26 Jun
1998
26 Jun
'98
2:40 p.m.
Now remember the PERQ again, and think back to the
start of this (long)
thread. The PERQ happens to be the first commercial machine that would
now be classed as a workstation. For that reason alone it should not be
forgotten. But few people have ever heard of it (OK, not on this list
since I do go on about it :-)), or seen one. Which comes back to the
original point. Where should the average man in the street go to see the
machines that led up to the PC he's now using (I'll assume Windows, if
only because it's the most common OS).
There's been a lot of talk of talk recently about preserving ROM
images and the like so that the machines will still be usable generations
from now. But isn't the history of these machines
and of how they were
designed just as important as the computer itself?
Who cares how much enjoyable it is to read, just so long as the
information exists.
Tom Owad (whom luckily, isn't knowledgable enough to write a book about
classic computers :-)
Sysop of Caesarville Online
Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>