43 years ago around this time the Internet we use to communicate with
was probably made possible because of TCP/IP, or Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol created at Stanford University. Today 3
billion people are on the net but really made it possible for this
extravagant number was th
What is the role played by the U.S. gov. in helping to create the
microcomputer? What money & expertise did it provide? “Steve Jobs the
Movie” doesn’t mention this nor have books written about him and
microcomputers in general mentioned this. Not even mine! Do the
computers we love owe more to go
Stephan, referring to the article in The New York Times, mentions
Amdal, Cray and Wozniak: Pioneers in computing whether large,
super-large or small(micro). Who knows of, in the microcomputing
world, Amdahl and Cray? One wonders!
Happy computing,
Murray :)
To all readers/followers of this website - for those who love
classic/vintage computers - I want to wish all the best of the holiday
season no matter what your beliefs. In this day of political
correctness it is simply to acknowledge Mother Nature's transition
from fall to winter and we should take
There seems to be in this world a hungering for what’s new: witness
the gazillion smart phones sold; untold number of iPads(tablets) and
their ilk; and plug-n-play computers. What seems to be forgotten is
what came before; what interests us – vintage/classic computers.
Whether in the grand scheme o
There seems to be in this world a hungering for what’s new: witness
the gazillion smart phones sold; untold number of iPads(tablets) and
their ilk; and plug-n-play computers. What seems to be forgotten is
what came before; what interests us – vintage/classic computers.
Whether in the grand scheme o
I was reading in a dated magazine article on the "freedom to build(a
PC)": Well you can't build phone; can't build a car; can't build a
refrigerator; can't build a TV. Do we have the freedom to build a
computer? We did in the earliest days of the PC- the 8-bit era. Heck,
that's all one could do! It
I’m not sure to what degree one can/wish to build there own car. If
one puts their mind to it; then anything is possible. I’m sure this
applies only to die-hard builders and not representative of the
‘average’ guy/gal. One, and I may be stereotyping here, does not have
the time to build much of any
I learned today of the passing of a true computing visionary, Marvin
Minsky He of artificial intelligence fame. We in the classic computing
fraternity, and computing in general, can enjoy our ‘hobby’ because of
his work.
Happy computing
Murray :)
There is the software side to classic computing: Back in the early
days we wrote/coded in BASIC-TinyBASIC running in 2K(talk about
writing efficient code!); EASY and SmallFORTRAN. What apps/programs
are written in today I don’t know. They certainly can’t run in 2 or 4
K but is the outcome the same
The microcomputer market back when classic computers were the in-thing
saw $1000 machines ; software costing $10s or $100s. Today
hardware-wise $500 buys a powerful machine while many apps/programs
are free or cost in the low $10s. Todays machine are 1000x maybe a
million times faster. Interesting
What is a techno-savvy student? Can classic computers possibly give an
answer? I used early microcomputers in my electronics classroom I
taught in the 70’s. Computers back then were rather primitive, not
much better than calculators, but did mimic human learning – well
maybe not advanced enough to
We communicate today, as yesterday, via email. Ray Tomlinson,a 1960's
ARPAnet pioneer has passed on. He 'invented' the @ symbol. My how old
things are truly great.
Murray :)
Andrew Grove, co-founder of INTEL, passed away.Truly a giant of our
industry. He made possible, or promoted, the brains and memory chips
that drive our machines, old and new.
I wish to congratulate Apple on its 40 anniversary today. An early
pioneer in our cherished hobby. Happy computing. Murray :)
A momentus event happened 40 years ago around this time, July 1975,
the world's first computer store opened in West Los Angeles, called
Arrow Head Computer Store, tag-lined, 'The Computer Store'. It was
opened by Dick Heiser. How time has flown by!
Murray :)
As Fred Cisin writes:
"Yes, as usual, all such claims are meaningless without term definitions.
What Murray was referring to was arguably the first PERSONAL computer
store, and run as a retail storefront.
