25 Oct
1997
25 Oct
'97
2:21 p.m.
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 09:23:46 -0400 (EDT)
Reply-to: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
From: William Donzelli <william(a)ans.net>
To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers"
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Info on things old wanted...
X-To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Does anyone have any information on these two things?
My guess is that the
IBM card machine may be
pre-computer (programmed by plugboards, etc.).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WHOAH here !! Just a minute !! Are you trying to say that anything
without a LSI chip or integrated circuit-board is a "pre-computer" ? This might be the beginning of an
epistimological revision to rival
that of the term PC to mean a MSDOS machine or R&R meaning any
kind of new pop music.
The lines of history are often very blurry. Rarely does anything get
invented or changed in an instant of time. Data processing machines are no
exception, but one does have to come up with some naming conventions, or
use ones already in place. I was just using an existing one.
And no, I never implied that computers started with LSI chips - as a few
of you people know, I collect minis mostly, and two of my machines do not
have integrated circuits at all. I still call them computers (OK, one is
actually a calculator, but I am not going to open that can of worms).