May 2024 - cctalk - classiccmp.org

C. Gordon Bell, Creator of a Personal Computer Prototype, Dies at 89

by Christian Liendo

Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/gordon-bell-an-architect-of-our-dig… New York Times Obit https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/technology/c-gordon-bell-dead.html?unloc…

2 years, 3 months

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Thirties techies and computing history

by Tarek Hoteit

A friend of a friend had a birthday gathering. Everyone there was in their thirties, except for myself, my wife, and our friend. Anyway, I met a Google engineer, a Microsoft data scientist, an Amazon AWS recruiter (I think she was a recruiter), and a few others in tech who are friends with the party host. I had several conversations about computer origins, the early days of computing, its importance in what we have today, and so on. What I found disappointing and saddening at the same time is their utmost ignorance about computing history or even early computers. Except for their recall of the 3.5 floppy or early 2000’s Windows, there was absolutely nothing else that they were familiar with. That made me wonder if this is a sign that our living version of classical personal computing, in which many of us here in this group witnessed the invention of personal computing in the 70s, will stop with our generation. I assume that the most engaging folks in this newsgroup are in their fifties and beyond. (No offense to anyone. I am turning fifty myself) I sense that no other generation following this user group's generation will ever talk about Altairs, CP/M s, PDPs, S100 buses, Pascal, or anything deemed exciting in computing. Is there hope, or is this the end of the line for the most exciting era of personal computers? Thoughts? Regards, Tarek Hoteit

2 years, 3 months

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Re: Thirties techies and computing history

by Tarek Hoteit

Thank you, Josh. How did your passion start with classical computers? Maybe this helps in understanding the generation? Regards, Tarek Hoteit > On May 19, 2024, at 08:39, Joshua Rice via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > Younger folk are indeed more ignorant of where technology came from, but i wouldn't say all of them are. I'm 32 years young and, well, i'm posting this email on the mailing list, so that probably says enough. > > Sure, the pool of those interested in old computer tech might be smaller nowadays than it used to be, but then so is the pool of those interested in Ford Model T's or gasoline powered Maytag washing machines, or steam traction engines. But as long as stuff exists, there will be people interested in tinkering with it. It's just that some tech is just not relevant any more, so those exposed to it or used it in anger are going to be fewer and far between. > > It's OK to be concerned, but i don't think the retro computing scene is as dire as some might make it out to be. > > Cheers, > > Josh Rice > >> On 19/05/2024 16:14, Tarek Hoteit via cctalk wrote: >> A friend of a friend had a birthday gathering. Everyone there was in their thirties, except for myself, my wife, and our friend. Anyway, I met a Google engineer, a Microsoft data scientist, an Amazon AWS recruiter (I think she was a recruiter), and a few others in tech who are friends with the party host. I had several conversations about computer origins, the early days of computing, its importance in what we have today, and so on. What I found disappointing and saddening at the same time is their utmost ignorance about computing history or even early computers. Except for their recall of the 3.5 floppy or early 2000’s Windows, there was absolutely nothing else that they were familiar with. That made me wonder if this is a sign that our living version of classical personal computing, in which many of us here in this group witnessed the invention of personal computing in the 70s, will stop with our generation. I assume that the most engaging folks in this newsgroup are in their fifties and beyond. (No offense to anyone. I am turning fifty myself) I sense that no other generation following this user group's generation will ever talk about Altairs, CP/M s, PDPs, S100 buses, Pascal, or anything deemed exciting in computing. Is there hope, or is this the end of the line for the most exciting era of personal computers? Thoughts? >> Regards, >> Tarek Hoteit

2 years, 3 months

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NTSC TV demodulator

by wrcooke＠wrcooke.net

I have a couple of 70s/80s "home" computers (e.g. Radio Shack Color Computer) that are intended to connect to a TV set. They don't have easily available composite video, even internally, only modulated RF output. Currently I have an old CRT TV that I use with them, but for various reasons that isn't practical long-term. Does anyone know of a small TV tuner that tunes old analog TV channels (US NTSC) and outputs composite or VGA or HDMI signals? I've looked around a bit but haven't found anything. It's relatively easy to build one, but I would prefer a pre-built solution. And I'm sure others have run into this same problem. Thanks, Will