IBM did do some retail sales, although they might not have called it
"retail", out of their b
This is off topic, so-to-say, but computer languages can be esoteric:
It's the 150 anniversay of L. Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland." May I dare say most people, including myself here(I
studied languages like BASIC, COBOL & PL/C, know very little about the
programming languages that ma
I came across a fascinating article by Evan Koblentz in TechRepublic
Daily Digest today entitled: “Tape isn't dying -- it's getting
healthier and smarter”. Does this mean my ADAM tape drive system has a
future after all? Naw! But one can wish. Are there tape systems in the
PDP family, et. al., stil
I was reading an article in Maximum PC, Nov. 2015, p.82 that got my
attention. It said: “When the lower orders knew their place?” I wonder
if he means users of vintage computers? Just asking!
Happy computing.
Murray :)
Excellent pictures from Vintage Computer Festival XI: Wht an ENIAC?
Vintage-vintage I guess!
http://enews.techrepublic.com/ct/35098113:WumutjYmN:m:1:714261601:9FFAF36F522EBD59342CC54F8F85CF5D:r:100091154
Happy computing.
Murray :)
Sorry about being late: Raymond Tomlinson, email inventor, sadly
passed on to the 'cyberworld' in March of this year. In this Age of
the Internet, we're communicating with his invention and sharing our
hobby throughoutthe world. Imagine 100 yrs. ago how we would have done
this!
Happy computing.
M
My first word processor was from Wang called “Word Processor” and then
IBM’s “Displaywriter”. I tried “Wordstar” originally called
“Wordmaster” but way too complicated. When desktop publishing came
along WYSIWYG printing was made possible - the writer’s true
handmaiden! In the microcomputer world,
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
Happy computing!
Murray
Linux at 25 - created 25 years ago. Has it changed computing or is it
'better' than WIN or MacOS? Not really part of classic computing world
but nonetheless it can be used today in emulators. ( I use it for ADAM
emulating. )
Happy computing!
Murray :)
David Bunnell and Bill Machrone of PC Magazine have passed on. They
both were involved in promoting computers in its earliest day. Both
will sadly be missed.
Murray--
Today in the age of pointer-graphics, ie., using a mouse, is a very
important day: Nov. 17, 1970, Doug Engelbart, of SRI, Menlo Park, CA,
invented the mouse or granted a patent for "X-Yposition indictator for
a grahics display." BTW he doesn't know who coined the word 'mouse'.
Happy computing!
Mu
I wanted to wish all American readers of this list a very happy
Thanksgiving Day from a reader in Canada. Reading 'Classic Computing'
still plays an important part in my appreciation of the role of
computers from earlier years in why I still enjoy working with
computers. Happy computing. Murray :)
“All I want for Christmas is” a PC diagram for my Coleco ADAM; with
apologies to Don Gardner(1946). Wishing all the best of the holiday
season and may 2017 bring all your computing classic dreams come true.
Happy computing, Murray :)
2016 is on the way out. For classic computer users let's hope 2017
allows our 'hobby' to continue to flourish.
Happy computing for 2017!
Murray :)
A sad day: The father of Pac-Man, Masaya Nakamura, passed away. I
remember playing this on very early microcomputers.
Happy computing!
Murray :)
As Alfred wrote:
"How about some credit where credit is due, and not rewriting history
willynilly. Toru Iwatani was the designer (not Nakamura) of Pac-Man,
Shigeo Funaki did the code and Toshio Kai the music. Nakamura was
simply the man behind the company, not the father of Pac-Man."
I agree th
Without getting political I was saddened to hear of the destruction of the
Club 8-Bit museum in Mariupol, Ukraine. One can only hope that D.
Cherepanov can rebuild his museum someday keeping classic computing in that
part of the world alive.
Murray--
For British microcomputer fans the famous SInclair ZX Spectrum came into
existence 40 years ago this month: A worthy successor to the Sinclair ZX81.
It was the Apple II of Europe.
Happy computing!
Murray 🙂
45 years for the TRS-80. My! Where has the time gone? The “Trash-80” was
one of the earliest micro-computers in my home. Radio Shack helped create
the ‘PC’ industry, the consumer version anyways, fueling what is now our
hobby.
