At 10:01 PM 1/13/98 -0600, you wrote:
>By the way they are not laptops either; I always have to find a table to put
>them on so I can use them. If I put them on my lap I'm always afraid to drop
>them ;-)
I used mine NASA-style sometimes: Velcro'd to any flat surface. Slight
change of subject: Does anyone know exactly what the first laptop to
accompany shuttle astronauts into space was? I hear it's the GRiD Compass
1100. I had that very model up until last week when I traded for a GRiD
1535exp w/docking tray.
Speaking of GRiDs, any people out there collect them or am I alone? I've
made GRiDs my collection specialty since they're small, tough and stackable.
GRiDSPeC Page: http://limbo.netpath.net/hw/GRiD
-John Higginbotham-
-limbo.netpath.net-
<Oh no! It's the new MicroSoft Allison! No more intelligent posts about
<non-MS computers/software Arrrgghh! 8^)
<
<(Sorry, couldn't resist!)
Oh Roger,
You shouldn't have oughta done that. ;-) Calling me microspooge is
frighten words. Oh heavens the lost data.
Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: Uncle Roger <sinasohn(a)ricochet.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 1998 8:31 PM
Subject: Amstrads in the US
>btw, there was another PPC640 that sold on eBay this weekend, but it was
>complete, with power supplies, software, and a really neat case. I didn't
>get it, though. 8^(
How much did it go for? Just curious.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Francois Auradon.
Visit the SANCTUARY at http://home.att.net/~francois.auradon
<On the show, they spliced the wire to reformat a message on the wire... d
<you know what type of wire was used on these types of voice/data recorder
<and how would you splice them?
<
<(oh, and could you re-record over a previously used piece of wire?)
Lessee, yes you can re-record on used wire. In fact if you didn't erase
it you would get a overdub! Oh, the wire is soft iron, though any wire
of a magnetic alloy can be used. The technology date t before WWII to
some time in the late 40s-early 50s. It's problems were poor frequency
response, knots/kinks in the wire and head wear.
Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: Uncle Roger <sinasohn(a)ricochet.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 1998 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: Firsts
>At 09:45 PM 1/12/98 -0800, you wrote:
>>> No handles??? 'Tain't a Portable then!
>
>Whups, forgot the 8^)
>
>>Hmmm, maybe having handles isn't the best criteria for determining if a
>>machine is portable.
>
>Hmmm...
>
>Panasonic Sr. Partner: Handle
>Apple Mac Portable: Handle
>HP LS/12: Handle
>Altima 2: Handle
>Good Composer: Handel
>Amstrad PPC640: Handle
>Bondwell B310+: Handle
>Osborne 01: Handle
>
>(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
>
Commodore Sx-64 Handle
Kaypro I Handle
Kaypro II Handle
Kaypro16 Handle
IBM portable PC Handle
Compac Portable Handle
MAC toaster style Handle (yes on top of the unit)(Oops does that make it a
portable?)
(I couldn't resist either)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Francois Auradon.
Visit the SANCTUARY at http://home.att.net/~francois.auradon
>>It seems that portable machines are those which the manufacturer built
>>to be easily picked up (in some cases without grunting too loudly) and
moved
>>to another location to be used. This holds for suitable values of
"easily".
>
>Yep.
>
>>Yes, Roger. I know you were kidding.
>
>Aw, shucks. I thought I had ya fooled. 8^)
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
>
>Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
>roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
>Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
>San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
>
In a message dated 98-01-13 22:25:52 EST, you write:
<< Kevin McQuiggin wrote:
>
> Wire recorders predated tape recorders. They were in use from the early
> 1930s, as I recall. >>
interesting topic. anyone care to describe exactly how it works?
david
uh, right! theres no way IBM is gonna put copyrighted software out on the net
for free. only way to get it is to acquire a copy from someone.
In a message dated 98-01-13 19:44:45 EST, you write:
<< >Hello,
> My name is Mario Soto and I am looking for a version of MS Dos
>5.0 or earlier. The catch is I need it on 720k disk can you help?
I think IBM has disk images available either on the WWW or via ftp.
I've only heard about such things and haven't found/downloaded
them >>
At 09:32 PM 1/13/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>The TRS-80 Model 100 and it's amigos the Nec 8201 and Olivetti ??? had
>Visit the SANCTUARY at http://home.att.net/~francois.auradonhat's probably
>why they are called laptops and not portables.
Shoot, it's not even a laptop. I've seen Pentium notebooks bulkier than a
M100. :)
-John Higginbotham-
-limbo.netpath.net-
At 10:05 PM 1/12/98 -0500, you wrote:
>> I think if you consider the 5100 a portable, then so should you consider the
>> PDP-8. The 5100, while more *convenient* to move, perhaps, than, say, an
>> Altair, is hardly all that portable. It's listed as 50lbs (a stretch even
>> for me) and has no handle. You tell me how that's a portable? (It's much
>> like a TRS-80 Model III, only flatter. I think the III is lighter though.)
>
>Even if the implementation may be poor (ie. no handles), I think IBM
>really did try to make the thing truely portable. After all, all you
>needed to do was lug around _one_ 50 pound box to do useful things, rather
>than a processor plus a tube or printer, and perhaps an external power
I dunno... The 5100 was heavy, did not include a case, offered no
protection for the screen, didn't run on batteries...
I think it's only portable in comparison to the mainframes of the time --
that is, you could move it from room to room because it didn't need air
conditioning or special power or anything. But that's true of most of the
computers of the time. Yes, it was a one-piece unit, but I don't think
that's really enough. You wouldn't have really taken it home to finish up
or to a client's office to do an audit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
Subj: Re: Firsts
Allison J Parent wrote:
!<> >First programable calc
!<>
!<> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goe
!<> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the in
!<> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bi
!
!No, this was not the first by a long means. I vaguely remember a desktop
!HP job that was years earlier.
!
!There were designs that were RTL and utililogic and even earlier designs
!that were about the size of a desk drawer that were both totally
!electronic and to some extent programable.
A complete braino on my part: I had wanted to say some like either "first
LSI electronic calc" or perhaps "first microprocessor application".
Sorry I goofed.
As you pointed out in this and a subsequent post there were many "solid state
electronic" calculators available by 1971. Hey, for that matter IBM's S/360
shipped transistorized general purpose transistorized computers (running DOS
and TOS among others) by 1964, and by 1971 they were even beginning to
incorporate integrated circuitry into what would become S/370 computers.
Interestingly the architecture (or its modern desecndant) was not put on a
single microprocessor until just a few years ago (1995 saw the 3490 CMOS
mainframe on a chip). I would not for a moment call these devices mere
calculators though (despite the early reluctance of IBM's marketing
department to call things like the 701 a "computer" for fear
of upsetting the folks employed in that occupation in the 1950's).
Peter Prymmer
