23 Sep
2022
23 Sep
'22
6:12 p.m.
On 9/23/22 10:38, Paul Koning wrote:
Yes, I was thinking "mainframes" not limited
to "supercomputers". Then again, from what I remember of the one starring in
"War Games", the Connection Machine had oodles of lights.
When I first encountered the 7600 MCU, I thought it was a stroke of
genius. Other than guessing or probing with a 'scope, one could see
what everything was doing--and control much of it.
The STAR took this one step further--the MCU there had its own drum
(loaded by paper tape) for storage and a display not connected to the
operating system. Lots and lots of monitoring and control
The I/O station buffer units also had their own drums and CRT
displays/keyboards.
--Chuck