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From: wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Nearly Prehistoric Computers
Message-ID: <546@pyuxa.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Feb-84 09:16:04 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxa.546
Posted: Fri Feb  3 09:16:04 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 03:49:02 EST
References: <588@seismo.UUCP>, <584@ihuxq.UUCP>
Organization: Central Services Org., Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 24

Having had the dubious distinction of being one of the first 7 people
in the Army (1956) to be given the title (MOS) of Computer Technician,
I hesitate to relate some of those early horrors.  Imagine a computer
made up of 6 rows of bays, each bay being 7 feet high, 4 feet deep,
and 30 feet long.  Now imagine taking 2 hours each morning to just
boot the rascal up.  Imagine also a 20,000 volt cable feeding this
animal.  Further imagine that the rascal only had 4k of memory.  It
was great fun replacing all of those tubes and diodes every morning
after you turned it on.  Talk about heat, we could have melted the
icecaps with the damn thing.

Don't ask me the name, it was a secret project.  It has long since been
dismantled I guess, but they get ansy about those kind of things.  By
the way, we got to play with the very FIRST magnetic core memory.  It
was mounted in a plexiglass box about 12 inches on a side, and was
mounted on a small table for all to see and marvel.  It was also
guarded by a Marine Major at all times.  He was a friend so he let
me marvel up close.  There were some really interesting machines
around in those days, most of them special purpose by current standards.
Talk about patch cords?  I still have nightmares about being trapped
in a jungle of cords.

T. C. Wheeler