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Oral History of Robert L. Patrick / First Person Essay Oral History of Robert L. Patrick / First Person Essay Interviewed by: Thomas Haigh Recorded: February 16, 2006 Mountain View, California CHM Reference number: X3804.2007 © 2006 Computer History Museum Table of Contents BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION.............................................................................................. 4 USING THE IBM CARD PROGRAMMED CALCULATOR (CPC) ................................................ 6 WORKING FOR CONVAIR......................................................................................................... 10 USING THE IBM 701 .................................................................................................................. 11 CONSTRUCTING A PRODUCTION MONITORING SYSTEM................................................... 15 MOVING TO GENERAL MOTORS............................................................................................. 18 MORE ABOUT PRODUCTION MONITORING .......................................................................... 21 USE OF FORTRAN .................................................................................................................... 24 SHARE AND THE SHARE OPERATING SYSTEM.................................................................... 26 ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY (ACM) .......................................................... 29 MOVING ON TO C-E-I-R............................................................................................................ 32 STARTING COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION ............................................................. 36 DECIDING TO START A CONSULTING PRACTICE................................................................. 39 DPMA AND THE CERTIFICATE OF DATA PROCESSING PROGRAM ................................... 39 DATAMATION ............................................................................................................................ 43 DATAMATION ADVISORS......................................................................................................... 47 AIR FORCE OFFICER CLASSIFICATION ................................................................................. 50 THE RAND CORPORATION...................................................................................................... 54 IMS DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ............................................................................... 56 DATA CENTER AUDIT............................................................................................................... 62 BEING AN INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT............................................................................... 65 CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................... 66 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS PROVIDED ..................................................................................... 69 List of Datamation Articles ......................................................................................................70 Oral History Citations ..............................................................................................................72 Consulting Adventures: An autobiography by a Computer Specialist,....................................73 Author Blurb ........................................................................................................................73 Prologue..............................................................................................................................73 Early Years..........................................................................................................................77 Corporate Life .....................................................................................................................78 Consulting Adventures........................................................................................................89 And into the Sunset...........................................................................................................104 Robert's Reminiscences: A Semi-serious Look at a Curious Life .........................................105 The Roots of OS/360 ............................................................................................................113 Three Vignettes.....................................................................................................................119 Early SHARE.....................................................................................................................119 Operating Systems............................................................................................................120 Commercial Compiler........................................................................................................121 Milestones in Computing.......................................................................................................122 Disclaimer .........................................................................................................................122 Milestones in Computing...................................................................................................125 Introduction ...................................................................................................................125 1. Card Programmed Calculator .................................................................................125 2. Service Bureaus......................................................................................................126 3. 701 SpeedCode ......................................................................................................127 4. Bank Paper .............................................................................................................128 5. Tool Control.............................................................................................................128 6. Formula Translator (FORTRAN) .............................................................................128 7. Operating Systems..................................................................................................129 8. Programming Houses .............................................................................................130 9. Medical Systems .....................................................................................................130 10. Single-Site Networks...............................................................................................131 11. Geographically Dispersed Systems with Central Processing .................................131 12. Dispersed Systems with Dispersed Processing......................................................132 13. OS/360 ....................................................................................................................132 14. Point of Sale............................................................................................................133 15. Graphics..................................................................................................................134 16. Photocomposing .....................................................................................................134 17. Flexible Communications ........................................................................................135 18. Local Area Networks ...............................................................................................136 19. Personal Computers ...............................................................................................136 20. Games.....................................................................................................................137 21. Animation and Entertainment..................................................................................137 22. Networks and the Internet .......................................................................................138 23. Portables .................................................................................................................139 Robert L. Patrick Conducted by Software Business History Committee – Oral History Project Abstract: Robert Patrick has written significant autobiographical material and has commented on events in the evolution of the computer software and services (and hardware) industry. Some of these materials have been appended to the transcript of this interview along with references to a number of the articles and papers which he has published. Thomas Haigh has therefore focused during this oral history interview on Bob Patrick’s knowledge of many of the people and organizations and his insights as to how the use of computers has developed from its beginnings with the Card Programmed Calculator through the early 1990s when he retired as an active consultant. In the interview Bob talks about his work in the US Air Force, his joining Convair and using the IBM 701, and its Speedcode software, working for General Motors and developing a data center operations management system and then going to work for C-E-I-R. He discusses being an active participant in SHARE (including its system software development efforts) and an active member of the Digital Computer Association and then becoming an active member of ACM and comments on some of the industry pioneers with whom he worked. He describes his role in the founding of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) and then becoming what he believes was the
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