Comments on: 5 NEW IBM PRODUCTS http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:48:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Stuart Feigin http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1057556 Stuart Feigin Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:31:08 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1057556 That wasn't 4,000 words. It was 4,000 bytes. Not even 4096, just 4000. And that was the upgraded model. The basic mode had 1400 bytes. And we are not talking 8-bit bytes here. They were basically 6-bit bytes plus a parity bit and word mark bit per byte. That meant one of the bytes could store one of 64 characters, not all of which were printable. There were about 60 printable characters. When one referred to a word on the 1401 it was a variable length field made up of one or more of those bytes. I wrote some very nice programs on a 4,000 byte 1401. One of my friends wrote one of the first ever word processors. Like Mike Smith said, programs were very compact. You got to be very inventive. If things went wrong, debugging was a piece of cake. You just turned on the core dump switch and the entire contents of memory were printed out on a few sheets of paper and you debugged at your leisure at your desk, or occasionally in my case under a tree or at the beach. That wasn’t 4,000 words. It was 4,000 bytes. Not even 4096, just 4000. And that was the upgraded model. The basic mode had 1400 bytes. And we are not talking 8-bit bytes here. They were basically 6-bit bytes plus a parity bit and word mark bit per byte. That meant one of the bytes could store one of 64 characters, not all of which were printable. There were about 60 printable characters.

When one referred to a word on the 1401 it was a variable length field made up of one or more of those bytes.

I wrote some very nice programs on a 4,000 byte 1401. One of my friends wrote one of the first ever word processors. Like Mike Smith said, programs were very compact. You got to be very inventive. If things went wrong, debugging was a piece of cake. You just turned on the core dump switch and the entire contents of memory were printed out on a few sheets of paper and you debugged at your leisure at your desk, or occasionally in my case under a tree or at the beach.

]]> By: Mike Smith http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1055158 Mike Smith Mon, 19 May 2008 17:54:06 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1055158 "4096 words of storage! Amazing!" "Amazing!"??? Well, yes it was. Listen up young wippersnappers and I'll tell you how it was back in the olden days... I first learned to program on an IBM 1401 system (c. 1963) and it was not what you think it was. It was much better. Much, much better. For a "few Dollars more..." the basic system could be augmented with another 4k of memory. Think of it! A whole 8k of memory to play with. AND... Customers could also buy a separate "multiply/divide" unit...about the size of the basic system itself and 3 times as fast as doing the calculations with software. Yeah, that was amazing! So amazing that by the mid-1960s, there were more IBM 1401 computers installed than ALL other systems combined, including other IBM 1400 systems. That's pretty amazing. Programmers were required to be much more skilled back in those days. We wouldn't let anyone write programs unless they could write their own "bootstrap and load" program (about 200 bytes-3 cards). How many of today's programmers have ever written a bootstrap program? The 1400 code to read a card and transfer it's data to main memory (bytes 001-080) was "1". Yeah, that's it; that's the entire code. A program to read a deck of cards and print it consisted of: "1m0012012b333". Try doing that in C++. Do I miss it all? Not a bit! Wouldn't go back to that world "for all the tea in China" (we said stuff like that back then). Of course, the girls were much prettier then...as I remember. :-) “4096 words of storage! Amazing!”

“Amazing!”??? Well, yes it was.

Listen up young wippersnappers and I’ll tell you how it was back in the olden days…

I first learned to program on an IBM 1401 system (c. 1963) and it was not what you think it was. It was much better. Much, much better.

For a “few Dollars more…” the basic system could be augmented with another 4k of memory. Think of it! A whole 8k of memory to play with. AND… Customers could also buy a separate “multiply/divide” unit…about the size of the basic system itself and 3 times as fast as doing the calculations with software. Yeah, that was amazing! So amazing that by the mid-1960s, there were more IBM 1401 computers installed than ALL other systems combined, including other IBM 1400 systems. That’s pretty amazing.

Programmers were required to be much more skilled back in those days. We wouldn’t let anyone write programs unless they could write their own “bootstrap and load” program (about 200 bytes-3 cards). How many of today’s programmers have ever written a bootstrap program?

The 1400 code to read a card and transfer it’s data to main memory (bytes 001-080) was “1″. Yeah, that’s it; that’s the entire code. A program to read a deck of cards and print it consisted of: “1m0012012b333″. Try doing that in C++.

Do I miss it all? Not a bit! Wouldn’t go back to that world “for all the tea in China” (we said stuff like that back then). Of course, the girls were much prettier then…as I remember. :-)

]]> By: Blurgle http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1053012 Blurgle Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:27:52 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1053012 The first two are "Daisy, Daisy." The first two are “Daisy, Daisy.”

]]> By: fluffy http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1053004 fluffy Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:56:30 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1053004 4096 words of storage! Amazing! 4096 words of storage! Amazing!

]]> By: relaxing http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1052994 relaxing Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:52:02 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/13/5-new-ibm-products/#comment-1052994 In October 2006, respected indie label 4AD put out an album by Icelandic avante-garde musician, Jóhann Jóhannsson. The album is called 'IBM 1401, A User's Manual'. The concept is based upon work done back in 1964 by his father, Jóhann Gunnarsson, chief maintenance engineer of one of the country’s first computers, and Elias Davidsson, one of the first programmers in the country. The album was originally written for a string quartet, organ and electronics and to accompany a dance piece by long-standing collaborator friend, Erna Ómarsdóttir. For the album recording, Johann has rewritten it for a sixty-piece string orchestra, adding a new final movement and incorporating electronics and vintage reel-to-reel recordings of a singing IBM 1401 mainframe computer found in his father’s attic. In October 2006, respected indie label 4AD put out an album by Icelandic avante-garde musician, Jóhann Jóhannsson. The album is called ‘IBM 1401, A User’s Manual’. The concept is based upon work done back in 1964 by his father, Jóhann Gunnarsson, chief maintenance engineer of one of the country’s first computers, and Elias Davidsson, one of the first programmers in the country. The album was originally written for a string quartet, organ and electronics and to accompany a dance piece by long-standing collaborator friend, Erna Ómarsdóttir. For the album recording, Johann has rewritten it for a sixty-piece string orchestra, adding a new final movement and incorporating electronics and vintage reel-to-reel recordings of a singing IBM 1401 mainframe computer found in his father’s attic.

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