8 Nov
1997
8 Nov
'97
6:26 p.m.
On Sat, 8 Nov 1997 11:15:17 -0600 (CST), Mr. Seagraves was heard
to remark:
We should build a computer from discrete components,
just to operate
one. And connect it to the Internet. Of course, we'd never finish
in out lifetimes, and it would fill a room, but it would be awful
cool!
I know, personally, of a chap in Germany who is, at this moment,
putting the finishing touches on a modern-day vacuum-tube computer.
I'm looking forward to seeing the designs and writing a simulator for
it so we may all have fun.
Computers aren't all _that_ hard to design and build! Just remember
that you don't _need_ all the instruction-set bloat that's so common
nowadays. Think RISC. Of course, before there was CISC/RISC there
was... well "RISC". The first time I heard of RISC the though that
popped into my mind was: "Finally! Back to basics!".
______________________________________________________________________
| | |
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin) | West Boylston |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast | Massachusetts, USA |
| mailto:carl.friend@stoneweb.com | |
| http://www.ultranet.com/~engelbrt/carl/museum | ICBM: N42:22 W71:47 |
|________________________________________________|_____________________|
8 Nov
8 Nov
9:01 p.m.
I know, personally, of a chap in Germany who is, at
this moment,
putting the finishing touches on a modern-day vacuum-tube computer.
I'm looking forward to seeing the designs and writing a simulator for
it so we may all have fun.
I would certainly like to find out how he is doing this - his life depends
on this...
While it may be a very interesting experiment, finding out what could have
been done at some point in history (like that Thor Heyerdal (sp?) guy), it
could also be a bit damaging to other fields. Some vintage parts are
really drying up and make accurate restorations VERY difficult and/or
expensive. This is very evident in the old tube (valve, bottle, etc.)
field. Some of the tubes I need for restorations are next to impossible to
find these days, unless I pay large amounts from the audio people (I have
little love for them). While some of the tube types are not suitable for
computers, some are. I certainly hope he is using some of the more common
types that can be purchased by the bushell.
Computers aren't all _that_ hard to design and
build! Just remember
that you don't _need_ all the instruction-set bloat that's so common
nowadays. Think RISC. Of course, before there was CISC/RISC there
was... well "RISC". The first time I heard of RISC the though that
popped into my mind was: "Finally! Back to basics!".
Of course, once you start playing with tubes - lots of them - problems
come up that are not usually found when using TTL.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
9 Nov
9 Nov
2:21 a.m.
New subject: German tube based computer
Carl R. Friend wrote:
I know, personally, of a chap in Germany who is, at
this moment,
putting the finishing touches on a modern-day vacuum-tube computer.
I'm looking forward to seeing the designs and writing a simulator for
it so we may all have fun.
I'd be interested in knowing more about this. It would be cool to have a
1997 CCC listing for a tube machine.
--
Hans B. Pufal : <mailto:hansp@digiweb.com>
Comprehensive Computer Catalogue : <http://www.digiweb.com/~hansp/ccc/>
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2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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carl.friend＠stoneweb.com -
hansp＠columbia.digiweb.com -
william＠ans.net