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
A lot has been written about the origins of the microcomputer. I wrote a
book on the topic. Many thanks for mentioning Canada. Whether one is
playing games or doing something else micro-computing is usually associated
with a microprocessor as CPU. Anything earlier is a minicomputer or
something els
Hi,
Has anyone seen the latest on ArsTECHNICA journal on Brian Green’s
“deluxe home vintage computer den”? Does it bring back many fond memories
of the 70s and 80s. 🙂
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
I attended the Vintage Computer Faire at the Computer History Museum many a
yr. ago. The museum wasn't opened yet then collecting many computer
artifacts including the Cray-1. I also met Steve Wozniak who gladdened the
heart of this Canadian nerd/geek/computer enthusiast. I'm looking forward
to vis
Legendary discoverer of Moore's Law Gordon Moore passed away. Whether it
truly is a 'law' is debatable but its effect on microprocessor development
is hard to deny. Our industry/hobby or interest was built on a technology
G. Moore helped to develop.
Happy computing!
Murray 🙂
On April 3, 1973 the first wireless phone call was made and Moore’s Law has
now led to the smart-phone being ubiquitous to our lives: Computer
technology and cell phone technology marching hand-in-hand.
Happy computing and talking about it!
Murray 🙂
45 years ago this month Intel revealed the 8086 processor which became x86
technology that formed the backbone of PC technology. The 8-bit era came to
an end about 7 years later. For classic computing a new era began.
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
I read today that “Maximum PC” is no longer in print just in digital. Past
issues are available in digitized format but it’s not the same as reading a
magazine while in bed! Our hobby is changing. Well, progress must not be
stopped…
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
30 years ago the World Wide Web came into public existence. It has enabled
cctalk to flourish.
Murray 🙂
>From earlest days:
Here in France and saw a Micral…Now there’s a classic computer.
Originated in 1973; 8008 :) :)
Happy computing all!
Murray :)
Was Jerry Pournelle the FIRST to write a PUBLISHED NOVEL on a
MICROCOMPUTER? Yikes! Talk about SHOUTING. As a historian is it worth
the aggravation to please everyone? Does revisionism take away the
honour(Cdn. Here!) Jerry Pournelle rightly deserves for pioneering
work in our beloved computing gen
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2017 15:22:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cameron Kaiser
To: bill.gunshan...@hotmail.com, cctalk@classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: RIP Jerry Pournelle - Firsts
Message-ID: <20170915.v8fmmw5r7405...@floodgap.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>> I used to read his column for it
Today marks the 36 anniversary of Visicalc a seminal program in the
world of classic computing.
Happy computing!
Murray :)
Hello sir,
I used to get your newsletter but no longer...I understand there are
problems...
I would be most interested in getting your newsletter again.
Many thanks,
Murray 🙂
Maybe this note is off topic but I don't think so: The death of Kevin
Mitnick. His book "Ghost in the Wire" is a classic. Too bad he was a
criminal!
Murray 🙂
Dear sir;
I can't access your site. Not sure why! It mat be due to the email
address I employ.
Many thanks,
Murray 🙂
Classic computers have a value in our capitalist society. Take the Apple-1:
Its value can be in the $100,000s. One is for sale now: ~ $200,000. Next
seems to be the Kenbak-1 valued somewhere around $50,000. Now, I’m not
suggesting money is the epitome for evaluating our hobby but it goes a long
way
On Nov. 15, 1971 Intel commercially released the 4004 microprocessor which
some consider to be the first. Nonetheless, even if not in agreement, it
made possible the instrument which drives the classic-computing industry or
at the very least our hobby!
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
Many thanks Liam. N. Wirth, the man and his creation(s), has a special
place in my understanding of computers and how programming works - the way
it should. Great men do change things and in N. Wirth's case much for the
better in the computing world and dare I say beyond.
Murray 🙂
On Thu, Jan 4,
The Apple Mac, 40 years old, came from Xerox PARC’s GUI and Apple’s LISA.
