21 Mar
1998
21 Mar
'98
2:28 a.m.
At 01:21 3/21/98 -0600, Doug wrote:
Has anybody ventured a definition of computer that
allows us to weed out
mere calculators? How about:
* must be programmable
* must be general purpose
* must have alphanumeric input capabilites
* must have alphanumeric display capabilites
You can even throw in "must have stored-program memory" and, bingo, an
HP9100 is a computer.
__________________________________________
Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org
http://www.chac.org/index.html
Computer History Association of California
21 Mar
21 Mar
2:47 a.m.
On Sat, 21 Mar 1998, Kip Crosby wrote:
At 01:21 3/21/98 -0600, Doug wrote:
OK, you got me. But the HP9100's alpha keys only went up to the letter
'f' (this must have been for goto labels rather than hex calculation), and
it would be a stretch to call this thing general purpose, but any
calculator with core memory is OK by me.
-- Doug
Has anybody ventured a definition of computer that
allows us to weed out
mere calculators? How about:
* must be programmable
* must be general purpose
* must have alphanumeric input capabilites
* must have alphanumeric display capabilites
You can even throw in "must have stored-program memory" and, bingo, an
HP9100 is a computer.
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