Session 6
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Discussion Questions:

  1. How did IBM finally bring the computer into the mainstream of business? What had to change in its hardware for this to happen?

  2. What was the IBM System/360 so important? Discuss the concept of "architecture" and the importance of compatibility.

  3. What was timesharing? Compared to a batch-oriented system (such as the 1401), what developments in hardware and software did it demand? What are the parallels between the computer utility concept and aspects of today's Internet?

  4. How did minicomputers differ from mainframes? What was different about the places in which they were used and the purposes to which they were applied?

Key Points to Revise

bulletImportance of 1401 model (peripherals, reliability, replacement of punched card machines, etc.)
bulletKey characteristics of IBM Series /360 range.
bulletComputer "generation" concept, key points of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation computers.
bulletThe concept of "timesharing" -- definition, concept of computer utility.

Additional Resources:

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DEC has a very strong web presence. For the DPD 11 see http://www.telnet.hu/hamster/pdp-11/, for the PDP8, the most important small computer of the 1960s, see http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/.

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Most of the people who used to work for DEC don’t anymore. But they’ve kept in touch and helped each other out through the Digital Alumni Network. http://www.decalumni.com/

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The Computer History Museum recently hosted an event on the history of DEC. http://www.computerhistory.org/events/decworld/

 


Page copyright Thomas Haigh -- email thaigh@sas.upenn.edu.    Home: www.tomandmaria.com/tom. Updated 01/18/2002.