<I'm not that well up in modern processor design, but I've never heard of
<that definition. In fact the ARM becomes CISC by it, I think (?).
That was part of the mid 80s def, but by no means an exclusive item.
The ARM used more clocks but not many. The early defininition was simply
Reduced Instruction Set and raw speed to make up for it. A PDP-8 would
qualify in many respects as it has about the smallest useful instruction
set going. It's biggest feature is the lack of complexity that allowed
CPUs like the ARM and MIPS to be very fast as they were very simple
compared to say the 386, the result was the amount of silicon required
was less and production costs are lower. Some side effects of the smaller
die(fewer transistors) were improved testability, lower power and less
heat with attendant higher relibility. Most smaller RISC chips are 10s
of thousands of transistors compared to millions in most of the CISC
designs.
Allison
It would be interesting to attempt to graph the MIPS/VUP/MIPS/Whetstones/etc.
of ancient and contemporary computers, using some approximation of
comparable units. It would be fun to recognize that, say, one of
my old computers was just as fast as an IBM AT, but was available
five years before.
- John
I got an e-mail from InnFoGraphics Warehouse Liquidation, of a sale
January 10 and 11, 733 SE 9th Ave. (Upstairs), Portland, OR 97214
with : "Chieftan S50, S100, Morrow, Altos, Nec, XORI, Kaypro, Xerox,
Mindset, OSM Zeus, DEC computers, 11/73, 11/44, Vax 11/730, HSC50,
RA60, TU 81 Plus, RA 81s, 486 & 386 PCs" etc. and lots more
radio / TV / electronics, see
<http://members.aol.com/innfograph/index.htm> for more info.
- John
At 09:11 PM 1/8/98 +0300, you wrote:
>The problem with this guies theroies: In this 3rd world country, schools
>have MMX machines.
Perhaps, but is that:
a) Schools for dependents of US citizens working for US
companies in Bahrain,
b) local schools in an wealthy country (i.e., the government
is wealthy even if the citizenry isn't)
c) only the schools located in the major cities?
In the philippines, it ain't true. Heck, my girlfriend's sister-in-law's
family doesn't even have a telephone.
There is a company here in San Francisco that ships hundreds (if not
thousands) of older PC's and such overseas *everyday*. They're huge, and
it's really an amazing operation. And yes, they occassionally get some
classic computers worth saving.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
At 05:22 PM 1/6/98 -0500, you wrote:
> Qedit
>> is an incredible editor while MPEX extends the capabilities of the OS.
>
>Yeah, but they want something like $90 for it! I found another, that's free
>(even has spell check). Will send to anyone on request.
If Qedit for the HP3000 is only $90, you'd be well off to purchase it!
Especially if you're planning on any kind of development.
On the other hand, I believe there is a PC editor with the same name
(unrelated and not as good.) (Best Windows editor I've seen is Programmer's
File Editor -- $0, and the guy wouldn't take money when I wanted to send him
some! This is off topic, email me for details.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
At 07:47 PM 1/7/98 EST, you wrote:
>I like the IIcis. They're cute little things. Pretty fast, too. The only
The IIci is probably my favorite classic mac (other than the portable,
perhaps). Great case, compact and easy to work on. Built-in video too.
>years. They have two problems. One is that the monitors power up
>intermittently, probably due to the transformer. Ideas? The other is the disk
The monitor is separate, kinda irrelevant to the CPU. If the monitor is
bad, just get a new monitor. (they can, as someone mentioned, run a VGA
monitor with the right adapter.)
>drives. They were all blown out with compressed air, but still didn't start
>working correctly. Ideas?
I assume you mean the floppy drives. Again, they can be replaced, although
mac floppy drives aren't cheap. Depending on your exact situation, you can
often get away without a working floppy. (If you mean the hard drive,
that's even easier; it's a standard 3.5" scsi drive.)
The IIci can run a CD-ROM drive, connect to the internet, and do just about
anything you'd like. Rachel's got 3 (I think) of them in her classroom,
plus one at home (her first computer, now her niece's).
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
Ok, here's an odd one...
In a recent stack of items that I picked up, I came across a chassis with a
status indicator panel suggesting that it was some type of reader/punch
controller, and an id tag reading "Model PA63".
It is obviously a DEC unit, but I've never seen any information on such a
thing that I can recall.
A more or less DEC standard looking wire wrapped backplane, standard 19
inch chassis about 6 inchec tall, and three fans. No power supply, but a
large cable off of the backplane that looks like it was intended to connect
to an external supply.
Status displays for reader and punch data and status, and a reader and
punch 'unit select' display. I keep thinking that if it turns out to be
interesting, I might want to restore it and install it on one of my
systems. But, I'll need some info and a set of prints to make any headway.
Anyone familiar with this beast?
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
The problem with this guies theroies: In this 3rd world country, schools
have MMX machines.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence T. Mathison <LMATHISON(a)BCPS.ORG>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, January 08, 1998 5:40 PM
Subject: OLD PC's
>The Baltimore County Public Schools have 100's of old (286 & earlier) PC
>that need a disposal outlet. We are looking for companies that buy old
>machines for resale in third-world countries. Any info that you have
>that will help us to identifiy companies in this business will be
>greatly appreciated. Larry Mathison (410) 887-7838,
>LMATHISON(a)BCPS.ORG.
>
>
From: Kimberley Weathers <kweather(a)bcm.tmc.edu>
Subject: IBM Magnetic cards
I work at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, in their archives. I
found these cards are shaped like a punch card, but look like a floppy
diskette without the cover. They're from about 1976, and I can't find
anyone, not even at IBM, to read them. Any ideas? I know that after all
this they may not even work, but it's worth a try, because this looks like
important info. Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Kimberley Weathers
kweather(a)bcm.tmc.edu
__________________________________________
Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org
http://www.chac.org/index.html
Computer History Association of California