10 Feb
1998
10 Feb
'98
11:45 p.m.
Or maybe a moth.
One of my favourite pictures - but is this a myth as WELL as a moth?
http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/items/first_bug.html
Can anyone confirm this is the origin of the term "bug"?
Its a nice site for Classic computer collectors, anyway.
Cheers
Andrew
10 Feb
10 Feb
11:59 p.m.
I saw what was supposed to be the first Bug at the Smithsonian last week.
It was indeed a Moth and it was taped to a computer log sheet.
George
=========================================================
George L. Rachor george(a)racsys.rt.rain.com
Beaverton, Oregon http://racsys.rt.rain.com
On Wed, 11 Feb 1998, Andrew Davie wrote:
Or maybe a moth.
One of my favourite pictures - but is this a myth as WELL as a moth?
http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/items/first_bug.html
Can anyone confirm this is the origin of the term "bug"?
Its a nice site for Classic computer collectors, anyway.
Cheers
Andrew
11 Feb
11 Feb
1:55 a.m.
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8:35 a.m.
Well, the moth does indeed exist. It was taped into
the book by
Adm. Grace Hopper, probably best rememberd for her creation of COBOL.
But I understand that this is _not_ actually the origin of the term "bug"
to describe a mechanical/engineering problem or glitch. Apparently,
the term pre-dates the appearance of this moth in this particular relay.
Unfortunately, I do not have any direct evidence of this, it's just
what I've read. I'd love to find some references to "bugs", meaning
mechanical glitches, pre-dating the 1940's.
Yes, indeed the term "bug" is older than th earliest electrical computer.
As eveidence, one could check out some of the 1930s issues of QST (a
hamradio magazine), and the term shows up. If I could dig them out, I
could give you exact dates.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
10 Feb
10 Feb
8:45 p.m.
Yes, indeed the term "bug" is older than th
earliest electrical computer.
As eveidence, one could check out some of the 1930s issues of QST (a
hamradio magazine), and the term shows up. If I could dig them out, I
could give you exact dates.
I think that's a different kind of bug, unless
I'm missing something... Are
you thinking of those Vibroplex(sp?) bugs? Those funny looking CW keys?
Although I suppose the other type of bug is there too, if you count
screwing up a radio circuit...
But hey, don't listen to me. I've been awake at my computer all night for
probably about 10 hours now. I drank a whole 2 liter bottle of Pepsi,
finished it off around 9-10pm, now it's almost 7am and I'm still wide
awake(and very gittery(I know THAT's not the right spelling...). And to top
it off, my fishing license expired, so I don't have anything to do but sit
here on the computer for a while longer. Maybe I'll go drag my bike out of
the basement.
-JR http://members.tripod.com/~jrollins/index.html - Computers
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/1681/ - Star Trek
11 Feb
11 Feb
8:53 a.m.
I think that's a different kind of bug, unless
I'm missing something... Are
you thinking of those Vibroplex(sp?) bugs? Those funny looking CW keys?
Although I suppose the other type of bug is there too, if you count
screwing up a radio circuit...
No, the term "bug" applied to telegraphy is different, and yes, it does
mean those keys made for high speed.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
9826
days inactive
9827
days old
5 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
adavie＠mad.scientist.com -
george＠racsys.rt.rain.com -
rexstout＠ptld.uswest.net -
sethm＠squeep.com -
william＠ans.net