20 Feb
2010
20 Feb
'10
4:27 a.m.
Roger Holmes wrote:
Buried deeply somewhere in my brain I actually did know that, but thanks
for the clarification. I'm afraid that since AFAIK it has been rebuilt
as nearly as possible to the original schematics, I tend to think of it
as equivalent to the original. I've followed the restoration (errr I
mean re-creation - there I did it again!) as best I could from afar and
have the utmost admiration for all the work that was done and for all
those who participated. Even though I certainly agree it is a *new*
colossus, I am still jealous of those who can see it in person. I do
enjoy the video bits though, and always enjoy reading about the work
that was done. For me, having a new colossus is just as priceless as it
would have been to have had an original to restore. It is one of those
things that is *just so right* - truly a national treasure. And that
viewpoint is from a guy who has only been privileged to visit England
once about 30 years ago...
Later,
Charlie C.
Gene Buckle
wrote:
To say it is running again is a little bit misleading. A huge amount of work was done by
my fellow members of the Computer Conservation Society, including some of the people who
designed Colossus in the first place and it is great to have it but Winston Churchill had
the Colossi(?) broken up into small bits and so this is a replica, an extraordinarily
correct replica but a replica all the same, therefore it is now running, not running
again.
Apparently they had less problems getting the difficult bits working as the plans had
been released from UK government archives, than the off the shelf 'commercial'
items, plans of which had long since been lost except for the odd hoarder like me and
probably you. Also thing like switches were available off the shelf, with a high priority
job they had first call on things and selected Spitfire fighter switches which were then
being produced in good quantities and good quality.
Roger Holmes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Thu, 18 Feb 2010, William Donzelli wrote:
I'm pretty sure Colossus is running again at Bletchley Park. I only
wish I could get over there to see it in person. There are some youtube
videos available.
Later,
Charlie C. The chances of more tube computers coming out of
the woodwork is very,
very slim, but it has happened in the past few years. It is actually
reasonable to think that someone could have an IBM 650 or Bendix G-15
tucked away in a basement or garage.
Here's one that last I heard was in service with the RAF:
http://199.254.199.10/BehindTheScenes/lockheed.html
The company that owned it was bankrupted by the training market downturn
after 9/11. It was sold in 2003.