Related Research Articles
The PDP-1 is the first computer in Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP series and was first produced in 1959. It is famous for being the most important computer in the creation of hacker culture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bolt, Beranek and Newman and elsewhere. The PDP-1 is the original hardware for playing history's first game on a minicomputer, Steve Russell's Spacewar!
In computing, time-sharing is the concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each task or user a small slice of processing time. This quick switch between tasks or users gives the illusion of simultaneous execution. It enables multi-tasking by a single user or enables multiple-user sessions.
The GE-200 series was a family of small mainframe computers of the 1960s, built by General Electric (GE). GE marketing called the line Compatibles/200 (GE-205/215/225/235). The GE-210 of 1960 was not compatible with the rest of the 200 series.
This article presents a timeline of events in the history of computer operating systems from 1951 to the current day. For a narrative explaining the overall developments, see the History of operating systems.
A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another, as opposed to those designed to remain stationary at a single location such as desktops and workstations. These computers usually include a display and keyboard that are directly connected to the main case, all sharing a single power plug together, much like later desktop computers called all-in-ones (AIO) that integrate the system's internal components into the same case as the display. In modern usage, a portable computer usually refers to a very light and compact personal computer such as a laptop, subnotebook or handheld PC, while touchscreen-based handheld ("palmtop") devices such as tablets, phablets and smartphones are called mobile devices instead.
A gate array is an approach to the design and manufacture of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) using a prefabricated chip with components that are later interconnected into logic devices according to custom order by adding metal interconnect layers in the factory. It was popular during the upheaval in the semiconductor industry in the 1980s, and its usage declined by the end of the 1990s.
Scientific Data Systems (SDS), was an American computer company founded in September 1961 by Max Palevsky, Arthur Rock and Robert Beck, veterans of Packard Bell Corporation and Bendix, along with eleven other computer scientists. SDS was the first to employ silicon transistors, and was an early adopter of integrated circuits in computer design. The company concentrated on larger scientific workload focused machines and sold many machines to NASA during the Space Race. Most machines were both fast and relatively low-priced. The company was sold to Xerox in 1969, but dwindling sales due to the oil crisis of 1973–74 caused Xerox to close the division in 1975 at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. During the Xerox years the company was officially Xerox Data Systems (XDS), whose machines were the Xerox 500 series.
Hybrid computers are computers that exhibit features of analog computers and digital computers. The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical and numerical operations, while the analog component often serves as a solver of differential equations and other mathematically complex problems.
The LGP-30, standing for Librascope General Purpose and then Librascope General Precision, is an early off-the-shelf computer. It was manufactured by the Librascope company of Glendale, California, and sold and serviced by the Royal Precision Electronic Computer Company, a joint venture with the Royal McBee division of the Royal Typewriter Company. The LGP-30 was first manufactured in 1956, at a retail price of $47,000, equivalent to $530,000 in 2023.
Max Palevsky was an American art collector, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and computer technology pioneer. He was known as a member of the Malibu Mafia – a group of wealthy American Jewish men who donated money to liberal and progressive causes and politicians.
The UNIVAC 1050 was a variable word-length decimal and binary computer. It was initially announced in May 1962 as an off-line input-output processor for larger UNIVAC systems.
Librascope was a Glendale, California, division of General Precision, Inc. (GPI). It was founded in 1937 by Lewis W. Imm to build and operate theater equipment, and acquired by General Precision in 1941. During World War II it worked on improving aircraft load balancing.
The Autonetics RECOMP II was a computer first introduced in 1958. It was made by the Autonetics division of North American Aviation.
The MADDIDA was a special-purpose digital computer used for solving systems of ordinary differential equations. It was the first computer to represent bits using voltage levels and whose entire logic was specified in Boolean algebra. Invented by Floyd Steele, MADDIDA was developed at Northrop Aircraft Corporation between 1946 and 1949 to be used as a guidance system for the Snark missile. No guidance system, however, resulted from the work on the MADDIDA, and rather it was used for aeronautical research. In 1952, the MADDIDA became the world's top-selling commercial digital computer, six units having been sold.
The HP 64000 Logic Development System, introduced 17 September 1979, is a tool for developing hardware and software for products based on commercial microprocessors from a variety of manufacturers. The systems assisted software development with assemblers and compilers for Pascal and C, provided hardware for in-circuit emulation of processors and memory, had debugging tools including logic analysis hardware, and a programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip programmer. A wide variety of optional cards and software were available tailored to particular microprocessors. When introduced the HP 64000 had two distinguishing characteristics. First, unlike most microprocessor development systems of the day, such as the Intel Intellec and Motorola EXORciser, it was not dedicated to a particular manufacturer's microprocessors, and second, it was designed such that up to six workstations could be connected via the HP-IB (IEEE-488) instrumentation bus to a common hard drive and printer to form a tightly integrated network.
Packard Bell Corporation was an American electronics manufacturer founded in 1933 by Herb Bell and Leon Packard. Initially they produced radios, but expanded into defense electronics during World War II. After the war, they began manufacturing other consumer electronics, including television sets. In 1957, the company became involved in the manufacture of scientific and military computers. Industrial conglomerate Teledyne Technologies acquired the business in 1968. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturer, Packard Bell.
The PB286LP, released in 1989, was Packard Bell's first laptop computer. The laptop featured an 80C286 processor clocked at 12 MHz and 1 MB of RAM, along with a single ISA expansion slot. Packard Bell released the PB286LP in 1989 among a slew of products aimed at the corporate market. Technology writers gave it mostly positive reviews, although some noted its 16-lb weight as hefty and its monochrome LCD as somewhat flawed. Originally only capable of CGA-mode graphics, the laptop was updated in 1990 to support VGA. Packard Bell discontinued the PB286LP in 1991, in favor of more-compact, notebook-sized computers.
