Discussion:
More powerful than the computers in the Apollo moon missions
(too old to reply)
Gareth Evans
2020-07-12 20:34:09 UTC
Permalink
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7

How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
Gerard Schildberger
2020-07-12 22:30:07 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!

We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
r***@gmail.com
2020-07-13 01:41:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
You had rocks ?!?!

We had to make do with a stick and sand.
Charlie Gibbs
2020-07-13 04:37:35 UTC
Permalink
Post by r***@gmail.com
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
And for all that, nobody goes to the moon anymore.
Why? Because they're too busy re-installing Windows!
Post by r***@gmail.com
Post by Gerard Schildberger
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
You had rocks ?!?!
We had to make do with a stick and sand.
"Don't disturb my circles!" -- Archimedes' last words
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <***@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.
Thomas Koenig
2020-07-13 09:54:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks.
https://dilbert.com/strip/1992-09-08 comes to mind.
Gareth Evans
2020-07-13 11:32:34 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Actually, in the 6th form when doing our specialist 'A' levels
(Double Maths and Physics in my case) we were required to do
General Studies to broaden our minds, but I, as the
prototypical nerd (no personal computers back in 1969 !)
had no interest in politics, etc, so I got a rain check
from it by mending the school calculating machines (Odhner
type) once per week, that the juniorer children had managed to
jam up.
r***@gmail.com
2020-07-13 12:30:10 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gareth Evans
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Actually, in the 6th form when doing our specialist 'A' levels
(Double Maths and Physics in my case) we were required to do
General Studies to broaden our minds, but I, as the
prototypical nerd (no personal computers back in 1969 !)
Yes there were. The Bendix G-15 computers were introduced in 1956.
Charlie Gibbs
2020-07-13 18:03:58 UTC
Permalink
Post by r***@gmail.com
Post by Gareth Evans
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Actually, in the 6th form when doing our specialist 'A' levels
(Double Maths and Physics in my case) we were required to do
General Studies to broaden our minds, but I, as the
prototypical nerd (no personal computers back in 1969 !)
Yes there were. The Bendix G-15 computers were introduced in 1956.
FSVO "personal". In the 1970s, after hours, the Univac 9300 was my
personal computer. If you throw in the concept of "ownership" it
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <***@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.
Thomas Koenig
2020-07-13 20:02:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charlie Gibbs
FSVO "personal". In the 1970s, after hours, the Univac 9300 was my
personal computer. If you throw in the concept of "ownership" it
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Was the Roentgen Standard actually implemented anywhere? In that
case, that could literally have happened.
Rich Alderson
2020-07-13 20:26:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by r***@gmail.com
Post by Gareth Evans
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gareth Evans
That's been said several times before but today I became
aware of the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule
in school mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Actually, in the 6th form when doing our specialist 'A' levels
(Double Maths and Physics in my case) we were required to do
General Studies to broaden our minds, but I, as the
prototypical nerd (no personal computers back in 1969 !)
Yes there were. The Bendix G-15 computers were introduced in 1956.
FSVO "personal". In the 1970s, after hours, the Univac 9300 was my
personal computer. If you throw in the concept of "ownership" it
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
--
Rich Alderson ***@alderson.users.panix.com
Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
--Galen
John Levine
2020-07-13 20:59:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.

By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
--
Regards,
John Levine, ***@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly
Scott Lurndal
2020-07-13 21:58:07 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
And only for a basic model; fully equipped its more like $14,000.

And $56/mo for service :-)

How much power did it consume?
Rich Alderson
2020-07-13 22:36:14 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
But the OP specified "1970s computing".
Post by John Levine
By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
I've never laid hands on an 8/A, so I don't know how much fun one might be...
--
Rich Alderson ***@alderson.users.panix.com
Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
--Galen
Quadibloc
2020-07-14 07:08:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
But in 1969, you _could_ put your hands on a PDP-8/L for $8,500, so the $18,000
for the PDP-8 or the $10,000 for the PDP-8/S was still not needed.

