The Enter museum in Switzerland has a nice library of docs. I found that museum to be chock full of interesting German and other computers. Worth the trip. Bill
On Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 7:02 PM Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > I do remember reading that lot of British computers were quite superior > to the rest of the world, but sold for inland use only. The reason > given was that we couldn't figure out ow to make them leak oil! > cheers, > Nigel > > > On 2024-01-31 14:05, Martin Bishop via cctalk wrote: > > <<A related question would be how much work was done outside the USA > and UK. >> > > > > One standard work is "The First Computers : History and Architectures" > > Ed Rojas, et al > > MIT Press; 2002; ISBN 0-262-68137-4 > > US : 5 sections > > Germany : 7 sections > > UK : 5 sections > > Japan : 2 sections > > as an indication of activity > > > > <<similar questions could be asked about the amount of documentation > preserved from various countries. >> > > > > In the UK context, where there is on-line documentation of the ICL 2900 > series is a question I don't know the answer to > > There is of course an operational ICL 2966 at TNMoC, Bletchley Park > > > > Martin > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Paul Koning via cctalk [mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org] > > Sent: 31 January 2024 18:53 > > To: cctalk@classiccmp.org > > Cc: Wouter de Waal <w...@dw.co.za>; Paul Koning <paulkon...@comcast.net> > > Subject: [cctalk] Re: VCF SoCal > > > > > > > >> On Jan 31, 2024, at 1:39 PM, Wouter de Waal via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > >> > >> > >>> I have found that computers are much like motorcycles: many of the > most interesting were never available in the US. > >> Computers are much like motorcycles: many of the most interesting ones > were TERRIBLE! > > I wonder what fraction of early (before, say, 1955) computer work was > done in the USA. A substantial fraction no doubt, but perhaps not as large > as one might guess. A related question would be how much work was done > outside the USA and UK. > > > > For that matter, similar questions could be asked about the amount of > documentation preserved from various countries. One difficulty, I think, > is that resources like bitsavers have a large proportion of US material. > Maybe because of the predominance of the work, maybe in part because of the > distribution of collectors. To pick one example, material -- even just a > passing reference -- about the Philips PR8000 is very nearly nonexistent. > And I see no trace of any other Dutch computer at all on Bitsavers. True, > some stuff can be found in places like the CWI archive, though searching > that can be rather painful. > > > > paul > > > > -- > Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU > Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! > Skype: TILBURY2591 > > >
