Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: John Ames Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: what's a mainframe, NYT and Stratus (Re: [OT] Dead DEC Punch card times) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2026 10:06:03 -0800 Organization: A place where nothing fits quite right Lines: 20 Message-ID: <20261111100603.00001433@gmail.com> References: <18dee4b6cab427fa$865$2574533$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <11cr1ub$q796$1@dont-email.me> <11creup$trgi$1@dont-email.me> <11ctde2$2ibp$1@gal.iecc.com> <5O-dnQvUAMIEF2_3nZ2dnZfqn_SdnZ2d@giganews.com> <11d036a$2hab5$3@dont-email.me> <11d1ngr$30p0f$3@dont-email.me> <20261111084244.000067bf@gmail.com> <11d269u$36p99$2@dont-email.me> <11d280n$37kbt$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2026 18:06:12 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="3441452"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18zFVwg/C3HD/D/pWCf/2Jp31yd/J6KBmU="; posting-host="2cbe5bfc1e576c83527d356e7a9803c9" Cancel-Lock: sha1:DPt73M9fjjRFxbPHSbZm34f33cg= sha256:T7RtNwyu5UlfZpmOZFZDAU6BR+Er6zZnp2jJAv0KrHI= sha1:qibrwxRcFAD4sBnJ95j+4tQUaUU= sha256:5ItmZq74lG7MJ33goLRIBAvkE2XhChs7m3KadPJxmU4= X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 4.3.0 (GTK 3.24.42; x86_64-w64-mingw32) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:95501 alt.folklore.computers:236785 On Wed, 11 Nov 2026 17:18:15 -0000 (UTC) Thomas Koenig wrote: > But terminals are interesting. I read a bit on the documentation of > the VT52, where they talked a lot about microcode. The VT100 had a > microprocessor already, an 8080. > > Which is why it would have been trivial for DEC to build a reasonable > PC when they were building terminals. Indeed - in fact, a number of contemporary microcomputers (e.g. the Vector 3) were basically just a terminal with more RAM and some form of mass storage, at the hardware level. DEC's lateness to the micro market was, unfortunately, a management issue rather than a technical one. (Not that they didn't have some technical hurdles in their own efforts, thanks to the almost-but-critically-not-quite-compatible LSI versions of the PDP-8, but Olsen's resistance to the idea and unwillingness to price down to the market doomed them right out the gate.)