On 01/24/2014 01:00 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
So, you're saying that creation of the term
"MINIcomputer" was attempt to
draw attention away from female legs and towards their products? Sorry,
but I was old enough by then for it not to work.
Well, I'll agree there, but in an IEEE STARS paper, Gordon Bell says
that the term "minicomputer" didn't appear before 1967, so one might say
that there were no minicomputers (identified as such) before then.
And sure, it was a variation on "sex sells"--there was a Morris Mini car
manufactured by Leyland in 1961, but I doubt that the US paid much
attention. In 1961, the US was into land yachts and
tailfins--witness,say, the 1961 Chrysler Imperial.
Miniskirts (ca. 1965) were quite a shock to the American psyche, which
had been getting along with the likes of "Father Knows Best" and the
"Bell Telephone Hour". Good grief, from Spencer Tracy and Katharine
Hepburn to Twiggy and Carnaby Street in a decade--what a shock.
If you don't think that sex was behind the label, consider the
Computerworld ads for "The Naked Mini".
So, IMOHO, applying the term "minicomputer" to anything before 1967 is a
bit like the Supreme Court's view on pornography--you can't say exactly
what it is, but you know it when you see it.
--Chuck