On Fri, Jul 24, 2015 at 2:58 PM, Chuck Guzis <ccl...@sydex.com> wrote: > On 07/24/2015 01:18 PM, Fred Cisin wrote: >> Now, obviously, the first "REAL" computer needed to have internet >> connectivity. > ---and a USB port. :)
It's not a real computer unless it has a real front panel with switches and blinkenlights. Real computers haven't been commercially sold in ages. A keypad and display scanned by software, e.g., Heath H8, doesn't qualify; an important purpose of the front panel is to examine and modify memory for diagnostic purposes when the computer isn't working properly. The KL10 CPU used in later PDP-10 systems (DECsystem-10 and DECSYSTEM-20) doesn't qualify because the only real front panel is on the PDP-11 front end; there's no front panel to examine and modify main system memory.
