Glenn McDavid <gmcdavid at winternet.com> writes: > After reading: > > > The first computer I programmed did not have any sort of disk drive. > > It had 20,000 *decimal digits* of magnetic core memory. > > I immediately thought: That sounds like an IBM 1620. > > Then I saw the msg was from > > > David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net > > and realized that I had used the same machine at Carleton College. Yep. It was very convenient, except for my count of types of computers used, that Carleton and the higshchool had the same computer. > IIRC, the IBM 1130, mentioned on the web page, was marketed in part as a > replacement for the 1620. Yes, that's my understanding; something for the low end of the "scientific" market as opposed to the "data processing market". I did some programming on the IBM 1130 over at St. Olaf while I was in highschool, too. A third-generation replacement for the 1620. (I know you know this, Glenn, but since the terminology passed out of use some time ago, I'll explain to anybody who *doesn't* know that "first generation" computers were based on vacuum tubes, "second generation" were based on discrete transistors (the IBM 1620 and 1401 were of the second generation), and "third generation" computers were based on integrated circuit chips. Microprocessors weren't viewed as a new generation and weren't routinely given a generation number, people didn't seen them taking over until it was too late.) -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net / Ghugle: the Fannish Ghod of Queries Book log: http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/Ouroboros/booknotes/ Photos: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/