Didn't show up on the list, so re-sending it:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:14:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fred Cisin <cisin(a)xenosoft.com>
Subject: [cctalk] Ramac : The real first disk drive? (Was: Floppy disk
The first known and recognized disk drive of ANY type (hard disk preceded
floppy) was the Ramac, 70 years ago, 1956
https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/first-commercial-hard-disk-dr…
First one shipped was to Crown-Zellerbach Paper Company
CHM says June;
EDN and Google AI (Gemini) say September 13, 1956
https://www.edn.com/ibm-intros-1st-computer-disk-storage-unit-september-13-…
But, Gemini seems to also hallucinate RAMAC as being a company!
"At the 1958 Worlds Fair, RAMAC showcased its revolutionary random-access
capabilities by answering world history questions in 10 different languages."
(There was no Ramac Company exhibiting at the 1958 Worlds Fair)
Ramac had fifty 2 foot diameter double sided platters, and could hold a total
of about 5MB. Modern drives can have even higher density!
I have a crashed Ramac platter, that I have made into a patio table, with the
platter under glass.
In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev visited USA for 12 days, to try to calm the cold war
a bit.
On September 19, 1959, he tried to visit Disneyland,
State Department and Disneyland consulted with each other, and they would not
let him go to disneyland! Khrushchev was angry about that:
"What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have
gangsters taken over the place that can destroy me?"
Frank Sinatra hosted a massive celebrity lunch for him at 20th Century Fox
Studios, attended by Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, Gary Cooper, etc.
When Nina Khrushchev expressed her disappointment about Disneyland, Sinatra
said to David Niven, "Hmm, tell the old broad that WE will sneak them in".
Apparently that visit didn't happen, or was very sneaky.
I remember a New Yorker cartoon that showed a soviet sub surfacing off-shore to
sneak him in.
Y'know, if they hadn't banned them from Disneyland, the entire Cuban missile
crisis would have been a lot less hostile!
To make up for not letting him go to Disneyland, the State Department, on
September 21, 1959, took him to San Jose, to tour IBM's facility, and see
Ramac.
S'posedly, Khrushchev was more impressed by the operation and efficiency of the
company self service cafeteria, than by Ramac.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
The Virtual OS museum has MS and IBM OS/2 versions listed pretty
comprehensively (which you can of course run locally):
https://virtualosmuseum.org/installation-list/
It includes some Citrix versions that OEM the main providers, too.
I have a couple of IBM OS/2 boxes (1.1 and maybe 1.2, I think) that I
can snap pictures of media from if you're interested; but there are
probably places like the Internet Archive that already have such
things:
https://archive.org/details/ibm-os2-1.00-extended-edition-3.5-1.44mb
- David
On Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:05:56 <georgijgalcev1570(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone.
>
> I am documenting early OS/2 releases (before 1992).
> I am interested in all possible information about the released versions, photos of media, screenshots.
> There is very little on the internet. For example, there is very little information about OEM versions of MS OS/2 1.x, as well as little information about OS/2 1.X localizations.
>
> if you are the owner of the package/disks of versions 1.x, please let me know.
>
> Best.regards.
> –Georg
Lee Felsenstein livestream Sun. June 14 at 1PM (Eastern):
https://youtube.com/live/Js6R3OIxiKY
Before the laptop, before Apple took off, there was Lee Felsenstein. As the
legendary moderator of the Homebrew Computer Club and designer of the
Osborne 1 (the first commercial mass-produced portable computer), he didn't
just build the tools—he changed the rules. Don't miss our exclusive
livestream with a true PC pioneer this Sunday June 14 at 1PM (Eastern)!
Take care!
Jeff Brace
VCF East Showrunner
Georgy,
One of the software disks that came with my 8:16, which I purchased in
March of 1984, has a printed label saying (with the "d" after 2.1.1 hand
written in blue ink):
<quote>
ATTACHE
MSDOS
REVISION: 2.1.1d SN 1850 48 TPI Date: 02/29/84
</quote>
Volume 5, Number 1 (Spring 1985) of "Where It's Att. Official Newsletter
of the First Attache/2001 User Group" lists the "Newest" FAUG Library
disk as "Attache MS-Dos 2.11e(x) System Disk FAUG211e(x). The latest
'unreleased' Otrona 8:16 master disk for MS-Dos. About to come out when
bankruptcy hit Otrona."
That same issue says that RAMDISK.SYS works only with 2.11e(x) and not
with earlier versions. Issue 5, Number 2 says that "211e(x)" "Includes
extensive new hard disk software."
Regards,
Bob
P.S. to Fred: My apologies for not knowing offhand if the MS-DOS version
is "two eleven e (x)" or "two one one e (x)". When I get my 8:16
running, I can check. Bob
>Message: 12
>Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2026 12:09:28 +0700
>From: Georgy Galtsev <georgijgalcev1570(a)gmail.com>
>Subject: [cctalk] Re: Need Otrona Attache 8:16 MS-DOS Disk
>
>in fact, the version from the Don Maslin archive labels itself as 2.11,
>without additional letters. Where does the information about 2.11d and
>2.11e come from?
<snip>
Does anyone have a working copy of a bootable Otrona Attache MS-DOS
2.11d or 2.11e disk that they can copy and snail-mail to me? All of my
disks are giving a "Bad or missing Command Interpreter" error. I no
longer have another computer that reads/writes 5 1/4" IBM 360KB disks,
so I need a physical copy.
Please email me at feldman.r(a)comcast.net so we can arrange shipping (I
am in Chicago) and payment.
Thanks,
Bob Feldman
Gimix Documentation Needed!
I need the following Gimix documentation:
Intelligent 4 Port Serial Interface (24-0076A)
256K Memory Board (24-0082)
6809 CPU III Rev C (24-0066C). I have the manual for 24-0066B.
Thanks,
Please email me at directly if you have it (bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com)
I've been working on this project for ages. It is not complete. It may never be complete. It is, however, finally in a state that I consider to be eminently usable. A "beta" or "soft opening" - there are absolutely some visibly unfinished areas. But, it can absolutely be used while I continue improving the typesetter and the indexer, polishing the presentation, and adding manuals for new systems.
http://www.typewritten.org/Manual/
Some folks were given access to previous development versions and asked not to share the URLs. If you were one of them, please transition to this URL instead; this one can be considered fully public.
ok
bear.
ps. this announcement was also sent to the VCFED forum and the TUHS mailing list
Hello everyone.
I am documenting early OS/2 releases (before 1992).
I am interested in all possible information about the released versions, photos of media, screenshots.
There is very little on the internet. For example, there is very little information about OEM versions of MS OS/2 1.x, as well as little information about OS/2 1.X localizations.
if you are the owner of the package/disks of versions 1.x, please let me know.
Best.regards.
–Georg
