THE BURROUGHS B 5000 CONFERENCE OH 98 Conducted by Bernard A. Galler and Robert F. Rosin on 6 September 1985 in Marina Del Ray Hotel (Marina Del Ray, CA) Sponsored by AFIPS and Burroughs Corporation Charles Babbage Institute The Center for the History of Information Processing University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Copyright 1986 1 Burroughs B 5000 Conference 6 September 1985 Abstract The Burroughs 5000 computer series is discussed by individuals responsible for its development and marketing from 1957 through the 1960s in a conference sponsored by AFIPS and Burroughs Corporation. In the first session the technical aspects of the B 5000 and 5500 are discussed by a group of managers, engineers, and consultants. Topics include: the state of the industry in the late 1950s; the 5000's predecessors, particularly the ElectroData 101 and 201, B 205, and B 220; factors influencing the decision to produce the B 5000; reasons for designing the machine for ALGOL rather than FORTRAN and the effect of this decision on the computer's development and sales. The group reviews the MCP operating system, PERM, Polish notation, descriptors, stacks, the BALGOL compiler, and other innovations of the computer. In the second session, the same group discusses the development of the B 5000 into a product, including the effect of the administrative organization on the project; the relations between hardware and software engineers; the interaction of project personnel and upper-level management, field marketing, and customers; the COBOL processor, the head protract disk system; the operating system; ALGOL; and documentation of the computer. In the third session managers, sales personnel, and customers of the B 5000 discuss Burroughs' product line before the 200 and 5000 series computers; sales training and market reaction to the B 5000; acceptance of B 5000s at Ohio Oil Company and Stanford University; its rejection by the University of Michigan; reasons why the B 5000 was not marketed overseas; and Burroughs' presidents Raymond Eppert and Ray MacDonald. Technical session participants included: Robert S. Barton, Bobby A. Creech, David M. Dahm, Benjamin A. Dent, Bernard A. Galler, John E. S. Hale, Erwin A. Hauck, Paul D. King, Norman Kreuder, William Lonergan, Duncan MacDonald, F. Brad MacKenzie, G. Clark Oliphint, Robert F. Rosin, Lloyd Turner, and Richard Waychoff. Marketing session participants included: Henri Berce, George A. Collins, James Ford, Bernard A. Galler, John E.S. Hale, Joseph T. Hootman, Paul D. King, F. Brad MacKenzie, Ralph W. Pearson, and Robert F. Rosin. 2 BURROUGHS B 5000 CONFERENCE DATE: 6 September 1985 MODERATOR: Bernard A. Galler LOCATION: Marina del Rey Hotel (Marina del Ray, CA) BERNARD A. GALLER: I'm Bernie Galler; I'm representing AFIPS and the Annals of the History of Computing in this discussion. The date is September 6, 1985, and we're meeting in the Marina del Rey Hotel in California. The subject of the discussion for which we brought a number of people together is the Burroughs B 5000 and 5500 systems as projects within Burroughs, as products from Burroughs, as innovations to the computing world. We've brought a group of people together for the morning session to represent the technical aspects of the systems; this afternoon we'll have another discussion with people who represent the marketing aspects, although I'm sure that both groups will cover aspects of each. I'm going to ask the people who are sitting around the table this morning to identify themselves and give some idea of their role at the time and their present affiliations. Let me first introduce Bob Rosin who also represents the Annals of the History of Computing. Bob is with Syntrex, and is one of the editors of the Annals. To my left is Rosamond Dana, who is the managing editor of the Annals and will be helping with the transcription process, and will be in touch with you all later regarding excerpting the discussion for publication in the Annals. We all understand that the actual tape and transcript will be deposited with the Charles Babbage Institute to become part of its archives. Let us now go around the table and introduce ourselves. DUNCAN MACDONALD: I'm Duncan MacDonald. I guess I was director of engineering at the time; so long ago that it's hard to remember some of these things. I hope you today have a better memory than I do. I am with Burroughs from 1951 to 1972; now I'm running my own small company in computer storage equipment called DMI. ERWIN A. HAUCK: My name is Erv Hauck. I was with the Burroughs Corporation from 1956 through 1982. The assignment I had during that period was as a hardware designer on the 5000/5500 systems. I worked principally in the area of I/O and central control. My current job is with a company called Technology Marketing in Irvine, California. 