Hacker News with Generative AI: Computer History

An FPGA-based LGP-30 Replica (e-basteln.de)
The LGP-30 was a commercial computer, released in 1956. Due to its simple design and relatively low cost, it may be seen as the first “personal computer” – to be used by a single user as their “desk computer”. (It could sit by your desk, and was the size of a desk too.)

Hardware, Retrocomputing, FPGA, Computer History

49 points by ofrzeta 18 days ago | 8 comments

Microcomputers – The First Wave: Responding to Altair (technicshistory.com)
In August 1968, Stephen Gray, sole proprietor of the Amateur Computer Society (ACS), published a letter in the society newsletter from an enthusiast in Huntsville, Alabama named Don Tarbell.

Computer History, Microcomputers, Early Computing

87 points by cfmcdonald 19 days ago | 15 comments

Coding Isn't Programming (socallinuxexpo.org)
Join us for a captivating closing keynote with the legendary Leslie Lamport, Turing Award winner and pioneer in the field of distributed computing. We'll discuss computing history, open source and distributed systems.

Programming, Distributed Computing, Open Source, Computer History

155 points by todsacerdoti 32 days ago | 207 comments

The Vectrex Computer (amigalove.com)
Believe it or not, the Vectrex stand-alone unit can now be transformed into a home computer!

Retro Gaming, Hardware, Computer History

96 points by erickhill 34 days ago | 40 comments

Amiga 600: From the Amiga No One Wanted to Retro Favorite (homeip.net)
The Amiga 600 was one of the last Amigas, and it became a symbol of everything wrong with Commodore and the product line.

Retro Gaming, Hardware, Amiga, Computer History

162 points by rbanffy 40 days ago | 103 comments

Two bits per transistor: high-density ROM in Intel's 8087 FPU (2018) (righto.com)
The 8087 chip provided fast floating point arithmetic for the original IBM PC and became part of the x86 architecture used today.

Hardware, Computer History, Intel, x86 Architecture

5 points by Syonyk 60 days ago | 0 comments

The DOS 3.3 sys.com bug hunt (brutman.com)
SYS.COM corrupted a NetDrive image. But why?

DOS, Debugging, Computer History, Operating Systems

71 points by todsacerdoti 61 days ago | 42 comments

How the Atari ST Almost Had Real Unix (improbable.org)
“Walkies!”

Computer History, Operating Systems, Retro Computing, Atari

9 points by rbanffy 77 days ago | 3 comments

Oral History of Andy Bechtolsheim (2015) [pdf] (computerhistory.org)

Oral History, Technology, Silicon Valley, Entrepreneurship, Computer History

19 points by stmw 77 days ago | 6 comments

Urban legend: I think there is a world market for maybe five computers (geekhistory.com)
An internet search of the phrase "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" will produce dozens of websites claiming those were the words of IBM Chairman Thomas Watson.

Computer History, Business History, Technology, Misinformation

131 points by bschne 94 days ago | 73 comments

Blinkenlights (wikipedia.org)
In computer jargon, blinkenlights are diagnostic lights on front panels of old mainframe computers.

Computer History, Mainframes, Hardware

40 points by prismatic 99 days ago | 20 comments

The Unisys Icon: One Canadian Xennial's Memories of Ontario's Obscure Computer (postgamecontent.com)
One topic that often comes up in retro gaming circles is how aspects of gaming history not part of the American story don’t get enough attention. I personally feel it’s mostly up to the people to whom the stories belong to tell them. So I am going to follow my own advice today and tell the tale of a computer that statistically speaking almost no one has used, and some of that computer’s software.

Retro Gaming, Canadian History, Personal Stories, Computer History, Software

80 points by ecolonsmak 112 days ago | 35 comments

Computer History Resources (landley.net)
This is a bunch of links to computer history pages, research for a book I'm writing. I've provided links to all the originals, as well as local mirrors because I've gotten sick of links going down a year or so after I bookmark them. (I'm sorting through my bookmark list in my copious free time and finding all these dead links from 1998, and it's annoying because some of these were GOOD. Even CNN culls its archives. Sigh...)

Computer History, Web Archives, Internet History, Links

20 points by memalign 114 days ago | 2 comments

About the BBC Micro cassette version of Elite – Elite on the 6502 (bbcelite.com)
The BBC Micro cassette version is the standard, entry-level version of the original Acornsoft Elite. It was released on 20 September 1984, along with the enhanced disc version, at a launch event at Thorpe Park in the UK.

Retro Gaming, Computer History, BBC Micro, Elite (game), 1980s

30 points by rcarmo 123 days ago | 0 comments

DVST Graphic Terminals (vintagetek.org)
Bob Anderson’s invented the bistable Direct-View Storage Tube (DVST) in 1961 and the result was the Tek 564 storage oscilloscope. Computer researchers began using hacked 564 scopes and CRTs to make desperately needed interactive computer displays – even though it was only a five inch display.