Not sure that it really changed computing though! Financially it didn't
help Apple until after 1997 and Gate's investment.
Happy computing!
Murray 🙂
I know a great deal of writings by techno-historians, computer-industry
experts and technology enthusiasts concerning the Apple Mac, and now 40
years old, have covered this topic both on and off the net. Unlike
originally stated I now feel that the MAC was an important change agent in
regards to t
I look back fondly on the IBM PC-XT of 41 years ago. It was very pricy here
in the Great North but it allowed for a much more advanced computing
environment. What one could do with a 10MB hard disk! Granted it was far
more popular in the business world than the consumer one. However, it made
possib
I’ve read with great interest, over the past short while, a few interesting
articles on the history of the Intel 8008(officially released in April
1972) as it was the forerunner of what was to become the personal computer
industry. And done with less than 4000 transistors. I saw one at a computer
s
rt.chun/courses/CS247/s4/M.pdf
I hope these are of interest.
Murray 😊
On Mon, Apr 1, 2024 at 9:43 AM Bill Degnan via cctalk
wrote:
> are these articles available/online? maybe others might like them too.
> Thanks in advance
> Bill
>
> On Mon, Apr 1, 2024 at 9:29 AM Murray McCullou
I had not realized the IBM 360 was 60 yrs. old this month. I worked on such
a computer in the late 60s in Toronto. What one could do with 8 Kbytes of
ram was remarkable!
Happy computing
Murray 🙂
Murray 😊
On Wed, Apr 10, 2024 at 7:39 AM Paul Berger via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> On 2024-04-10 2:21 a.m., Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
> > On 4/9/24 22:03, ben via cctalk wrote:
> >> On 2024-04-09 8:53 p.m., Murray McCullough via cctalk wrote:
&g
An excellent trip down memory lane. I no longer have the memory and
cognitive skills I once had but there are events in my life I still
remember and cherish. The first computer I remember working on was the
either the PDP-7 or 8(classmates at that time no longer live here in rural
Ontario to consul
The Altair 8800 used a microprocessor, the 8080, and came to public
prominence in Jan. 1975 in Popular Electronics magazine: "World's First
Minicomptuer Kit to Rival Commercial Models." I have the original magazine
from that era and I remember this quite well as it brought attention to a
mass-cons
Nostalgia keeps pressing ahead: It was 60 yrs. ago that BASIC came into
existence. I remember very well writing in Apple Basic and GW Basic later
on. As a non-compiled OS, an interpreted OS, it was just the right tool for
a microcomputer with limited memory. I recall fondly taking code from
popula
I’m not certain what constitutes the original foundations of
BASIC(Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) but to my knowledge
it began with J. G. Kemeny and T. E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in 1964.
Apple BASIC and GWBASIC were well established when I began experimenting
with them in ear
I came across an article that said CP/M came out in April 1974. I remember
using this OS in the microcomputer world in the late 70’s; early 80’s. It
came from PL/M, (Programming Language for Microcomputers) later renamed
CP/M(Control Program for Microcomputers). I’m not sure what its legacy is
thou
My first emulator was for the Coleco ADAM back in the 1990’s. I bought the
ADAM in 1984 and watched a community grow up around it in various locations
across Canada and the US. The ADAM-con conventions began in 1989 in
Orlando. Emulation began in the 1990’s as a response to the continued
interest i
The MCM/70 was a Canadian invention though not certain it was a 'first' in
the microcomputer world. Some say the Kenbak 1 was. The Altair 8800, as I
argue, the first to reach a large audience. It demonstrated what was
possible to non-computer people.
