[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
In addition to the Goodyear STARAN computer, another tire company Firestone did built some interesting one off systems of unusual design. My first job out of college was with Firestone Central Research. While there, I became friends with William Clayton who was one of three of their research fellows. He was a big proponent of APL and there I was exposed to the MCM/700 (see https://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/apl/Brochures/MCM700Brochure ) and the IBM 5100 desktop APL computer as well as APL via IBM 360 timeshare. We used APL to simulate the heat flow and rubber curing in very large earth mover tires with finite-element techniques coupled with chemical kinetics. However, Bill Clayton most interesting work was around optimizing formulations from designed experiment data. He built an analog computer that used static card readers that provided contacts to feedback resistors to simultaneous compute the output of 16 second order polynomial equations with cross terms for 8 independent variables. Each of these 16 polynomials had 54 static coefficients that were determined from second order statistical regressions of data from designed experiments. One equation for example might be tensile strength of a rubber compounded with various amounts of sulfur, carbon black, oil, accelerators, etc. Then another equation might represent wear resistance measured from the same combination of compounding ingredients. The 16 equations had upper and lower limits of acceptable values for tensile strength, wear, etc. The analog computer would then begin an exhaustive grid search of the 8 independent variables to find a combination of the 8 ingredients that met all 16 of the desired output traits. When a solution was found the independent variable value voltages were read by an A/D controlled by a PDP-8 and then printed on a console. Thus the system was actually a hybrid computer part analog and part digital. I was told that doing the 8 factor grid search in Fortran on an IBM 360/168 would have taken 1300 hours but this hybrid system did it in 5 minutes, Only three of these systems were ever built, two of which were used outside of Firestone (one by the Air Force). U.S. Patent 3,560,725 from 1968 provides some background as it covered an early version of the later more highly developed system. Mark > From: Paul Koning > Subject: [cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer > Prototype, Dies at 89 > Date: May 23, 2024 at 6:58:06 PM CDT > To: "cctalk@classiccmp.org" > Cc: Kevin Anderson > Reply-To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > > > > I have a vague memory of visiting the Computer Museum when it was still at > DEC, in the Marlboro building (MRO-n). About the only item I recall is a > Goodyear STARAN computer (or piece of one). I found it rather surprising to > have see a computer made by a tire company. I learned years later that the > STARAN is a very unusual architecture, sometimes called a one-bit machine. > More precisely, I think it's a derivative of William Shooman's "Orthogonal > Computer" vector computer architecture, which was for a while sold by Sanders > Associates where he worked. > > paul
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
I have a vague memory of visiting the Computer Museum when it was still at DEC, in the Marlboro building (MRO-n). About the only item I recall is a Goodyear STARAN computer (or piece of one). I found it rather surprising to have see a computer made by a tire company. I learned years later that the STARAN is a very unusual architecture, sometimes called a one-bit machine. More precisely, I think it's a derivative of William Shooman's "Orthogonal Computer" vector computer architecture, which was for a while sold by Sanders Associates where he worked. paul > On May 23, 2024, at 5:00 PM, Kevin Anderson via cctalk > wrote: > > I had the good fortune of visiting The Computer Museum in Boston in the > summer of 1984. Reading the museum's Wikipedia article, it appears I was > there while they were still freshly setting up their Museum Wharf location, > yet hadn't officially opened yet. Unfortunately I only had an hour (or > little more) to visit before I had to return to where my wife was at a > different location (which I vaguely recall was at an aquarium somewhere > nearby?). The clerk at the front entrance was really surprised that I was > leaving so soon...which in hindsight I wish now had not been so short. > > Kevin Anderson > Dubuque, Iowa
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
I had the good fortune of visiting The Computer Museum in Boston in the summer of 1984. Reading the museum's Wikipedia article, it appears I was there while they were still freshly setting up their Museum Wharf location, yet hadn't officially opened yet. Unfortunately I only had an hour (or little more) to visit before I had to return to where my wife was at a different location (which I vaguely recall was at an aquarium somewhere nearby?). The clerk at the front entrance was really surprised that I was leaving so soon...which in hindsight I wish now had not been so short. Kevin Anderson Dubuque, Iowa
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
