26 Oct
2011
26 Oct
'11
7:56 a.m.
Wasn't the 11/70 in a class of machines called
"supermini"
computers...machines that were based on the architecture of
minicomputers, but with CPU extensions(e.g., multiple CPU modes[kernel,
supervisor, user]), larger memory capacity(including virtual memory
capabilities), and significantly improved I/O architectures and
bandwidth? I wonder if the poster of the auction on eBay misread
"supermini" and thought "supercomputer"?
A complete 11/70 installation almost certainly included line printers, many terminals on
multiplexers, timesharing software, a medium to large farm of massbus disks and tapes,
etc. This meant it was usually in a room with a raised floor.
Just a few years later (or even overlapping) the same departmental computer market was
being sold 11/780's with very similar or identical peripheral complement.
Contrast this with the (to me) more traditional -11 market of a computer that went into a
lab with some custom and simple Unibus peripherals for data acquisition.
To me at least the "supermini" concept was almost closer to a personal
workstation (although e.g. Encores/SEL's are certainly superminis) but these often
became departmental superminis well outfitted with high performance Japanese (Fujitsu)
peripherals not the crufty old Massbus-hose type stuff.
While I have a lot of respect for a complete 11/70 installation... at the same time all
that Massbus stuff was pretty crufty compared to the new much smaller peripherals coming
in from the low end by the early 80's.
Classic computer collectors (including the E-bay seller) often focus too much on the CPU
as defining the environment.
Tim.