[cctalk] Re: mainframe vs mini

As to what a "station" looked like: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/15/6d/fa/156dfa0a3b573b6ff9ca074d62fb19a9.jpg Those things with CRT terminals on them are stations--they handle the various I/O tasks. Basically, 16 bit minicomputers. The photo might be the installation at CDC ADL, from the low ceiling and cramped space. During the OPEC oil embargo, I made myself comfortable with a pillow borrowed from my room at the Ramada and a good book nestled between the SBUs. It was probably the warmest place for miles. The offices at ARHOPS, by contrast, had ice on the inside of the windows... Back then, in Sunnyvale, you had three choices if you were doing OS development. You could turn in your build materials to the STAR-1Bs at SVLOPS and hope that an all-night (the 1B ran at 1/100 the speed of the 100) session didn't end in a system crash. You could finagle some CE time at Lawrence Livermore, which was far from a sure thing (one of the reasons for having a DOE "Q" clearance). Or you could hop the "noon balloon" out of San Jose to the Twin Cities and use the STAR at ADL. If it was wintertime, my department in Sunnyvale had a "community parka" for those unfortunates visiting the land of ice sports. --Chuck