8 Aug
2012
8 Aug
'12
2:49 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of William Donzelli
Sent: 08 August 2012 22:13
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: To all with interest in IBM 7090
So how can the current generation learn about their computer heritage?
Replicas? Reproductions? To most museums these are even more of a poisioned
challice than using an original. At present the only really early machines
we have are reconstructions. When I started commercial programming every
business had one or two large mainframes. Can any one see reproductions of
1960's Mainframes being made...
They ae, but as I said elsewhere, if you
don't have them you have
little more than a film set prop.
...that can be studied in extreme detail for many years,
thanks to the original parts still being there.
Nobody can tell what will be important in years to come.
Things we see as mundane today may be very important in the
future. We have seen this before. In classic-era archaeology,
everyone wanted to study how the kings and emperors lived,
with only a passing interest in how all the regular people
got along. But then the unthinkable happened, and now
everyone wants to what those regular people ate, smoked,
built, drank, played, shat, painted, and learned.
But many of those classic-era archaeologists trashed the
village sites so they could get to the temples.
Generally you will be left with the carcass of
the machine,
which is
all you have if you don't use the machine. In
many cases the use of
the machine means that it will be better preserved as the
mechanical
parts will be oiled and lubricated...
Yeah, tell that to the hard disk people. Or the printer people.
Anyone have a 1416 print chain?
PN or TN?
Actually I'll bet some one on this list, possibly Dave McGuire, but its an
IBM part so perhaps not, has at least one, probably in manufacturers
original protective waxed paper.....
--
Will