Happy computing,
Murray :)
On Thu, May 23,
I quite agree. I do believe that a *u*P is the minimum that can be accepted
to call a PC a microcomputer. Another is that it must be usable, i.e.,
non-programmable, for the average PC owner. Like a car one doesn't need to
know how it works in order to drive/use a car to get from one place to
anothe
lpert via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > On 2024May 31,, at 4:37 PM, Murray McCullough via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> > > On Fri, May 31, 2024 at 6:02 PM Dave Dunfield via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org&
It appears that one can determine what is a personal and/or a microcomputer
that satisfies only the author. If one states that and believes it then
that is all that’s necessary. I wrote a book based on this line of thinking
and if a reader disagrees with me that is fine. I’m not declaring the true
Wow! How truly interesting. Back then I guess one could call it a
personal/micro-computer -Simon 1949. This was early digital age where
mechanical devices ruled. Not my idea of a modern PC.
Nonetheless, the quiz gives more information than what is found in books on
the subject.
Happy computing -
Intel introduced to the world the x86 processor: the CISC technology still
with us. So what has changed other than speed and upward development?
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
I agree that parallelism, or more accurately multiprocessing, has
contributed a great deal to the advancement of 8086 technology. So to has
speed: The first 8086 was clocked at 5Mhz.; now the speed is 6Ghz. The
shrinkage of computer components in ULSIC technology has made this
possible. But today I
Today I came across an obituary of Lynn Conway, computer pioneer in the
field of VLSI(along with Carver Mead) and also in one called dynamic
instruction scheduling(used in supercomputing world). More to the point
Conway was transgender and suffered for this, an almost forgotten pioneer
in the micro
I, as a history-researcher, relied on computer magazines from the early
era. I wrote my book using articles from these magazines. I don't
subscribe, no pun intended, to the theory that their really worth anything.
Hardware is another issue!
Happy computing,
Murray :)
On Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 6:
I came across this today: “Electronics engineer builds 1986 Macintosh Plus
clone”. Is there some reason one would want to do this? Not sure what the
point is but it proves it can be done!
Happy computing.
Murray 🙂
I had not realized that 43 yrs. ago Microsoft purchased 86-DOS for $50,000
– US not Cdn. money. With this purchase the PC industry, IBM’s version
thereof, began. I remember using it to do amazing things, moreso than what
8-bit machines could do!
Happy computing.
Murray🙂
I had not realized it was 27 yrs. ago that Microsoft ‘gave’ Apple $150-$200
million. It was done to keep Microsoft safe from regulators - for its
monopoly practices. Later did the lawsuits end between Apple and Microsoft.
Did this save Apple? Haven’t researched this enough to deduce a learned
respo
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and may the New Year bring
all your computing wishes true. Happy computing all!
Back in 1965 Jack Kilby, Jerry Merryman and James Van Tassel at texas
Instruments created an integrated circuit designed to replace the
calulator. Historians, though not all, credit this development as the
beginning of the electronic-computing revolution that was truly underway by
the mid-70s. Vint
Thanks for the info on chip made by Texas Instruments. It was used in a
pocket/plug-in calculator I had while working as a payroll clerk back in
the early 70s.
The link is: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/ti_cal-tech1.html
I’ve written in my book on the History of the Microcomputer a h
I came across an old copy of Popular Science on yesterday, forthwith I know
not how, that had a story of two vintage/old/retro/classic-computers. How
old? 1983. Coleco ADAM, my favourite, and Atari 600XL, not so much. I still
have my ADAM. No not why. But isn’t this why we all belong to classiccomp
The first inter-computer communication happened 50 years ago today. L.
Kleinrock part of that historic moment, said, and I paraphrase here,
ARPANET was the instrument that was to enable computers to talk to each
other remotely. He sent “LO” because the system crashed(how surprising was
that!) This
The first Internet message was sent 60 yrs. ago on Nov. 21 between SRI and
UCLA. It was one-to-many, or more accurate one-to-one, but the world today
is many-to-many though cctalk runs through a moderator. The Internet
democratizes and gives a certain freedom to us all but it can lead to
mis-inform
I apologize for the wrong date. Should have said Nov. 21, 1969. Makes more
sense timewise...
