Augmenting Human Intellect, 19751985

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Augmenting Human Intellect, 1975-1985

• Introduction
• Digital Equipment Corporation
• A Word about UNIX
• IBM and the Classic Mainframe Culture
• From POTS to OLTP
• Viatron
• Wang
• Xerox PARC
• PC the Second Wave, 1977-1985

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Augmenting Human Intellect, 1975-1985

• APPLE IIs Disk Drive and VisiCalc
• IBM PC (1981)
• MS-DOS
• The Better is the Enemy of the Good
• Macintosh (1984)
• The Clones

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Introduction

• Increasing human intellect
• Personal Computer
• A Period of creativities and technical advances
  in technology
• Inexpensive microprocessors
• Minicomputers
• DEC build the foundation for interactive PC with
  the minicomputers and its software
• DEC VAX an extension of the PDP-11 is a
  member of the mainframe family
• DEC VAX Model/11/780 (Virtual Address
  eXtension) of the PDP-11
• VAX was a 32-bit machine and was able to execute
  software that ran on the 16-bit PDP-11

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DEC

• DEC built and market 16-bit and 32-bit
  minicomputers (1974)
• In 1973, Prime a company in MA, shipped a 32-bit
  minicomputer
• Prime grew quickly and merged with Computervision
  in the late 1980s
• Interdata described a mega-mini in 1974
• VAX was a virtual memory computer small
  computer with a fast main memory appear to be
  bigger than it is. Swapping data to and from a
  slower but larger memory on a disk

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DEC

• Virtual Memory process (appear large, but small
  in reality)
• Overall performance must not be degraded
• User must be unaware of swapping taking place
• The initial design effort for the VAX was led by
  C. Gordon Bell, chief architect was Bill Strecker
• VAX provided a 4.3 gigabytes - 1 billion 32-bit
  words of virtual address space
• The addressing scheme divided memory into blocks
  called pages. Pages in memory were determine by a
  process of associative comparison
• VAX processor used 16 32-bit general registers,
  250 instructions with 9 addressing modes
• Single instruction perform complex operations

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DEC

• VAX was a commercial success selling around
  100,000
• The 11/780s performed well. It calculated at one
  million instruction per second (MIPS)
• The 11/780 became a benchmark for competitors
  machines into the 1990s
• Family of Vaxen 11/750 in 1980 (less powerful),
  higher performance 8600 in 1984, and the MicroVax
  II in 1985
• The VAX was a general-purpose computer that came
  with standard languages and software
• VAX biggest impact was on engineering and science
• Prices started at 120,000
• VAX was built with VMS (engineering oriented
  O/S), and sophisticated I/O facilities for data
  collection

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DEC

• VAX has powerful and easy to use terminal
  called the VT100
• The terminal scroll a pixel at a time, instead of
  a line at a time
• A Word about UNIX
• UNIX is multitasking and multiuser O/S
• IBM and the Classic Mainframe Culture
• LSI (Large-scale integrated) circuits
• IBM developed the SNA (system network
  architecture), and was shipped in 1974 SNA
  formed the basis for networking large computer
  systems into the 1990s

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IBM and the Classic Mainframe Culture

• In 1975, IBM personal computer model 5100 was
  introduced, it contained a processor, keyboard,
  cassette tape drive, and a small video terminal.
  It had 16Kbytes of memory, used both BASIC and
  AP/L, and cost about 9,000
• IBM lawsuits
• Bill Gates and Paul Allen developing BASIC
• IBM and Bill Gates
• IBM computers Host of PC, Systems/38, AS/400
  and others
• AS/400 aimed at the business environment
  represented IBMs most advanced technology

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From POTS to OLTP

• POTS - Plain Old Time-Sharing
• OLTP On-line Transaction Processing
• The era of more tightly structured and
  disciplined use of terminals for on-line access
• Use of dumb terminals, glass teletypes
• Use of smart terminals for editing text
• DEC - VT-100 was the standard ASCII terminal
• IBM introduced the EBCDIC standard terminal in
  1980
• IBM SNA
• IBM introduced the PCs in 1981 using ASCII
  standard not EBCDIC

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Viatron

• Viatron computer systems
• An outgrowth of an Air Force Project AESOP
  (Advanced Experimental System for On-line
  Planning)
• MITRE Corporation - Envisioned to design a
  network of terminals that provided visual as well
  as text information to middle and high level
  managers
• Joseph Spiegel and Edward Bennett founded Viatron
  in 1967
• Viatron system 21 rented for 40 included
  keyboard, a 9-inch display, and two cassette tape
  unit for storage of data and formatting
  information.
• Viatron system was capable of remote computing
  using optional attachment to disconnect the
  keyboard and connect to any standard TV

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Wang

• Wang Office Automation technology
• Use of of the term word processor came in 1964,
  when IBM announced its MTST a version of its
  Electric typewriter that could store and recall
  sequences of keystrokes on a magnetic tape
  cartridge
• WANG system
• Xerox PARC
• Xerox the true pioneer in distributed,
  user-friendly computing
• Xerox invented a window-based interface for
  computer
• Xerox invented the Ethernet that provide an
  effective way of linking computer in a local
  environment

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PCs the Second Wave, 1977-1985

• Innovation from the top matched by innovation
  from the bottom
• Radio Shack introduced its TRS-80, starting price
  at 400 had a 1Z-80 chip in it- and more
  advanced than the Intel 8080 (keyboard and
  monitor included, and cassette tape for storage)
  a magnetic tape cartridge
• The Commondore PET system same feature, but
  built in one box, it uses microprocessor
• Apple II introduced in 1977 has its own BASIC
  program and was later used Microsoft BASIC for
  improved Apple II systems
• PCs matured by the end of 1977
• Apple II bridged sophistication and ease of use

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Apple IIs Disk Drive and VisiCalc

• By 1977 PC were integrated with disk drive
  (8-inch floppy disk)
• 8-inch floppy disk drives replaced the cassette
  tape and was more expensive
• 5 ¼-inch disk drive by Shugart Associates - had
  a storage capacity of 113Kbytes and sold for 495
  including O/S
• In 1979 VisiCalc program was offered for the
  Apple II
• VisiCalc was developed by Daniel Bricklin and
  Robert Frankston

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IBM PC (9181)

• IBM PCs announced in 1981 used the Intel 8088
  processor a descendent of the 8080
• Internal data was 16-bit words and 8-bit for
  external data
• ASCII code and a 62-pin architecture with 5
  empty expansion slots. MS-DOS available in ROM
  chip
• PC DOS from Microsoft
• VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet applications
• MS-DOS

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MS-DOS

• Microsoft PC-DOS for IBM
• Microsoft MS-DOS to be marketed freely by
  Microsoft
• PC-DOS was based on 86-DOS by Tim Paterson MS
  paid initially 15,000 to Tim
• QDOS
• MS-DOS the most influential piece of software
  ever written
• The PC and IBM
• IBM second area of control in computing
• The Better is the Enemy of the Good
• Technological evolution as compare to the natural
  selection of living things

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Macintosh (1984)

• Apple provided an option for those asking why not
  something better than IBM
• 1979 Macintosh project began
• 1984 Macintosh computer was introduced
• Macintosh built in network (AppleTalk) for file
  sharing and printers
• Macintosh look and ease of use
• Macintosh elegant system software was its
  greatest accomplishment
• The Clones
• IBM mainframes and its PC
• IBM ability to release technical information
  about its Mainframe and PCs led to compatible
  industry

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Conclusion

• Augmenting Human Intellect
• IBM and the others
• Hardware and software developers.
• Competence in Information Technology
• Historical Perspective