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I had always assumed that the first computers were like current
computers, just using relays or whatever instead of transisters, and
with vastly inferior specifications.
However, it appears that this isn't the case.
For example, I thought they all used latch circuits for memory, but
apparently not. There were things like core memory, which I'd never
heard of. Presumably it's faster and cheaper to make core memory as
opposed to wiring up thousands of latch circuits?
Another example. According to legend, there was a time when if you
wanted to run a program, you used a machine not unlike a typewriter to
punch holes into a card. You "type in" the program onto punch cards like
this, and only once the entire program and all its data has been punched
do you even go near the actual *computer*. You feed the cards into a
reader. It reads them all, and then spends the next six months running
the program. Finally, you get a stack of new punched cards representing
the results.
Does anybody know approximately when this time was?
For that matter, does anybody have a broad timeline of when various
technologies were in use? What are the dates for things like core
memory, drum memory, punch cards, magnetic tape, relays, vacuum tubes,
transistors, ICs, etc?
Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
switches rather than some other medium?
Was there ever a "punched tape" medium similar to punch cards?
Similarly, you hear people talk about the VAX, the PDP, the varouis IBM
mainframes and Cray supercomputers. Does anybody know the timeline for
these, the technologies used and the basic design and performance details?
(Sure, you can look up individual questions on Wikipedia, but the
articles tend to contain huge amounts of minute detail about specific
things. I'm trying to get a general overview of an entire era.)
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> Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
> switches rather than some other medium?
I do that all the time :-)
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On 18/05/2010 11:56 AM, Invisible wrote:
> Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
> switches rather than some other medium?
>
> Was there ever a "punched tape" medium similar to punch cards?
When I started working in computing in 1969, the Honeywell H416 then
later H316 was booted by entering about a dozen binary codes into the
switch register. This told the CPU which peripheral to read and where in
memory to but the loader program, which was read using a paper tape
reader. After the loader tape was read you then read the program using
the paper tape reader. Only then could you enter any data. In 1976
Burroughs Machines were manufacturing 96 column card readers.
The first computer I ever saw was in 1997 at Glasgow University. It was
an analogue machine that used valves.
--
Best Regards,
Stephen
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>> Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
>> switches rather than some other medium?
>
> I do that all the time :-)
*sigh*
I ment where you have a bank of switches to select a memory address, and
a second bank of switches to select what datum to write there.
(Or even just a row of switches for every memory register - but I doubt
anybody ever did _that_...)
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Stephen wrote:
> When I started working in computing in 1969, the Honeywell H416 then
> later H316
Oh yes - apparently Honeywell used to make computers...
> was booted by entering about a dozen binary codes into the
> switch register. This told the CPU which peripheral to read and where in
> memory to but the loader program, which was read using a paper tape
> reader.
Does the tape have a single row of holes? Or does it have multiple
parallel rows? How easy is it to tear the stuff?
> After the loader tape was read you then read the program using
> the paper tape reader. Only then could you enter any data.
From tape or card, presumably?
> In 1976 Burroughs Machines were manufacturing 96 column card readers.
I gather Burroughs got bought to form Unisys?
> The first computer I ever saw was in 1997 at Glasgow University. It was
> an analogue machine that used valves.
1997? o_O
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>>> Was there ever a time when programs were entered into memory via
>>> switches rather than some other medium?
>>
>> I do that all the time :-)
>
> *sigh*
:-D
> I ment where you have a bank of switches to select a memory address, and a
> second bank of switches to select what datum to write there.
I did that at university. We had a hex keypad to write machine code
instructions to RAM. IIRC we had to write a program to do some thermostat
control of a heater or something - extra marks for proportional control.
But then this was just part of the CPU course to get us familiar with
instructions and stuff.
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Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> Clarence1898 wrote:
>
> > This is an image of the first mainframe I worked with in 1969.
> >
> > http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/images/2423PH2050.jpg
>
> Trippy! :-D
>
> > It was an IBM 360 model 50. The tape drives in the background are IBM 2400
> > models. The machine was controlled from the IBM 1052 console, a modified IBM
> > typewriter. The IBM 2501 just in front and to the left of the operator could
> > read about 1000 cards per minute. The IBM 2311 disk drives in the foreground
> > had removable disk packs which held a little more than 7 MB IIRC.
>
> Any idea how much all this gear cost?
Depending on the size of the original 360 series machines, purchase price ranged
from around $100000 to several million. The companies I worked for always
leased their machines. I wasn't involved in the financial end, but I think we
paid somewhere around $20000 to $30000 per month for the 360/50.
That was for a machine with 128KB of ram, single processor rated at about 0.2
MIPS, with 16 IBM2314 disk drives with 29MB each, and 8 7-track tape drives, an
IBM 2540 card read/punch, plus a couple of IBM 2701 telecommunications
controllers.
>
> > As you can see
> > there were quite a few flashing lights on the front panel. Besides showing the
> > status info, you could use them to read/alter the contents of memory.
> > Sometime I think they were a lot more fun then.
>
> Presumably not at the times when you wanted to get some actual *work*
> done? ;-)
The machine was busy running production work weekdays and saturday. Since I
installed the os, IBM OS/360, all my testing had to be done on Sunday. So a lot
of desk checking and setup through the week getting ready for the weekend.
Isaac.
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>> I ment where you have a bank of switches to select a memory address,
>> and a second bank of switches to select what datum to write there.
>
> I did that at university. We had a hex keypad to write machine code
> instructions to RAM. IIRC we had to write a program to do some
> thermostat control of a heater or something - extra marks for
> proportional control. But then this was just part of the CPU course to
> get us familiar with instructions and stuff.
Right. So you type stuff in hex rather than raw binary, and it
automatically advances to the next address?
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>> I did that at university. We had a hex keypad to write machine code
>> instructions to RAM. IIRC we had to write a program to do some
>> thermostat control of a heater or something - extra marks for
>> proportional control. But then this was just part of the CPU course to
>> get us familiar with instructions and stuff.
>
> Right. So you type stuff in hex rather than raw binary, and it
> automatically advances to the next address?
Yeh something like that, I don't remember the exact details. I think you
could enter a memory address and hit the "address" button or something and
it would then accept instructions from that point, and then there was a
"run" button. Pretty basic, but armed with the instruction set datasheet
you could actually write stuff that worked. IIRC they had a few channels of
analogue and digital IO mapped to certain addresses that were connected to
useful stuff like LEDs, temperature sensors and heaters.
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>> Right. So you type stuff in hex rather than raw binary, and it
>> automatically advances to the next address?
>
> Yeh something like that, I don't remember the exact details. I think
> you could enter a memory address and hit the "address" button or
> something and it would then accept instructions from that point, and
> then there was a "run" button. Pretty basic, but armed with the
> instruction set datasheet you could actually write stuff that worked.
> IIRC they had a few channels of analogue and digital IO mapped to
> certain addresses that were connected to useful stuff like LEDs,
> temperature sensors and heaters.
Mmm, tasty.
The closest I ever came to doing something like this was assembling a
program for my dad's C64 by hand. (I still have the book with the
op-code table in it. And, 20 years later, I still remember that RTS is
96 decimal. How sad is that?)
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