23 Jun
2015
23 Jun
'15
2:11 p.m.
On 06/22/2015 11:43 PM, Christian Kennedy wrote:
I think the hint is on the back. This is a story of
Delaine Donohue
retiring from D&B where he created and ran the National Business
Information Center and the Central Data Collection Group between the
early 70s and early 80s. He retired in ?89, so it?s not unreasonable to
assume 80?s vintage in the context of D&B ? although the drives do
suggest earlier rather than later in the decade.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" etc. - maybe there was significant
risk
in replacing an old but reliable system.
so I suppose it?s
possible that these are comm processors ? although IIRC most of the
original NCSS packet stuff was PDP-11 based.
To me it looks like those are pairs of analog moving-coil meters on the
fronts, either side of the blinkenlights, which seems a little odd (I mean
sure, maybe one such meter for checking/monitoring power inputs, but even
then I'm surprised it would be right there on the front panels). It makes
me wonder if these aren't some form of multi-channel data logging devices,
rather than a general-purpose computer.