History of Computing exam question - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

4 Dec 2001

...
  -----Original Message-----
 From: Iggy Drougge [mailto:optimus@canit.se] 
...
  But who could by a VAX? And why one terminal only? The
VAX 
 wasn't a personal
 computer by any means.
 Not that just anyone could buy an IBM PC in '81, but chances 
 were, your
 employer could. 
Well, depending on your employer they might afford a VAX too.  I used one
terminal as an example of a way to give your VAX a nice keyboard and
display.  I didn't mean it to be an exhaustive configuration.

...
  OTOH, the TI99's processor had the same addressing
problems 
 as the 8-bitters,
 15-bit addressing with a 16-bit word orientation led to the 
 same addressable
 space as the 6502 and Z80 micros. Arithmetically, the TI99 
 was a sixteen-
 bitter, but not in the common definition of sixteen bits used from the
 eighties and onwards. 
AFAIR the 8088 was also very "8-bit" :)  I suppose it's all in the
marketing, though.

...
  The PC was AFAIK released in '81.
 I wouldn't define the 68000 as a 32-bitter, only as a more 
 elegant sixteen-
 bitter. 
Well, we certainly agree on the "more elegant" part. ;)

...
  several 32-bit
systems on the market by 1984 or so (though,   my personal
 >favorite was done in '87 with the Acorn Archimedes). 
...
  None were IBM, though, and none could be easily
cloned. 
Well, no, none were IBM.  (Honestly, IBM has only done a few things I like
-- all of them being more expensive than I could ever hope to afford new. :)

As for being easily cloned, I suppose you mean that Compaq must have already
done the reverse engineering work? ;)

Regards,

Chris

Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL

/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'