At least it's a better title than 'The centre for computing history' (Cambridge, UK). On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 9:39 PM Sellam Abraham via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 1:15 PM John Foust wrote: > > > At 01:32 PM 5/22/2024, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > > >His and his wife > > >Gwen's (god rest her soul as well) personal collecting and the museum at > > >DEC was the basis for the Boston Computer Museum, which effectively went > > >west and became the Computer History Museum. > > > > He was quite sensitive about this. I made the same mistake, referring > > to it as the "Boston Computer Museum." He told me: > > > > "Let me be clear The Computer Museum (TCM) was NEVER called the > > Boston Computer Museum... Boston was a temporary home when computing > > passed through New England, but the city itself gave nothing to it. > > ... As a former collector, founder, and board member of the > > Digital Computer Museum > The Computer Museum >> current Computer History > > Museum > > (a name I deplore and that exists only because of the way the Museum left > > Boston) > > I have always been a strong advocate of getting as many artifacts into as > > many > > hands as possible, and this includes selling museum artifacts when > > appropriate. > > In essence a whole industry of museums and collectors is essential." > > > > - John > > > > I appreciate the clarification. > > I agree that it's a shame that the CHM couldn't be called TCM. "Computer > History Museum" is a fairly awkward name. > > Sellam >
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 1:15 PM John Foust wrote: > At 01:32 PM 5/22/2024, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > >His and his wife > >Gwen's (god rest her soul as well) personal collecting and the museum at > >DEC was the basis for the Boston Computer Museum, which effectively went > >west and became the Computer History Museum. > > He was quite sensitive about this. I made the same mistake, referring > to it as the "Boston Computer Museum." He told me: > > "Let me be clear The Computer Museum (TCM) was NEVER called the > Boston Computer Museum... Boston was a temporary home when computing > passed through New England, but the city itself gave nothing to it. > ... As a former collector, founder, and board member of the > Digital Computer Museum > The Computer Museum >> current Computer History > Museum > (a name I deplore and that exists only because of the way the Museum left > Boston) > I have always been a strong advocate of getting as many artifacts into as > many > hands as possible, and this includes selling museum artifacts when > appropriate. > In essence a whole industry of museums and collectors is essential." > > - John > I appreciate the clarification. I agree that it's a shame that the CHM couldn't be called TCM. "Computer History Museum" is a fairly awkward name. Sellam
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
At 01:32 PM 5/22/2024, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: >His and his wife >Gwen's (god rest her soul as well) personal collecting and the museum at >DEC was the basis for the Boston Computer Museum, which effectively went >west and became the Computer History Museum. He was quite sensitive about this. I made the same mistake, referring to it as the "Boston Computer Museum." He told me: "Let me be clear The Computer Museum (TCM) was NEVER called the Boston Computer Museum... Boston was a temporary home when computing passed through New England, but the city itself gave nothing to it. ... As a former collector, founder, and board member of the Digital Computer Museum > The Computer Museum >> current Computer History Museum (a name I deplore and that exists only because of the way the Museum left Boston) I have always been a strong advocate of getting as many artifacts into as many hands as possible, and this includes selling museum artifacts when appropriate. In essence a whole industry of museums and collectors is essential." - John
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
One issue in choosing a book size is that the booksellers have put the book on a standard sized shelf so it should conform to that size. Very tall books, like coffee table books are hard to display because they don’t fit on a shelf. Booksellers really don’t like those (unless they become best sellers). Sent from my iPhone > On May 22, 2024, at 13:01, Gavin Scott via cctalk > wrote: > > On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 2:39 PM Paul Koning wrote: >> As I mentioned, it is not unprecedented; I have a book about book design >> which talks at some length about choosing the page proportions, and it >> mentions square pages as one of the recognized choices. I think it says >> that it isn't very common, but I don't remember what else it says, for >> example any particular reason why one might choose this format (or reasons >> to avoid it). > > Here's another example: > > https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Illustrated-Double-Helix/dp/1476715491 > > where there's essentially a normal width book inside but the wider > pages allow for extensive sidebar-style annotations and also provide > more options for graphic layout of illustrations, etc.
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 2:39 PM Paul Koning wrote: > As I mentioned, it is not unprecedented; I have a book about book design > which talks at some length about choosing the page proportions, and it > mentions square pages as one of the recognized choices. I think it says that > it isn't very common, but I don't remember what else it says, for example any > particular reason why one might choose this format (or reasons to avoid it). Here's another example: https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Illustrated-Double-Helix/dp/1476715491 where there's essentially a normal width book inside but the wider pages allow for extensive sidebar-style annotations and also provide more options for graphic layout of illustrations, etc.
