> "Motherboard" was around then, although Burroughs might not have used it. > Burroughs might very well have been more inclined to call it "backplane".
I generally use the term 'motherboard' for the sort of thing you find in an IBM5150 or Apple ][ -- that is a board with a lot of electronics on it and the edge connectors for daughterboards (I/O cards, etc) whereas I use the term 'backplane' for what I have in a PDP11 or PERQ, etc, just connectors wired together (maybe with some simple logic) and almost everything on plug-in boards. Incidentally, the HP150 has the procrssor and video boards, along with 2 optional I/O boards going in from the rear of the case and plugging into a PCB of connectors (and IIRC a simple printer interface). Due to its position HP call it the 'frontplane'. I have never seen that term used anywhere else (I assume it's also applicable to the HP120 but I have never seen any technical info for that machine). -tony
