21 Mar
1997
21 Mar
'97
12:51 p.m.
On Fri, 21 Mar 1997 17:54:15 -0500, "Captain Napalm" uttered:
but you might want to add an availability field [for
(in the good
Captain's case, microcomputers)], something like:
Limited - only a single run ever made, and then, not
very
many.
How about some of the rarer minicomputers that were made in the '60s?
Beasts like the LINC-8 (of which there were only 142 built) or Packard
Bell equipment from the very early sixties count here. PDP-1.
Rare - Only made for a year or so.
I'd put into this category the Classic DEC PDP-8, and orginal Data
General Novas. PDP-12s might go here (production run of ~1000).
Uncommon - the less popular machines of an era.
I'm speculating at this point, but I'd tend to lump Prime equipment
and Interdata gear in this one. You can find them, but it's a lucky
find. Later Novas and Eclipses might fit here.
Common - Fairly easy to find.
DEC pdp11 gear fits, for the most part here, although a case can be
made for the 11/20 to fall into the "uncommon" classification. This
class is especially appropriate for early- to mid- life 11s.
Abundant - the era of the PClone. Can't go to a
thrift
store, auction, ham fest, etc without finding
hundreds if not thousands of old units.
This is a level of concentration that you'll never find with mini-
computers. In this class, I'd tend to place late-life-cycle pdp11s,
like the 11/84 and up, and various classes of small VAXen. Note that
in many cases these machines are still performing their assigned
tasks and may not be de-commissioned for several years to come.
I hate to flog a horse that's weak, but there is more to computing
life than microprocessors. Whilst I don't disagree that the micro-
based machines should be preserved (they should), I hope that folks,
through their study of machines' history, become aware of what is
now _distant_ history, even though it only happened 25-35 years ago.
Bitmapped displays and typewriter keyboards are nice, but it's also
good to sit in front of the blinking lights and work switches to
program the machine.
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| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin) | West Boylston |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast | Massachusetts, USA |
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