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
> On May 22, 2024, at 3:29 PM, Gavin Scott via cctalk > wrote: > > On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 2:25 PM John Herron via cctalk > wrote: > >> Out of curiosity is the book the size of a floppy disk or some computer >> item at the time? (Any significance or just him being unique?). > > Here's an Amazon listing showing what it looked like. Ordinary book > size if not shape. > > https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Structures-Readings-Examples-McGraw-Hill/dp/0070043574/ It's about as high as a typical hardcover textbook, just unusually wide. I don't know of any other reason other than "it's different". As I mentioned, it is not unprecedented; I have a book about book design which talks at some length about choosing the page proportions, and it mentions square pages as one of the recognized choices. I think it says that it isn't very common, but I don't remember what else it says, for example any particular reason why one might choose this format (or reasons to avoid it). paul
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 2:25 PM John Herron via cctalk wrote: > Out of curiosity is the book the size of a floppy disk or some computer > item at the time? (Any significance or just him being unique?). Here's an Amazon listing showing what it looked like. Ordinary book size if not shape. https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Structures-Readings-Examples-McGraw-Hill/dp/0070043574/
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024, 1:58 PM Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: > > > > On May 22, 2024, at 1:19 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > > It's a slog, but if you can make it through Gordon Bell's book, "Computer > > Structures Readings and Examples" you realize Gordon is a "father of > > vintage computing", > > I still have that book, though it's deep in some box. > > Fun trivia item: it's the only book I can remember that is square. Almost > all books are "portrait" layout; a few are "landscape", but while square > format is a known option shown in book design references, it is almost > unheard of. > > paul > Out of curiosity is the book the size of a floppy disk or some computer item at the time? (Any significance or just him being unique?). >
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 1:50 PM Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: > I still have that book, though it's deep in some box. https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/cgb%20files/computer%20structures%20readings%20and%20examples%201971.pdf
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
> On May 22, 2024, at 1:19 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk > wrote: > > It's a slog, but if you can make it through Gordon Bell's book, "Computer > Structures Readings and Examples" you realize Gordon is a "father of > vintage computing", in addition to his involvement with the first computer > museum in Boston. He knew better than anyone the historical significance > of computing well before the term "vintage computer" existed. I still have that book, though it's deep in some box. Fun trivia item: it's the only book I can remember that is square. Almost all books are "portrait" layout; a few are "landscape", but while square format is a known option shown in book design references, it is almost unheard of. The only other book I can think of that's nearly (but not quite) square is the lovely "Powers of ten". paul
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
> On May 22, 2024, at 11:10 AM, Don R via cctalk wrote: > > Control-G > > In one of the comments I found this interesting tidbit: > > Working at DEC for many years, I learned a lot from Mr. Bell. One of my > favorite sayings was he calling himself "the industry standard dummy." Which > simply meant that he approached all new products without pre-conceived > notions of "how" it should work. He found so many bugs and interface errors > that way, and taught everyone to do the same. On old computer keyboards one > used to be able to make a bell ring by typeing CTRL-G. That industry > standard was set for G. Bell. That's a nice story but it doesn't seem all that likely. A "bell" code long predates ASCII where indeed it was Control-G; it showed up decades earlier in the 5-bit Teletype machines "Baudot" (a.k.a., "Murray") code. paul
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 10:19 AM Bill Degnan via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > It's a slog, but if you can make it through Gordon Bell's book, "Computer > Structures Readings and Examples" you realize Gordon is a "father of > vintage computing", in addition to his involvement with the first computer > museum in Boston. He knew better than anyone the historical significance > of computing well before the term "vintage computer" existed. > > And there is that stuff he did at DEC > > Bill > He really is. Perhaps "Grandfather" is more appropriate. His and his wife Gwen's (god rest her soul as well) personal collecting and the museum at DEC was the basis for the Boston Computer Museum, which effectively went west and became the Computer History Museum. Sellam
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
Control-G In one of the comments I found this interesting tidbit: Working at DEC for many years, I learned a lot from Mr. Bell. One of my favorite sayings was he calling himself "the industry standard dummy." Which simply meant that he approached all new products without pre-conceived notions of "how" it should work. He found so many bugs and interface errors that way, and taught everyone to do the same. On old computer keyboards one used to be able to make a bell ring by typeing CTRL-G. That industry standard was set for G. Bell. Sent from someone's iPhone > On May 22, 2024, at 7:07 AM, Christian Liendo via cctalk > wrote: > > Ars Technica > https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/gordon-bell-an-architect-of-our-digital-age-dies-at-age-89/ > > > New York Times Obit > > https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/technology/c-gordon-bell-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t00.xAnm.sr2ZsjF5OSti=url-share >
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
It's a slog, but if you can make it through Gordon Bell's book, "Computer Structures Readings and Examples" you realize Gordon is a "father of vintage computing", in addition to his involvement with the first computer museum in Boston. He knew better than anyone the historical significance of computing well before the term "vintage computer" existed. And there is that stuff he did at DEC Bill On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 12:14 PM Sellam Abraham via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Gordon Bell was a real delightful man, and most unassuming. He was always > warm and friendly to everyone, and it was a pleasure and honor to have > known him. > > Sellam > > On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 7:07 AM Christian Liendo via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > Ars Technica > > > > > https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/gordon-bell-an-architect-of-our-digital-age-dies-at-age-89/ > > > > > > New York Times Obit > > > > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/technology/c-gordon-bell-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t00.xAnm.sr2ZsjF5OSti=url-share > > >
[cctalk] Re: C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89
Gordon Bell was a real delightful man, and most unassuming. He was always warm and friendly to everyone, and it was a pleasure and honor to have known him. Sellam On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 7:07 AM Christian Liendo via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Ars Technica > > https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/gordon-bell-an-architect-of-our-digital-age-dies-at-age-89/ > > > New York Times Obit > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/technology/c-gordon-bell-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t00.xAnm.sr2ZsjF5OSti=url-share >
