on S/360

-- 
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

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#165264

<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message 
news:2e13a8f2-43c4-45b1-8c08-a7a5967e4226@googlegroups.com...
>
> Within computer geekdom, getting an entry level job in an IBM-
> mainframe computer room was 'ok', but getting a job working on a PDP
> was supercool.

And not only working in a PDP shop, but getting your own
private copies of the manuals!

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#165336

On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 5:24:48 PM UTC-4, gareth G4SDW GQRP #3339 wrote:

> And not only working in a PDP shop, but getting your own
> private copies of the manuals!

Actually, IBM manuals were easy to come by.  IBM branch offices
gladly sold them, and they were of modest price.

Curiously, the file cabinet holding the manuals at our local
IBM office was made by Remington Rand, and had the big logo on it.

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#165298

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 3:23:33 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
>
>> Well, you just quoted advertisements; you didn't make
>> any controversial statements anyone would be inclined to
>> correct.
>
> Well, given it was apparently a popular machine, I was
> wondering if the advertising hype meant reality.
>
> Years ago, some kids in school would somehow get access to a
> PDP machine.  I think it was the -8 (what was the most common
> PDP model 45 years ago?)  They loved it.  Apparently, they could
> do a lot more than what we could do with BASIC or FORTRAN, or
> even mainframe assembler.  (For whatever reason, learning mainframe
> (or 1130) assembler wasn't a big deal; but learning the PDP was
> exciting to the kids back then.)
>
> Within computer geekdom, getting an entry level job in an IBM-
> mainframe computer room was 'ok', but getting a job working on a PDP
> was supercool.

I went to work for the manufacturer :-)))).


>
>
> (From my own personal perspective, when I was a kid, IBM mainframe
> computer sites were fascinating, but tended to be a bit stodgy,
> everyone was always in a tie and jacket, talked in professional
> soft voices, very polished and proper atmosphere.  In contrast, a
> PDP computer room was far more informal.
>
PDPs were built so they could work in dirty rooms.  It wasn't
until 1973 or 1974 when internal DEC PDP-10 machine rooms
started to get "clean".

/BAH

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#165381

On 16 Jun 2016 12:30:47 GMT, jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> wrote:
>PDPs were built so they could work in dirty rooms.  It wasn't
>until 1973 or 1974 when internal DEC PDP-10 machine rooms
>started to get "clean".

PDP-11s have famously worked in some very dirty locations.  PDP-10s...
not so much.  Although it was more important that they were cool.

One day I get a call from one of the operators -- our 1077 (dual KI-10) is
issuing a lot of strange error messages on the console.  I head to the machine
room to investigate.  I sat down at the console DECwriter and perused the
output.  I don't remember the messages, but I had never seen anything like them.
It's as if the machine had forgotten how to do arithmetic.  While I'm wondering
what the hell is going on, I turn my head and glance at a small circular
thermometer near the the CPU cabinet.  It reads 75 degrees!  Problem solved.
I tell the operator to initiate a shutdown and call maintenance to fix the air
conditioning.

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#165386

On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 07:37:29 +0000, Questor wrote:

> On 16 Jun 2016 12:30:47 GMT, jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> wrote:
>>PDPs were built so they could work in dirty rooms.  It wasn't until 1973
>>or 1974 when internal DEC PDP-10 machine rooms started to get "clean".
> 
> PDP-11s have famously worked in some very dirty locations.  PDP-10s...
> not so much.  Although it was more important that they were cool.
> 
> One day I get a call from one of the operators -- our 1077 (dual KI-10)
> is issuing a lot of strange error messages on the console.  I head to
> the machine room to investigate.  I sat down at the console DECwriter
> and perused the output.  I don't remember the messages, but I had never
> seen anything like them.
> It's as if the machine had forgotten how to do arithmetic.  While I'm
> wondering what the hell is going on, I turn my head and glance at a
> small circular thermometer near the the CPU cabinet.  It reads 75
> degrees!  Problem solved.
> I tell the operator to initiate a shutdown and call maintenance to fix
> the air conditioning.

I have an 11/03 (well, it has an 11/23 CPU board in it) that came out of 
a feed mill in Norfolk, UK. It had been cleaned up a bit by the time I 
got it.

Apparently it had to be carried down an external staircase to get it out. 
I wonder if that's how it got in...



-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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#165387

On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 08:27:21 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 07:37:29 +0000, Questor wrote:
> 
>> On 16 Jun 2016 12:30:47 GMT, jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> wrote:
>>>PDPs were built so they could work in dirty rooms.  It wasn't until
>>>1973 or 1974 when internal DEC PDP-10 machine rooms started to get
>>>"clean".
>> 
>> PDP-11s have famously worked in some very dirty locations.  PDP-10s...
>> not so much.  Although it was more important that they were cool.
>> 
>> One day I get a call from one of the operators -- our 1077 (dual KI-10)
>> is issuing a lot of strange error messages on the console.  I head to
>> the machine room to investigate.  I sat down at the console DECwriter
>> and perused the output.  I don't remember the messages, but I had never
>> seen anything like them.
>> It's as if the machine had forgotten how to do arithmetic.  While I'm
>> wondering what the hell is going on, I turn my head and glance at a
>> small circular thermometer near the the CPU cabinet.  It reads 75
>> degrees!  Problem solved.
>> I tell the operator to initiate a shutdown and call maintenance to fix
>> the air conditioning.
> 
> I have an 11/03 (well, it has an 11/23 CPU board in it) that came out of
> a feed mill in Norfolk, UK. It had been cleaned up a bit by the time I
> got it.
> 
> Apparently it had to be carried down an external staircase to get it
> out.
> I wonder if that's how it got in...

Forgot the link...

  https://goo.gl/maps/NYJ8XSziJBU2



-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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