References
- 1 2 3 Funderburk, B. J. (1 Jan 1968). "Automation in Saturn 1 first stage checkout": 3, 6.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - 1 2 Beck 1960, p. 283-284.
- ↑ Computers and Automation & Aug 1960, p. 1B (9).
- 1 2 "Packard Bell Computer Corporation, PB250" (PDF). Digital Computer Newsletter. Vol. 12, no. 3. Office of Naval Research. July 1960. p. 6–7. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Weik, Martin H. (Mar 1961). "PACKARD BELL 250". ed-thelen.org. A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems.
For applications where power failures and resultant loss of memory cannot be tolerated a battery power supply is available which will operate the computer for several hours without line power.
- ↑ AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7, pp. 250.
- ↑ bitsavers, PBC1000r4_PB250techManVol1.pdf, p. 1-3 (13).
- ↑ "Packard Bell, Bailey Meter Sign Agreement". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. April 15, 1960.
Max Palevsky, Packard Bell Computer vice president, said power plants in the electric industry provide one of the most promising markets for digital computers.
- ↑ Smithsonian Lemelson Center (23 July 2014). "Computer Oral History Collection, 1969–1973, 1977: Harry Huskey and Mrs. Huskey". Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. AC0196_husk730419.pdf, pp. 15, 17, 19, 24.
- 1 2 3 Smithsonian Lemelson Center (23 July 2014). "Computer Oral History Collection, 1969–1973, 1977: Max Palevsky". Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. AC0196_pale730215.pdf, pp. 4-5, 10-11.
- 1 2 Palevsky, Max oral history | 102657969 | Computer History Museum. Computer History Museum. 29 August 2006. pp. 11, 14, 19 – via www.computerhistory.org.
- ↑ Weik, Martin H. (Jan 1964). "TRICE". ed-thelen.org. A Fourth Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems.
- ↑ Beck 1960, p. 285.
- ↑ Beck 1960, p. 287.
- ↑ Kaisler 2017, pp. 305, 309.
- ↑ Computers and Automation & Sep 1963.
- ↑
- AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7 , pp. 187–190, 199–200, 219
- bitsavers , SP-147_PB-250_RefMan.pdf , pp. 19-23
- bitsavers , PBC1002r1_PB250techManVol2.pdf , pp. 1-4 – 1-9 (16-18)
- bitsavers , PBC1004r1_PB250pgmRef_Mar61.pdf , pp. 4-1 – 4-7 (99-105)
- ↑ "Electronic Operations". Electronics Industries (2): 199. Feb 1961.
A battery-operated electronic computer, PB 250, has been shown by Packard Bell Computer Div., Packard Bell Electronics. In normal operation, it operates from a battery trickle charged from a 115-v. power line. If 115-v. input is interrupted, computer can continue operating for more than 1 hr.
- ↑ "BATTERY OPERATED COMPUTER" (PDF). Computers and Automation. 10 (2): 1B (17). Feb 1961. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
For the first time, we believe, an electronic computer can operate entirely from a battery power supply.
- Elliot 802 was an earlier computer with a battery:
- "Elliott 800 series and 503: 1957 onwards – Systems Architecture". www.ourcomputerheritage.org. p. 2, 4.
- Elliot 802 was an earlier computer with a battery:
- ↑ AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7, pp. 170, 215–216, 227–228, 233–234.
- ↑ AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7, pp. 170, 213, 223–225, 235–237.
- ↑ AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7, pp. 170, 217, 229–231, 241–242.
- ↑ AUERBACH Standard EDP Reports & vol. 7 , pp. 239
- bitsavers , PBC1004r1_PB250pgmRef_Mar61.pdf , pp. 129-155
- ↑ Computers and Automation & Jun 1963, p. 82.
- ↑ Fortran II for the Raytheon 250 Computer.
- ↑ Beene, J. L.; Rankin, W.D. (1 October 1964). Reactor experimentation and the Packard-Bell computer (Submitted manuscript). Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). doi:10.2172/4228429. S2CID 108792184.
- ↑ Programming manual for TRICE and other material on DDA's 2nd edition | 102664334. Packard Bell Electronics. Packard Bell Computer. 3 May 1960 – via Computer History Museum.
- ↑ "HYCOMP 250—The first desk top hybrid analog/digital computing system". Packard Bell Computer. 1961 – via Computer History Museum.
- ↑ "Sperry orders two nuclear sub training systems" (PDF). "Across the editor's desk": Computer and Data Processing Newsletter. Computers and Automation. Vol. XII, no. 5. May 1963. p. 44. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
- ↑ Advances in Instrumentation: Proceedings of the ISA International Conference and Exhibit. Vol. 38. Instrument Society of America. 1983. p. 244. ISBN 9780876647806.
- ↑ Nieuwbourg, Philippe. "SETI Calculateur PB 250" [SETI Calculator PB 250]. Le blog de l'actualité du musée de l'informatique (in French).
- ↑ Computers and Automation 1963.
- ↑ "Chemical Plant Puts Computer on Wheels". Control Engineering. Vol. 8. Technical Publishing Company. 1961. p. 29.
- ↑ Business Automation. Vol. 8. Hitchcock Publishing Company. 1962. p. 48.
- ↑ "On-call data vans for hire" (PDF). "Across the editor's desk": New Firms, Divisions, and Mergers. Computers and Automation. Vol. XI, no. 7. July 1962. p. 28. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
