Mathatron & other stuff - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

20 Aug 1998

At 12:38 AM 8/20/98 -0500, you wrote:
...
 On Wed, 19 Aug 1998, dave dameron wrote:

> I found a book I would recommend if anyone finds a copy, although I am still
...
   getting used
to it. It is "Computer Structures: Readings and Examples" by
 Bell and Newell. It uses strange notation (for me) and even the table of
 contents is "virtual". 
That wouldn't be Gordon Bell, would it?  The book sounds familiar, but
it's not on my shelf.

  Anyway, it includes descriptions of 2 desktop
calculators, both about 1968:
 an Olivetti 101 (USD$3500) and a HP 9100A. The HP uses core memory, its
 program ROM uses 16 layer PC board technology. The HP article is a reprint
 from the HP Journal. Does anyone have either of these? 
Somebody with a better sense of calc history should chime in here, but I
think Monroe, Olivetti, HP, and Wang all had programmables in the 60s.

I have an HP9100A manual and the first HP _Keyboard_ that describes it.  I
think I recall at least four people on the list having a 9100.  It was not
the first programmable, but it was the first HP, and it is pretty cool
with its built-in CRT and expansion bus.

  I have a HP 9100 and the original HP Journal.  You can order reprints
(color, I think) of the HP Journals through HP's website.

   Joe