On 05/10/2018 12:53 PM, ben via cctalk wrote: > Can not be slower than modern computers, It takes 5 minutes for my mail > program to load under windows and grab new mail. > Once core memory became common, fast speeds are relative to other I/O > at the time, of TTY and punch card speeds.
Actually, the FASTRAND was used on the 1107 machine which used thin-film memory, so memory was pretty fast already. Didn't the FASTRAND have "ping" detectors that would register a count every time a head hit the surface? I recall that the binary-encoded positioner mechanism was composed of a bunch of solenoids and levers that could convert a binary input to a head position. (The FASTRAND was a moveable head, not a head-per-track drum). --Chuck