[cctalk] Re: SCAMP at 61 (IBM Scientific Computer And Modular Processor) was Re: SCAMP at 50 (IBM 5100)

Hey, it is interesting! It has a reference to microcode and a ROS/ROM type storage. Paul Friedl's January 1973 initial diagram of SCAMP includes a "circular shaped device" at the base - I always took it to be a hard drive platter, but maybe not - maybe it is this older SCAMP type storage (which actually makes more sense -- Paul would know a HDD head and all that wouldn't fit in there). And it's plausible that Mr Friedl "re-purposed" the acronym of SCAMP - no direct evidence as of yet. But I think in 1973 it's possible Paul had 10+ years with IBM by then. I'm also not yet sure if Paul had (by Jan 1973) seen the HP9830 or an earlier sampling of it in late 1972 (my understanding is that the HP9830 was "announced" in late 1972, but not actually available until early 1973 - the IBM engineer's technical journal doesn't mention the HP9830 until October 1973) -- BUT that January 8th 1973 diagram from Paul is suspiciously similar in shape as the HP9830 (including the "printer on top"). See the first image in my summary here: https://voidstar.blog/ibm-scamp-joe-george-notebook/ I see it as 50/50: Possible that these are coincidentally the same name to two different projects. But it also possible the tech of this modular processor perhaps did help inspire the idea of more portable computing? Just unfortunate that Paul Friedl's notes and letters that we have available from 1972/1973, he never elaborates or explains the origin of the name SCAMP. -Steve On Mon, Jul 31, 2023 at 5:01 PM steven(a)malikoff.com steven--- via cctalk < cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: