ABC Article Correction 2

Volunteer Information Exchange Sharing what we know with those we know Volume 4 Number 13 December 20, 2014 Contribute To The VIE Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – to all the world-class volunteers and staff who make the CHM a great institution. This final issue of 2014 has another great early computer story—this one by our old friend and former docent, Bill Selmeier. Anyone know a computer that will do a budget? Thanks to Alex Lux for another update on our recent acquisitions. This article mentions an IBM “Watson” server blade. When Ginni Rometty, IBM's CEO, was here, she made that donation to us. John Hollar said, “I know right where it will go–right next to Deep Blue.” Also, Alex wrote a blog about another important acquisition. Check it out. And there is a new film in the Graphics Gallery, “When a Bit Became a Pixel.” Jim Strickland [email protected] Enigma NOT Missing When our Enigma “went missing” last month, it really went to Hollywood for a photo shoot. It was in the capable hands of Carol Stiglic, CHM Vice-president of Programming and Business Development, who documented the Enigma's (and Carol's) road trip. Contents And Carol adds: Contribute to the VIE 1 As an update, the TIME magazine Genius double Enigma NOT Missing 1 issue includes a TIME interview with The Imitation Game’s Benedict Cumberbatch (featured on cover CHM Blog 1 with our Enigma in the background) and an article In Memoriam: C. Sheldon Roberts 2 by The Innovators' author Walter Isaacson (which Antikythera Mechanism Update 2 includes the portrait photographer Dan Winters shot of our Enigma). More on the “IBM” M-1 2 Early Microcomputer Experience 3 3 ABC Article Correction CHM Blog 1401 Restoration on BBC 3 Recent CHM Blog Entries Recent Acquisitions 4 Kirsten Tashev keeps us up-to-date on How Much Did a UNIVAC I Cost? 4 new CHM blog entries. Links You Might Enjoy 5 • Here is one by Alex Lux on a recent acquisition and on history of the New Film in Graphics Gallery 5 tablet. Coming Events 5 1 In Memoriam Antikythera Mechanism Update We recently received the following from Dag Spicer: Here is a recent email from Tony Freeth, one of the AM’s [Antikythera Mechanism] chief investigators, about recent news dating the mechanism to 205 B.C.E. You may like to refer to his paper (link provided below). Feel free to update your visitor narratives as you see fit. o o o C. SHELDON ROBERTS I first heard the date of 205 BC from Christian Carman One of the “Traitorous Eight,” so named by and Jim Evans at a Workshop in Leiden. To my William Shockley, Sheldon Roberts left Shockley astonishment, I subsequently found the same date, also as one of the co-founders of Fairchild by studying the Saros Dial, but using entirely different Semiconductor. He passed away in McMinnville, methods! My own research was published before Oregon on June 6, 2014. theirs... He was born in 1926 in Rupert, Vermont. After http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi serving in the Navy as a radioman during World %2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0103275 War II, he received his Bachelors degree in ...but Christian and Jim have priority on the date. metallurgical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1948 and his Masters My paper is I think interesting and worth a look. I draw degree and Ph.D. in metallurgy from some speculative conclusions at the end about Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archimedes and Apollonios of Perga. My own view is that Archimedes almost certainly initiated the overall After a short stint with the Dow Chemical design (as suggested by Cicero's descriptions) but the Company, Sheldon went to work for Shockley Antikythera Mechanism is a later version, made after his Semiconductor Laboratory in Mountain View, death. It may be that the design of Archimedes was California. simply copied or the Antikythera Mechanism could be a In 1957, Roberts and seven of his colleagues left development from it. In the ancient world (and also later) Schockley to form Fairchild Semiconductor where a good design - such as the Parthenon - was copied they established the foundation of Americas extensively throughout the world. However, the history of semiconductor and integrated circuit industry. He astronomical clocks runs against this trend - each one later left Fairchild to help co-found Amelco seems to incorporate different designs and ideas to its Semiconductor, now known as Teledyne. predecessors. Roberts held several patents in the It is such an amazingly clever device that it must have semiconductor field and authored articles and a been designed by someone at least as clever as book on magnesium and its alloys. Roberts' wife Archimedes - and there weren't too many people like of 57 years, Patricia, passed away in 2008 and, that around! he is survived by three sons, their wives and two Best wishes, Tony grandchildren. More on the “IBM” M-1 Endicott History and Heritage Center in Endicott, NY. JIM STRICKLAND In the last VIE, Alex Lux informed us that the CHM had acquired an M-1 rifle manufactured by IBM. (During WW II, IBM put much of its manufacturing capability toward producing military hardware.) A quick personal story, in a trip last year to the IBM archives, I asked to see an M-1. They did not have one! They had some of the rods used to ream out the barrels as a late step in manufacturing. But no gun. I found later, that IBM Endicott's museum had had an M-1, which had been manufactured there, but along So, we have an IBM M-1 and to the best of my with their entire museum, it had been given to the knowledge, IBM does not. 2 Early Microcomputer Experience reinforced glass window. When I found the correct door, BILL SELMEIER someone came and unlocked it. In the mid 1970s, I worked for IBM in Raleigh, North It took about half a day. I signed a non-disclosure but I Carolina, trying to get the company into new business was never told their specific product plans. I was asked areas. I was intrigued when a store opened at the local to review a product marketing questionnaire about a shopping mall to sell microcomputers. I think from the hypothetical console with TV, phonograph and radio, start, my initial question was, “Can you show me what but that also had word processing and arithmetic you have that can do a home budget.” They generally capability. They said that wasn't their product, just a had something, but it always seemed too rigid or retail product in the right price range of what they were cumbersome. Were they designed for the considering. We discussed their distribution plans programmer's home and not everyone's home? But, I through IBM stores. I suggested they should use learned that many of their products came from the San general microcomputer retail stores but they felt that Francisco Bay area. didn't allow them the account control that they wanted. Since part of my job was working with our sales people Months later, I found out this group did not develop a on the West Coast, I decided I would visit some of these personal computer but became a laser disc company in companies on my next trip out there. I went to the Sol Los Angeles. On the trip home I shared the plane with computer company and a couple of others in the East Lee Dixon, a key designer of IBM UPC (Universal Bay that I no longer remember the names of. While Product Code – bar code) laser checkout scanners. interesting, none of them appeared to be powerful Lee had been to the Kingston, NY lab that day where he enough or able to do my budget application. had seen a console TV with an IBM logo on it. After I returned to my office I engaged in some water In 1979, I was in the Computerland store in Louisville, cooler conversations about what I had discovered with KY, still looking for an appropriate family budgeting some of our product engineers and was amazed to program. The owner said he had just received a new learn that they, along with some Field Engineers, six program that he could demo. This was my introduction people in all, had decided to start a retail computer store to VisiCalc. After watching it for 15 or 20 minutes, I in Raleigh. To protect themselves from any “conflict of used the store phone to ask my wife to come to meet interest” with IBM, they had consulted with the Field me there as I was about to spend $2,200 for an Apple Engineering legal console and were told that since IBM II+ and some software. was not building microcomputers there should be no Within the month I had a month-by-month five year conflict with a microcomputer retail store. The group projection of revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities pooled their start-up money and spent some of it. But all coming down to an end-of-month net worth. I the product development division's legal console showed it to a neighbor but he was mostly interested in uncovered it and said there would be a conflict. knowing if it could pick winners at the horse track. Management agreed and began working on how to My marketing team had sold many small and mid-range refund the money that the employees spent because of mainframe systems and some of those customers could the difference between legal opinions.

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