Happy computing
Murray ☺
Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
*Wrote:*
*“More worrisome is that Murray is NOT A "NEWCOMER" who will be "scared off" *
*by corrections of his facts! This is not the first time that he has *
*needed to be admonished to be VERY specific about what was "FIRST" about *
*something. He w
I’m not familiar with U.S. law but didn’t Xerox ‘own’ the patent(s) to GUI
technology? Again to my knowledge Microsoft and Apple both ‘appropriated’
and/or ‘misapproriated’, depending on your point-of-view, this exact
technology! Does commercial-use, read profit, subsume legal rights
eventually in
Heard of death today of Larry Tesler, pioneer worker at Xerox Parc. He
advanced the era of human-computer interaction. He 'created' copy-
and-paste and cut-and-paste which made everyday computing in DOS-age easier
before GUI-age made mouse-driven commands easier on computer users. Early
pioneers ar
The virus-world we are living in has seen Internet usage dramatically
increase world-wide. Thanks to pioneers like Cerf, Kahn, Crocker and
Kleinrock, sounds like a law firm, paved the way for the packet-switch
system Bell & others fought to prevent. I recall the early days of
computing, classic, re
GWBASIC- (Gee-Whiz BASIC) is a Microsoft product, designed much along the
line of IBM’s BASICA, that did not need a ROM BASIC and was interpreted.
Not necessarily basic in design or purpose as defined by Oxford English
Dictionary & Wikipedia and Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, some(purists) say
th
I was interested in computers from grade 11; that would have been in 1967.
I got my first microcomputer in 1978, a Heathkit H8 - terribly priced here
in Canada. From there I went to the Coleco ADAM. It was essentially an
APPLE II clone, well the OS was. Not sure what has become of ADAM-user
groups
45 yrs. ago last month, mid-July, Dick Heiser started a new industry, the
retail computer store. It opened in West L.A. under the name Arrow Head
COmputer Company. aka, The Computer Store. This began the direct marketing
of microcomputers to hobbyists, later to the masses of the middle class,
albei
"That might be true for discussions where people don't care to do any
research, or where words like "first" are uses more for hyperbolic
emphasis, but suggesting someone started an industry on a list like this,
I think, doesn't seem out of place."
I agree that using ‘*first**’* has a certain conn
I've recently reread *Fire In The Valley, Ed. 1,2 &3.* They are the
seminal, authoritative & comprehensive sources for the history of the
microcomputer. We in the classic computer community need to know the
history of our hobby to keep it vital and relevant to today's society. More
than ever we nee
I was perusing my old computer magazine collection the other day and
came across an article entitled: “Fast-Growing new hobby, Real
Computers you assemble yourself”, Dec. 1976. It was about MITS,
Sphere, IMSAI and SWT. 4K memory was $500. Yikes! Even more here in
Canada. Now this is true Classic Co
"Message: 4
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2017 10:35:18 +1100
From: Nigel Williams
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
Subject: Re: Computing from 1976
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
On Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:57 AM, william degnan via cctalk
wrote:
This may be off-topic but these latest uprocessor exploits has raised
a question: Are the 'old/classic' uprocessors using x86 technology in
the same boat? The very earliest ones, i.e., 1970s and early 80's.
probably not. How many are actually in use and/or on the Net?
Happy computing!
Murray :)
I wrote about Spectre and Meltdown recently: INTEL took its time to inform
the world! Did it inform the world back in earlier days about potential
flaws? Not to blame INTEL only: What about Zilog, etc.? Or did pre-Internet
era protect us computer-classic users? What about running emulation
software
Three ‘computing’ events are happening:
1) The i-Pad was introduced by S. Jobs 8 yrs. ago and defined a ‘new’
computing paradigm for the masses. The reason I mention this event is
because a young friend(20 yrs. old) said “That’s ancient computing!” What
is one to make of classic-computing t
I started accessing BBSs back in the early 70s with a 300 baud modem.
>From there it went to 1200; 2400; 9600; 28.8K and 56Kilobaud. All on
dialup! Now at 5 Mbits/sec. here in Ontario. An American friend has
250Mb/s download. Yikes! The classic computer era taught us patience
didn’t it? BTW, one h
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