Vintage Technology, Computer History, Hardware

81 points by rbanffy 128 days ago | 6 comments

Knight TV Resurrection (2018) (pdp-6.net)
The Knight TV system was a terminal system made by Tom Knight that was connected to the AI KA10.

Retrocomputing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence

26 points by rbanffy 137 days ago | 9 comments

Microsoft GW-Basic User's Guide and Reference (1989) [pdf] (computerhistory.org)

Microsoft, Programming Languages, Computer History, Retro Computing, Reference Manuals

52 points by susam 139 days ago | 43 comments

IBM RISC System/6000 Family (computeradsfromthepast.substack.com)
IBM debuted the RISC System/6000 line in February 1990. This family of products included RISC-powered servers, workstations, and supercomputers. It was the first line of computers to make use of the POWER and PowerPC processors. (IBM developed the PowerPC chips with Apple and Motorola.) The RISC System/6000 servers were replaced by the eServer pSeries. Workstations were sold under the RISC System/6000 name until 2002.

IBM, Computer History, Technology, Servers, Workstations

67 points by rbanffy 145 days ago | 52 comments

Ask HN: Greatest books about the history of computing (ycombinator.com)
The Dream Machine is giving me a great appreciation of the time-sharing revolution and ARPANET. What else should I read? Any timeframe or topic is OK, so long as it's strongly related to the history of computing.

Computer History, Books, Recommendations

15 points by kaycebasques 161 days ago | 18 comments

The History of PC Audio (thejpster.org.uk)
This is a brief, abridged, and possibly inaccurate history of audio on the IBM PC compatible. It's based on an exhibition I prepared for Synthesised, a special event at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, England.

Computer History, Audio Technology, IBM PC, Retrocomputing

20 points by lapnect 168 days ago | 12 comments

Vintage computer forum: Bosch FGS 4000 (vcfed.org)
This is a stretch, but does anyone have any specs (especially CPU- curious) on this machines or pictures if they own one? The information on Google is lacking, and there's rather few pictures that aren't thumbnails or part of an advertisement.

Vintage Computers, Hardware, Computer History, Computer Forums

12 points by paulpauper 171 days ago | 0 comments

What should a logo for NeXT look like? (1986) (paulrand.design)
The Sign of the Next Generation of Computers for Education.

Logo Design, Computer History, Education

258 points by themantra514 173 days ago | 110 comments

Triple Density Floppy, Anyone? (vogons.org)
Everybody knows about 3.5 inch HD 1.44MB floppies, first introduced in 1985 by NEC inside PC-8801 mkII MR(MR was afaik first computer with HD floppy, but 5.25 1.2MB one). West first heard about them from 10 November 1986 InfoWorld "Vendor Introduces Ultra High-Density Floppy Disk Media" https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19 IBM followed in 1997 switching PS/2 to 2HD floppies, Apple in 1988. 80 tracks ~50KB/s speed.

Floppy Disks, Computer History, Technology, Hardware

63 points by zdw 177 days ago | 69 comments

How one engineer beat the ban on home computers in socialist Yugoslavia (theguardian.com)
Very few Yugoslavians had access to computers in the early 1980s: they were mostly the preserve of large institutions or companies.

Computer History, Yugoslavia, Cold War, Technology, History

88 points by sandebert 184 days ago | 47 comments

Oral history of Jim Keller - Computer History Museum [video] (youtube.com)

Oral history, Computer History, Interviews, Video, History

5 points by simon_acca 192 days ago | 0 comments

Ward Christensen (of BBS and XMODEM fame) has died (wikipedia.org)
Ward Christensen (born 1945 in West Bend, Wisconsin, United States) was the co-founder of the CBBS bulletin board, the first bulletin board system (BBS) ever brought online.[1] Christensen, along with partner Randy Suess,[2] members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE), started development during a blizzard in Chicago, Illinois, and officially established CBBS four weeks later, on February 16, 1978.

Computer History, Technology, Software

323 points by DamonHD 195 days ago | 93 comments

Diode Matrix (cca.org)
A diode matrix is an extremely low-density form of read-only memory that was used in computers in the 50s through the 70s, before EEPROMs were invented.

Computer History, Memory, Electronics, Hardware

94 points by thunderbong 203 days ago | 30 comments

From Punch Cards to Python: Grace Hopper's A-0 compiler paved the way (ieee.org)
Grace Hopper’s A-0 compiler paved the way for modern programming languages

Programming Languages, Computer History, Software Development

7 points by gregalt 213 days ago | 0 comments

Alan Turing’s 1950 manual for the Mark I electronic computer [pdf] (computerhistory.org)