11 Sep
2016
11 Sep
'16
10:25 a.m.
From: Adrian Stoness
All seems we see is HP and Dec mostly talked about
Well, don't forget that i) a lot of people (like me) are interested in things
they worked with 'back in the day', and for many people, that is very likely
to be DEC and HP machines, since they were very common, ii) the conversation
is partially driven by what's available now, and again, because they were so
common BITD, there are more of them now, and finally iii) the list has a lot
of US-based members, and they wouldn't have run across (either back then, or
now) machines from the somewhat obscure European manufacturers.
I don't think anyone looks down on the more obscure machines, in fact I
personally (and many others, I suspect) are very happy to see people paying
attention to them, and my respects to the people who are working to save them.
Noel
11 Sep
11 Sep
11:09 a.m.
On Sep 11, 2016, at 1:25 PM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at
mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
...
I don't think anyone looks down on the more obscure machines, in fact I
personally (and many others, I suspect) are very happy to see people paying
attention to them, and my respects to the people who are working to save them.
One of the problems with "obscure European machinery" is that documentation is
not available. No Siemens computers, for example. And the only trace I have found of the
Philips PR8000 is a one line mention in a list of computers, just enough to confirm
that's the machine I once used whose model number I had forgotten.
It's not clear why this is so. Fewer collectors? Not much commercial success for
some or many of those machines?
paul
11:25 a.m.
On 09/11/2016 11:09 AM, Paul Koning wrote:
It's not clear why this is so. Fewer collectors?
Not much
commercial success for some or many of those machines?
I think the biggest problem is that most of the systems were deployed in
larger commercial or government enterprises and so off the radar for
most people.
I ran into Siemens mostly in the PLC area. Not much of a chance for
that to be accessible to an ordinary person.
--Chuck
1:50 p.m.
On 2016-Sep-11, at 11:09 AM, Paul Koning wrote:
But it's not just European machines falling to obscurity, it's the range of minis
in general. There were dozens and dozens
of now-forgotten minicomputer models in the US in the late-60s/early-70s, both from
small-time manufacturers and lesser-known
models from well-known companies.
bitsaver's has a list that gives an idea of the scope:
ftp://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/topic/minicomputer/ComputerDesign_Apr71.pdf
I'd love to see or (be able to) build a museum/collection displaying that range but
how much of that hardware will one run across nowadays?
On Sep 11,
2016, at 1:25 PM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
...
I don't think anyone looks down on the more obscure machines, in fact I
personally (and many others, I suspect) are very happy to see people paying
attention to them, and my respects to the people who are working to save them.
One of the problems with "obscure European machinery" is that documentation is
not available. No Siemens computers, for example. And the only trace I have found of the
Philips PR8000 is a one line mention in a list of computers, just enough to confirm
that's the machine I once used whose model number I had forgotten.
It's not clear why this is so. Fewer collectors? Not much commercial success for
some or many of those machines? 
11:53 a.m.
i relize that ive got a pile of dec myself but nice to get other stuff on
radar to look out for.
siemens went around buying out companies and dismantling them in the
industrial world allot and still does kinda a piss of as some really good
products have been tossed to the curb by them over the yrs my dads an
insturmentation technoligist. so seen all sorts things.
On Sun, Sep 11, 2016 at 12:25 PM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu>
wrote:
From: Adrian
Stoness
All seems we see is HP and Dec mostly talked
about
Well, don't forget that i) a lot of people (like me) are interested in
things
they worked with 'back in the day', and for many people, that is very
likely
to be DEC and HP machines, since they were very common, ii) the
conversation
is partially driven by what's available now, and again, because they were
so
common BITD, there are more of them now, and finally iii) the list has a
lot
of US-based members, and they wouldn't have run across (either back then,
or
now) machines from the somewhat obscure European manufacturers.
I don't think anyone looks down on the more obscure machines, in fact I
personally (and many others, I suspect) are very happy to see people paying
attention to them, and my respects to the people who are working to save
them.
Noel
2976
days inactive
2976
days old
4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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cclist＠sydex.com -
hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca -
jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu -
paulkoning＠comcast.net -
tdk.knight＠gmail.com