AES computer with 8-inch disks?

>Sent from: Gilles Poitras <cowpunk(a)sirius.com> > >This is from a mailing list for theological librarians that I am on. > >Can anyone help out? > >>"Accelerating obsolescence" strikes again. >> >>Professor Dr Hans Rollmann, who supervises one of the more elegant and >>elaborate sites on the WorldWideWeb for the Department of Religious Studies >>at Memorial University in Newfoundland, has found some important primary >>data that he hopes to mount with other texts on the site. These data are >>imprisoned on 8-inch computer disks that were made on an AES computer, >>apparently in the 1980s. No printed record of the material survives; only >>the 8-inch disks remain. No AES computer or 8-inch drive exists at Memorial >>University; the technical services people from the Computing Sciences >>Department tried to build an 8-inch drive from spare parts, but came up >>short. The intellectual content frozen in this "obsolete" technology >>remains unreadable. >> >>Does anyone know the whereabouts of an intact AES computer? Failing that, >>is there any available information about these machines? What did the >>acronym AES stand for? Where was it built? Most important, what operating >>system did it use? What word processing software might have been loaded? >> >>Has anyone preserved any computer with an 8-inch disk drive? As I recall, >>both Commodore and Atari used 8-inch drives. >> >>Anyone who has useful information on this problem can communicate with >>Professor Rollmann at >> >> hrollman(a)morgan.ucs.mun.ca >> >>Those who may be interested in his religious studies web site can begin >>sifting through its many layers at >> >> http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~hrollman >> >>Professor Rollmann will be grateful for any assistance anyone can offer. >>The rest of us need to be sure that any intellectual material we >>"catalogue" can also be "read."