14 Feb
2008
14 Feb
'08
2:30 p.m.
On Thu, 14 Feb 2008, William Donzelli wrote:
I am sitting here, reading this thread, and am
astounded by what
people think tubes could do back in 1906. It would have been
*impossible* to make any sort of computing device using the technology
of the time. You would have better luck porting OS/2 to a 709.
a Linux port might be more fun
punch cards, telegraph, and even crude fax were around.
The problem that always ends up being the show stopper
is in RAM.
Using a CRT for the memory was still off quite a few years, ferrite
cores were not around for a few more, capacitors generally were too
leaky to hold a charge long, magnetic recording was just not really
there yet - so the only real option for online storage is an acoustic
delay loop.
as postulated, the reuirement is that it COULD BE manufactured using
period technology, not that it WAS in use. Core memory WOULD be possible.
Or paper, in the form of punch cards - which is
exactly were the
computer industry went. Cheap, easy, reliable, non-volatile.
There is a certain comforting feeling to the easy to understand cardboard
technologies