10 Apr
2012
10 Apr
'12
1:13 p.m.
On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 3:46 PM, Rob <robert at irrelevant.com> wrote:
Ah, Wyse terminals... I spent many happy years in the
'90s programming
at a Wyse 120.... I still had a couple until a few years ago, when I
had to get rid of them to make space. I've still got a keyboard from
maybe a WY-30 in a junk box (anybody need one?) and I've got the
cardboard box that a WY-50 once came in (albeit filled with kids toy
trains..) ? ?I might have still a manual for a '120 somewhere, too..
ISTR that Wyse terminals were especially common in places I visited
that were primarily non-DEC UNIX shops. I'm sure price had a lot to
do with it. DEC terminals were pretty expensive (ISTR a price point
for a VT100 or VT102 around $1600 in the early 1980s). I think we had
a mix of DEC and C-Itoh because of the cost of growing a company from
a handful to nearly 100... nobody wanted to spend over $100K on
terminals (especially right after spending $100K on the VAX-11/750).
-ethan