John Savard
Gerard Schildberger
2020-07-15 00:27:12 UTC
Permalink
Post by Quadibloc
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
But in 1969, you _could_ put your hands on a PDP-8/L for $8,500, so the $18,000
for the PDP-8 or the $10,000 for the PDP-8/S was still not needed.
John Savard
Are those prices in 1969, 1971, and 1974 dollars?
_________________________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
J. Clarke
2020-07-15 02:00:21 UTC
Permalink
On Tue, 14 Jul 2020 17:27:12 -0700 (PDT), Gerard Schildberger
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Quadibloc
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
But in 1969, you _could_ put your hands on a PDP-8/L for $8,500, so the $18,000
for the PDP-8 or the $10,000 for the PDP-8/S was still not needed.
John Savard
Are those prices in 1969, 1971, and 1974 dollars?
_________________________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
To put them in perspective, a new Ferrari or Rolls-Royce went for
around 20K and a new Cadillac or Jaguar could be had for around 6000
in 1970.
Alfred Falk
2020-07-15 03:17:43 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gerard Schildberger
Post by Quadibloc
Post by John Levine
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
gets a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a
"personal computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your
pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
No fair, that was in 1971, four years after the original PDP-8.
By 1975 a PDP-8/A was only $1,835.
But in 1969, you _could_ put your hands on a PDP-8/L for $8,500, so
the $18,000 for the PDP-8 or the $10,000 for the PDP-8/S was still not
needed.
John Savard
Are those prices in 1969, 1971, and 1974 dollars?
_________________________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Does that price include processor only? Because you'd still need a least a
console teletype.... which cost $1000 or more?

Bob Eager
2020-07-13 21:13:59 UTC
Permalink
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by r***@gmail.com
Post by Gareth Evans
Post by Gerard Schildberger
That's been said several times before but today I became aware of
the ESP32 for only £7 / $7
How things have changed since the days of my slide rule in school
mathematics in 1969 ! ! ! !
You had slide rules ?!?!
We had to use rocks. To get fractions, ya had to break a rock with
another rock. We would've used ink and paper, but the geese flew
south, so ... no quills. Besides, the ink was frozen solid.
_______________________________________ Gerard Schildberger
Actually, in the 6th form when doing our specialist 'A' levels
(Double Maths and Physics in my case) we were required to do General
Studies to broaden our minds, but I, as the prototypical nerd (no
personal computers back in 1969 !)
Yes there were. The Bendix G-15 computers were introduced in 1956.
FSVO "personal". In the 1970s, after hours, the Univac 9300 was my
personal computer. If you throw in the concept of "ownership" it gets
a bit more restrictive - although a PDP-8 could be a "personal
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
How much was the PDP-8/S ?
--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
John Levine
2020-07-13 21:44:13 UTC
Permalink
Post by Bob Eager
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
How much was the PDP-8/S ?
$10K and it was really really REALLY slow. The 8/e was a much better
machine.
--
Regards,
John Levine, ***@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly
Bob Eager
2020-07-13 23:46:30 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Levine
Post by Bob Eager
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
How much was the PDP-8/S ?
$10K and it was really really REALLY slow. The 8/e was a much better
machine.
Oh, I was aware of that. It was built down to a price. (I have read the
Gordon Bell book from cover to cover, but it was awhile ago and I didn't
recall a price)
--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Gareth Evans
2020-07-14 16:04:13 UTC
Permalink
Post by John Levine
Post by Bob Eager
Post by Rich Alderson
Post by Charlie Gibbs
computer" if you had $18,000 burning a hole in your pocket.
Ahh, but the PDP-8/e could be yours for $4995!
How much was the PDP-8/S ?
$10K and it was really really REALLY slow. The 8/e was a much better
machine.
PDP8/S available for a couple of packet tops from Kellogs Cornflakes?

Sorry, that was cereal and not serial :-)
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