2 years, 3 months

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Re: Thirties techies and computing history

by Tarek Hoteit

But, Bill, maybe you did influence at least one student or more when you showed them the PDP or VAX. Perhaps we don't know who, but we have to keep believing that we are influencing someone somewhere. The fact that you are 73 (Jon also said he is in his 70s) and your passion is rock solid is an excellent attestation that those who love computers are unique and will always do so. We don't need every techie to be involved, only the passionate ones. Josh is deep into classic computers in his thirties, as he said. Sellam joined the group in his twenties, thirty years ago. Many of us are of different ages. I am in my fifty and touched the first computer key on a keyboard in 78. This group maybe one of the last mailing lists standing about classical computer. To be specific: I saw a lot of Discord channels on retro computers but they all lack true experienced folks who actually worked on such machines. I guess the most important thing is for that special geek out there is to be aware of this distribution and make sure to keep it running Regards, Tarek Hoteit AI Consultant, PhD +1 360-838-3675 > On May 19, 2024, at 09:31, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > On 5/19/2024 11:14 AM, Tarek Hoteit via cctalk wrote: >> A friend of a friend had a birthday gathering. Everyone there was in their thirties, except for myself, my wife, and our friend. Anyway, I met a Google engineer, a Microsoft data scientist, an Amazon AWS recruiter (I think she was a recruiter), and a few others in tech who are friends with the party host. I had several conversations about computer origins, the early days of computing, its importance in what we have today, and so on. What I found disappointing and saddening at the same time is their utmost ignorance about computing history or even early computers. Except for their recall of the 3.5 floppy or early 2000’s Windows, there was absolutely nothing else that they were familiar with. That made me wonder if this is a sign that our living version of classical personal computing, in which many of us here in this group witnessed the invention of personal computing in the 70s, will stop with our generation. I assume that the most engaging folks in this newsgroup are in their fifties and beyond. (No offense to anyone. I am turning fifty myself) I sense that no other generation following this user group's generation will ever talk about Altairs, CP/M s, PDPs, S100 buses, Pascal, or anything deemed exciting in computing. Is there hope, or is this the end of the line for the most exciting era of personal computers? Thoughts? > > > I'm 73. How do you think I feel. I worked for 25 years in a Computer > Science Department of a University and not only did they not teach any > of the history. They mostly didn't know it themselves anyway. I kept > PDP-11's and Vaxen in the department for the students to see and, if > they wished, use but eventually I was told it was wasting space and > when they moved the department to the new science building there was > no space allocated for anything but the bare minimum of equipment. > > bill

2 years, 3 months

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Help request with fundraising campaign to save historic computers

by Gianluca Bonetti

Hello everyone I have been following this mailing for a long time but have never posted yet. Simply, I never had something interesting to write about, until now. Apologies for my first message being a funding request, but I trust you will agree with me about the importance of this matter for preserving computer history. I am helping Museo del Computer with this fundraising effort in order to save a large number of machines with significant historic value, including some Sperry Univac systems. Museo del Computer is a non-profit organization in northern Italy, run solely by volunteer work and donors' money since governments are still not interested in computer history. Museo del Computer is one of the largest computer history museums worldwide, with 4000 sqm between exhibition area and storage space, open to the public upon booking. This recovery expedition will go as far as 750km to load 100+ machines onto 3 lorries. The goal is to preserve these history-rich machines for all living enthusiasts and for future generations. All these hundred machines are really pieces of history, around 50 years old (I wasn't even born back then!) They need to be saved, moved carefully, and preserved in the custody of a Museum which we can all benefit from. The fundraising campaign is on Fundrazr at this link https://fundrazr.com/computermuseum Header pictures show some of the actual machines being saved: they are in great condition and probably still working. I trust you understand the importance of this activity in preserving computer history! Your contribution is greatly appreciated! Please share and spread the word! Thank you very much for any contributions! Will keep you posted, and hope to meet you at Museo del Computer any time soon! Gianluca Bonetti

2 years, 3 months

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Mylar/Sponge Keyboard Repair Kits

by Marvin Johnston

I've got a couple of keyboards where the sponge has disintegrated to the point they no longer work. The latest one is a Vector 3 keyboard and I would love to get it fixed. Can repair kits still be purchased and/or are the instructions for making those sponge/mylar pieces available? Thanks! Marvin

2 years, 3 months

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Papertape-Reader Decitek 442A9: need manual/schematics

by Michael Fritsch

I have a Decitek 442A9 papertape reader which needs repair. I have already replaced the belt, but that is not enough. The reader behaves very strangely. It starts running as soon as I apply power. And there is another problem: when I load a tape, it rattles irregular during reading. This is not a mechanical problem, it seems to react to the pulse of the feed hole, which arrives at the wrong time. I'm pretty sure, that I have to adjust the sprockets somehow relative to the stop positions of the stepper motor. It was nothing to be found online except pictures of a similar model 443A9 at RICM: https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collections-gallery/equipment/dec-pdp-8s-4. The controller board number is 30291A Does anyone happen to have the manual and/or schematics or any other documents? Thank you, Micha

2 years, 3 months

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Re: Random items on Pascal #3

by Fred Cisin

Turbo-Pascal was quite popular. At the annnouncement of it (West Coast Computer Faire), Phillipe Kahn (Borland) was so inundated with "yeah, but what about C?" questions, that by the end of the first day, "Turbo C is coming soon"

2 years, 3 months

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ANSI-M (Mumps) and the VA

by Bill Gunshannon

With the VA dropping Vista what happens to that army of Mumps programmers they had? Can't see much call for them in the IT world today. Seems like a worse fate than COBOL Programmers. bill

2 years, 3 months

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