On 3/6/2011 4:23 PM, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In ,
"Gary A. wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In ,
Rich wrote:

Jon Elson wrote:
Not too many computers anymore where you can key in the bootstrap loader
program through the front panel switches.

Bootstrap loader? I had to toggle in the whole freakin' program through the
switches and pushbuttons that weren't even _debounced_!
(Scelbi 8H, 8008, mine had 256 bytes of RAM)

Wuss!

We programmed the bootloader by soldering diodes in a matrix on a
circuit board. Diode present meant a one, diode absent meant a zero.
This was the PROM of the day (SEL 32 computer, early 1970s)

You worked for SEL ? I worked for Interdata.

No, a SEL customer. I was later an Interdata (in the form of Perkin
Elmer) customer as well.

And when I started, we programmed in assembly code (~ 70,000 lines),
only later sliding over to the new thing, Fortran (~ 60,000 lines, if I
recall). There were lots of debates about the practicality of fortran
in such applications, given the inefficiency of fortran-generated code,
but the combination of the 3:1 or 4:1 reduction in coding effort of
high-order languages compared to assembly coupled with the Moores-Law
increase in computer power soon pushed assembly code to the margins. It
was cheaper to simply overpower the inefficiency.

Joe Gwinn

I worked for EAI, another customer of SEL, and the company Bruno and
Sinnott left to form Interdata. I was present at the beginning of the
end for superminis. EAI had a rack with six 8086 processor cards and
some memory hooked into a SEL 32/97, running as a multiprocessor. We
determined that the (very cheap) rack had about one quarter of the
processing power of the big power sucking (ECL) supermini.
Analog/Hybrid computer sales didn't last long enough to take advantage
of a cheaper digital controller. Sic Transit Gloria.

Kevin Gallimore