15 Apr
1998
15 Apr
'98
10:43 a.m.
On Wed, 15 Apr 1998, Jack Peacock wrote:
Hmmm...this is sort of like the Creationist version of where S-100 came
from. Actually, a guy named Ed Roberts at a company called MITS that
built a computer called the Altair 8800 invented the S-100 bus.
Sounds Marxist to me, but then, Max *is* originally from Russia :)
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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I am
completely unfamiliar with S-100 systems, so could you please
explain... were S-100 technologically superior to PCs (i.e. IBM PC
5150), or just aesthetically? As far as I know, they used an older
processor...
S-100s started out with an Intel 8080, then Zilog Z80. That was
pretty much the end of the 8-bit version, although there were slots. I built custom 286 based multi-user systems
that
supported 10 or more users running production business work.
The response time compared quite favorably to contemporary low
end DEC PDP-11s, and for a fraction of the cost.
Cool!
Another problem was the unregulated power supply.
Unregulated
+8 and +/-16VDC was run over the bus itself, right next to
signal lines. Every board required it's own regulation, which
could take 20% or more of the board space, as well as being a
nightmare to keep cool. If you see early pictures of loaded
IMSAIs, the cover was always off. This was a necessity, the
heat was too much with the cover on. I had to use a 16" fan to
keep mine running with 64KB of 2102 based static RAM (not 21L02s
BTW, they cost more than the fan did).
On one of my IMSAI's the original owner found that covering the vent holes
on the right (or was it left?) side of the case on the inside with
electrical tape forced the air flow across the boards.
As for
laissez-faire, I never have believed in it. It makes society
too concerned about money. This is proven when complete crap hardware
is released now, and people don't care because it's good _financially_
You don't like the profit motive? *gasp* That's, well, that's
just plain un-american (understandable and excusable if you
happen to be european tho).