3 BOBBY A. CREECH: I'm Bob Creech. I joined Burroughs on February 6, 1962, as a senior automatic programmer. Automatic ones were the best kind. I worked as a member of the ALGOL compiler team and later worked on the implementation of the disk file MCP. I was with Burroughs as manager of engineering for the Systems Engineering Division on the East Coast. F. BRAD MACKENZIE: I'm Brad MacKenzie. I joined Burroughs in 1959, and I'm still with Burroughs. During the period we're discussing, I was manager of Automatic Programming in Pasadena. I'm presently manager of Product Assurance in the plant in Tredyffrin, Pennsylvania. PAUL D. KING: I'm Paul King. I joined Burroughs in mid-1954, and I left in August 1962. I came back in mid-1965 and then left in the end of 1969. At the time of the subjects we're talking about in this meeting, I was the project manager of the B 5000 in Product Planning. I'm currently with Citicorp in the Corporate Technology Office. WILLIAM R. LONERGAN: I'm Bill Lonergan. I was with Burroughs the first time from mid-1953 until April 1961. At the time of this project, I was the manager of Product Planning for the ElectroData Division of Burroughs and had responsibility for planning and specifying the product line of the division. I'm currently a general partner in a venture capital partnership. RICHARD WAYCHOFF: My name is Richard Waychoff. I joined Burroughs in March 1959 and left in September of 1979. I was an automatic programmer on the ALGOL compiler project, and currently I'm director of technology for RDS Systems, Inc. JOHN HALE: I'm John Hale. I joined Burroughs in October 1956 in the Dallas district. My association with the B 5000 began in January 1962, when I transferred to Pasadena as manager of the COBOL compiler group. I retired from Burroughs in 1981 and am currently a self-employed consultant. LLOYD D. TURNER: My name is Lloyd Turner. I was with Burroughs from June 1959 until May 1981. I started as a 4 sales technical representative in the Dallas district, and when I left I was corporate vice-president of engineering. During the B 5000 project, I was manager of Scientific Systems Development that had responsibility for the ALGOL compiler and other scientific compilers and the disk file MCP. I'm currently president and chief executive officer of Floating Point Systems, Inc., in Portland, Oregon. ROBERT BARTON: I'm Bob Barton. During the period of interest, I was not employed by Burroughs. As I recall, I had a consulting contract with Product Planning in the beginning, and later, I think, with Engineering, although it's beyond that period. I am currently a principal of an organization called Innovations and Inventions. DAVID M. DAHM: I'm Dave Dahm. I worked for Burroughs in the summer of 1959 and the summer of '61. I became a permanent employee in June of 1962 through July of 1965. During that period I was a senior automatic programmer; I was part of the group, and project leader for the disk file MCP. Currently, I'm a Burroughs employee; and I'm director of Programming Research. G. CLARK OLIPHINT: I'm Clark Oliphint. I worked for Burroughs from mid-1959 until 1964. My title during the period we're interested in was manager of Control Systems development. I was responsible for developing the first MCP on the B 5000. I'm currently an independent or multidependent consultant. NORMAN L. KREUDER: I am Norm Kreuder. I came to Burroughs--actually to the ElectroData Corporation--in the spring of 1954; Burroughs bought us in the summer of 1956. I left Burroughs at the end of 1971. At the time in question, first I was engineering section manager, responsible for the hardware design of the 5000 system, and then later became engineering program manager. I currently have a little company in Santa Ana, California, called PC Horizons. BENJAMIN A. DENT: I'm Ben Dent. I joined Burroughs in the summer of 1956 in Paoli, and I'm still employed by Burroughs. In Paoli, we worked on a somewhat similar machine. It was supposed to be a multiprogramming, multiprocessor machine called the D 825. I became quite interested in operating systems, and then I decided to move 5 to California for personal reasons. So I actually joined the B 5000 project after most of the machine was designed, but before the first operating system or the first customer shipment. I have no idea what my title might have been at that time. I'm currently with Burroughs in an organization called Distributed Systems Group as director of engineering. GALLER: Thank you very much.