31 Dec
1999
31 Dec
'99
12:55 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Braun <nerdware(a)laidbak.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 1999 8:23 AM
Subject: Question for you 'big iron' collectors
I've been following the list for about a year and
a half now and I'm
curious -- you guys (both genders) that have the room and the
know-how to run the big stuff -- what do you do with them? I guess
I'm not that familiar with non-business apps for minis and I'm just
curious what someone using a PDP at home would do with it?
Point of order here. Minicomputers can only be called "big iron" when
compared to microcomputers. As a mainframe enthusiast big iron intuitively
refers to IBM 360/370-type computers.
This is not being pedantic. It is being precise. Some subscribers to this
list have never seen a real mainframe, but that doesn't mean mainframes
never existed. Nor does it permit us to ignore them.
For this one time it's OK to refer to minicomputers as big iron - note I am
joking- but seriously folks, we must expand our knowledge of that which we
collect. First there were mainframes, then minicomputers, and then
microcomputers.
And now back to the original purpose of the thread.
Yours in good faith.