| Re: Hardware Limits of Yesteryear (Was: GNU-Fortran) |
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Group: comp.lang.fortran · Group Profile
Author: Walter SpectorWalter Spector Date: Nov 5, 2007 17:52
James Giles wrote:
> Dick Hendrickson wrote:
> ...
>> Well, it looks like mine is much smaller than yours! I started
>> out in 1963 or so on a Control Data 160. 4096 words, 12 bits each.
>> It had a 3 pass Fortran compiler, conveniently stored on 3 reels
>> of paper tape. And we did real satellite data reduction on it.
>
> I used to own one of those. It was many years after it came
> out (mid 70's ?). Mine had 8K words, so it must have been
> an enhanced verson....
>
> I wish I still had the machine. It would be a lot more
> valuable to a museum than I ever paid for it.
The CHM in Mountain View has a 160A and matching 607 magtape drive
on display. (Sitting right next to 7600 SN 1.)
My first computer was a Digicomp-1. Made out of plastic and
totally mechanical. Cost about $5 in the mid 60s. And... I just
found it at my parents house about a month ago in perfect condition!
These things have been known to sell for a couple hundred dollars
on eBay.
No Fortran compiler for the Digicomp. But the PDP-8/I that I used a few
years later did have a Fortran compiler. It ran in a 4K word slice of
memory under TSS-8. Language-wise, it was essentially Fortran-1.
No user-written functions or subroutines. So no need for COMMON blocks,
etc. Only supported 12-bit integers and 36-bit reals. And I think only
supported single digit unit numbers.
Last week I bought a new computer. Just installing software and surfing
the net, Vista managed to gobble up 1 gb of RAM. Good thing I bought 2gb...
W.
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