Atari ST diskettes

[Van Snyder]

On Mon, 2020-12-07 at 11:21 -0800, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
> On 12/7/20 10:32 AM, Van Snyder via cctalk wrote:
> 
> > The first computer I  was paid to write software for didn't require me
> > to toggle in a boot loader: The IBM 1401 in 1966.
> > 
> > All I had to do was push the load key on the card reader, or the tape
> > load key on the operator console. And it didn't even have a teletype
> > console.
> 
> The contemporaneous 1620 had it both ways--one could type in the loader
> on the console typewriter (hit the Release key when done) or by pressing
> the console LOAD key, could read a record from either card or paper tape
> into 00000-00079.  On the CADET, one of the first things that most
> loaders did was to have a small routine to read in the addition and
> multiplication tables.  If you're going to do any arithmetic at all,
> you'd better have those!
> 

> --Chuck

One of my friends changed the tables in a 1620 to do octal arithmetic,
for telemetry processing.

Speaking of those tables, do you remember why the 1620 was called
CADET? Not because it was a "beginner's" or "novice" computer. It was
an acronym for "Can't Add; Doesn't Even Try."

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California has a 1620
that worked for a time. They had a problem with cooling the core
memory, which they could probably repair. They didn't get a 1622 card
reader/punch, so they connected it to a PC -- which makes the
appropriate noises. When Professor Maniotis retired from Purdue
University, he gave two 20-drawer card cabinets of 1620 software to
CHM.

CHM also has two working IBM 1401's. Their  cool address is 1401
Shoreline Blvd.