Has anyone here read this book by Edwin Black?
http://www.amazon.com/IBM-Holocaust-Edwin-Black/dp/0751531995/sr=8-1/qid=11…
I have. I was wondering what everyone else thought about it.
The book makes me hate things like paper...
I'm not trying to stir anything up here. I don't blame IBM as a company or
dislike any of its products because of it. But reading the book was sure
an eye opening experience. I just wanted to start the discussion for
now. I don't have time right now to write anything decent right now.
Grant
> From: Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org>mat=flowed
>
> Marvin Johnston wrote:
> > I've been doing that for some time, and probably have about 50 or so stockpiled.
> > BUT, it may be just a waste of time. I put up 20 100-450 MB IDE and SCSI HDs on
> > VCM, then Ebay, and back on VCM more out of curiosity to see if there was a
> > demand. Right now, there doesn't seem to be.
>
> Eventually, there might be. IDE drives from 300-500 (but under the
> 540MB BIOS limit of early 386s) are still somewhat sought after. I
> wouldn't expect more than $5 for each drive though.
I think the $25.00 for a quantity of 20 drives is under $5.00 each :).
At 09:58 PM 2/10/2007, you wrote:
>On 2/11/07, Grant Stockly <grant at stockly.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Did anyone make S-100 SCSI? One could roll ones own, but that's a
>> >different level of expense.
>>
>>The 5380, 3 resistor packs, a '138, couple latches, and about 10 square
>>inches of an S-100 breadboard card.
>
>Right... the SCSI chip is cheap enough (and supported under Minix,
>probably, since there were several 3rd party Amiga controllers with
>the 5380), but the real expense is the breadboard card.
Really? I guess I don't know where to get those. I've got one and I just
keep reusing it. They'd be $20 plus shipping if were to make some. Any
interest?
Of course, if I made a SCSI card they would be $10 without parts. (not
full size S-100) ; ) SCSI is kind of dead, but it would be a fun card to
make...
Grant
> From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
> Speaking of which...does it make sense to start preserving
> (hoarding) older, low-capacity hard drives, be they IDE or SCSI, for
> smaller machines? They seem to be drying up fast.
I've been doing that for some time, and probably have about 50 or so stockpiled.
BUT, it may be just a waste of time. I put up 20 100-450 MB IDE and SCSI HDs on
VCM, then Ebay, and back on VCM more out of curiosity to see if there was a
demand. Right now, there doesn't seem to be.
Richard wrote:
As difficult as it is to find information on vintage terminals, its
even harder to find information on vintage pen plotters. A pen
plotter was about the only form of graphical output you could expect
to see on a vintage graphics system as film recorders were very
expensive.
OK, what do you have in your collection(s)?
--
---------------------------------------
Have a Calcomp 565 drum pen plotter circa 1963. Includes manual with
schematics. And also has someone's home brew interface design to an 8080 on
a paddle board.
Do have a few manuals on other plotters. Recently found one on a Houston
Instruments plotter. It'll go to Al the next time we get together.
Billy
I've recently managed to get my HP 88780 drives to ALMOST work with a PDP-11/34a.
The controller I'm using is an Emulex TC13, TS11 compatible.
Tape movement control seems fine, but data transfers are a problem. At most I've
been able to get the first one or two blocks read or written. However, the TC13
errors out and usually puts the drive offline. ultrix 3.1 and xxdp both choke when
trying to talk to the 88780 drives.
So, thought I'd check... Does anyone have an HP 88780 drive working with an Emulex
TC13 controller? As I've tried three different drives I'm starting to wonder if
the TC13 simply won't communicate well with the 88780.
Please respond to staylor at smedley.mrynet.com if replying directly, or to the
cctalk list.
TIA,
-scott
On 13 Feb 2007 at 10:14, Marvin Johnston wrote:
> Yes, I too read the book and found it interesting. However judging by
> quite a few comments from a google search, it appears that there might
> be a bias and some inaccuracies in the book. Regardless, it does make
> for a rather interesting read.
I first came across this topic when it was published as an article in
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. I've subsequently read
critiques of the cited book as being inaccurate and biased.
I can only observe that commercial interests will chase a profit no
matter where it comes from. Henry Ford sold trucks to Stalin;
Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker did business with the Third
Riech. The Forbes and Delano families sold opium to the Chinese.
The Chinese in turn are getting oil and gas from Sudan.
And so it goes. It's the nature of human existence.
Poke at almost any pile of money long enough and you'll find a
scoundrel, murderer or horse theif.
What this has taught me that corporate monied interests are amoral,
looking only to increase profit. Similarly, governments largely
exist to serve their own interests and, for the most part, not the
interests of the governed.
Our job as citizens of the world is not to expect these tigers to
change their stripes, but rather to make sure that their actions are
kept in the bright light of public scrutiny. Attempts to hide under
some notion of confidentiality or secrecy usually provide fertile
ground for mischief and need to be resisted.
Cheers,
Chuck
Chuck Guzis wrote:
I first came across this topic when it was published as an article in
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. I've subsequently read
critiques of the cited book as being inaccurate and biased.
Cheers,
Chuck
-------------------
This reminded me that I've been looking for copies of the Annals for a long
time. I had to drop out when my IEEE subscription bill passed $300 a year.
Just couldn't afford all those magazines.
Now I'm sorry that I did that and have been searching for copies. Any list
members have any issues they would be willing to part with? I would really
like to catch up.
Please write to me off line if you have any issues you can part with. Will
go to a good home and be read!
Billy
billy.pettit at wdc.com
>
> As difficult as it is to find information on vintage terminals, its
> even harder to find information on vintage pen plotters. A pen
> plotter was about the only form of graphical output you could expect
> to see on a vintage graphics system as film recorders were very
> expensive.
>
> OK, what do you have in your collection(s)?
My company used to write pen plotter drivers for the Mac, we still
sell the odd one. We used to get loads of pen plotters loaned to
us by the manufacturers, and we hung on to the manuals when
we could (which we usually managed). So I still have quite a
library of data on the command sets for the ones made from
the early 80s onward. If anyone wants any details I can probably
help somehow, just have to be sure I'm not going to be sued for
copyright infringement.
As for actual plotters (not my personal property though, just 44% mine):
HP DraftMaster MX Plus,
HP 7475A
Graphtec MP3200
What I would like to get my hands on is an HP 7550 in the UK.
I saw one last week on eBay in the US but shipping would be
too expensive.
Roger Holmes.
(Technical Director and 44% shareholding of Microspot Ltd)
Chuck Guzis wrote:
>Our job as citizens of the world is not to expect these tigers to
>change their stripes, but rather to make sure that their actions are
>kept in the bright light of public scrutiny. Attempts to hide under
>some notion of confidentiality or secrecy usually provide fertile
>ground for mischief and need to be resisted.
This quick statement summarizes in very elegant form, the foundations of
what government by the people and for the people should be all about.
I can't agree more. Problem is, the vast majority of folks exist either
in blissful ignorance; fear; or lack of resource/understanding to
challenge the status quo.
I generally stay away from making any political statements online, but
Chuck's great observation struck such a chord with me that I had to
respond.
Apologies for the lack of "on-topic" content. But, this stuff affects
us all.
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Web Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com
