each new problem, a task that The textbook sold well, and can could take several days. be read online at http://bitsavers.trailing- May The ENIAC was a classified edge.com/pdf/era/High_Speed_ project in the early days, so the Computing_Devices_1950.pdf women were given very Refrigerator Ladies restrictive access to machine. The book's references mention May 1945 For instance, they had to devise three other early computing programs based on looking at texts: Prev: [May 31] Next: [Nov 30] the ENIAC's schematics. Berkeley, E.C., “Giant Brains”, Initially, six women were In the process, these women John Wiley, 1949 [June 30] selected to program the ENIAC pioneered the discipline of [Feb 15]: programming digital computers, Hartree, D.R., “Calculating developing techniques such as Instruments and Machines”, Betty Holberton (co-lead subroutine libraries. University Of Illinois Press, programmer); née Frances 1949 [March 27] Elizabeth Snyder. Born: Incredibly, their role had been [March 7], 1917; Philadelphia. largely forgotten by the 1980's, Wiener, Norbert, Died: Dec 8, 2001 until historian Kathy Kleiman “Cybernetics”, John Wiley, tried to find out about the 1948. [Nov 26] Jean Bartlik (co-lead women present in all the ENIAC Also, although “High-Speed programmer); née Betty Jean pictures. She remarked: “I was Computing Devices” was the Jennings. Born: [Dec. 27], told they were models - first book on hardware, the first 1924; Gentry County, Missouri. ‘Refrigerator Ladies’ - posing in on programming was “The Died: March 23, 2011 front of the machine to make it Preparation of Programs for an Kathleen “Kay” McNulty look good,” Electronic Digital Computer” Mauchly Antonelli; née Infact, three of the six – (1951), by Maurice Wilkes [June Kathleen Rita McNulty. Born: Holberton, Bartik, and Antonelli 26], David Wheeler [Feb 9] and [Feb 12], 1921; County – followed J. Presper Eckert Stanley Gill [March 26]. Donegal, Ireland. Died: April [April 9] and John Mauchly [Aug 20, 2006 30] when the pair resigned from Ruth Teitelbaum; née Ruth the Moore School [March 31] to RS-232 Lichterman; 1924-1986 found EMCC [Dec 8]. They went on to work on the BINAC [April May 1960 Frances Spence; née Frances 4] and UNIVAC I [March 31]. RS-232 was introduced by the Bilas. Born: March 2, 1922; Philadelphia. Died: July 18, Electronic Industries 2012 Association (EIA) as a First Hardware Recommended Standard (RS) Marlyn Meltzer; née Marlyn for the serial communication of Wescoff. Born: 1922; Textbook data between teletypewriters. Philadelphia. Died: Dec. 4, 2008 May 1950 Unfortunately, the standard didn’t really cover the needs of “High-Speed Computing more modern computers, which Devices”, published by led designers to interpret the McGraw-Hill, was the first standard in some rather textbook on computer ‘strange’ ways over the next few construction. It was decades. For example, in some written by staff at devices the “Transmit Data” pin Engineering Research was an input. Associates (ERA [Jan 00]), supervised by C. B. For a while, there were two Tompkins and J. H. sexes of RS-232: male and Wakelin, and edited by W. female. Later it became W. Stifler, Jr. necessary to introduce a “gender bender” which favoured the Betty Jennings (left) and Frances Its contents had first pairing of both male-male and Bilas (right) setting up the appeared in an Office of Naval female-female devices. Also, ENIAC. U.S. Army Photo. Research (ONR) report, which while RS-232 began with 25 characterized itself as “an pins, many connectors Programming the ENIAC investigation and report on the eventually slimmed down to a involved a time-consuming status of development of svelte 9 pins. process of the plugging-in of computing machine cables and the toggling of components.” switches. ln effect, the women were rewiring the machine for 1 to the GE-200 series were the GE-215 (1963), GE-205 (1964), Empire Released and GE-235 (1964). May 1973 One notable success: a GE-235, Empire for the PLATO system along with a smaller GE [July 00] was probably the first machine, the DATANET-30 (DN- networked multiplayer game. 30), ran the Dartmouth Time- Sharing System (DTSS [May 1]), Iowa State College student John and Dartmouth BASIC. Daleske had grown tired of PLATO's standard games A 9 pin RS-232 plug. CC BY-SA Seeing they were on to a (typically board games for two 3.0 winning combination, GE started players), so as a class project packaging the DN-30 and GE- designed a multiplayer turn- 235 together in 1965 as the GE- These variations in the based strategy game supporting 265 (i.e. 30 + 235), and it ‘standard’ encouraged a thriving up to 8 users. industry of breakout boxes, test became the first commercially equipment, books, and several successful time-sharing system. Each player became the head of revised 'standards'. a planet’s government, with sole responsibility for economic Nevertheless, the RS-232 serial development, including the port became an ubiquitous Wang 2200 building of spaceships for either feature of PCs, for connecting to trade or war. modems, printers, mice, data Introduced storage, and other peripherals. Daleske’s "Empire II", dating May 1973 from around Sept. 1973, The Wang [Feb 7] 2200 was one removed much of the boring of the first desktop computers. It strategy gameplay, replacing it GE-225 Rollout came with a large CRT display, with starships that could fly May 1961 4K of RAM (up to 32K), a through 2D space and shoot cassette tape storage unit, and a lasers. There could now be up to The GE-225 was meant to be decent BASIC interpreter 50 players, separated into eight General Electric’s answer to installed in ROM, meaning that it warring teams. Each player IBM’s all-conquering business- could be turned on and used controlled a ship, based on Star oriented1400 series [Oct 5]. within seconds. It was also Trek’s Federation, Klingon, possible to attach a modem and Vulcan, and Romulan vessels It was partly designed by Arnold a printer. [June 4; Sept 8; Nov 26]. Spielberg (father of film director Steven Spielberg [June 9; June The 2200 predates the era of the Usage logs from the PLATO 19; June 29; Aug. 18]) and microprocessor, so was built system at the Computer-based Charles “Chuck” Propster, both using a few hundred TTL chips, Education Research Lab (CERL) ex-RCA engineers who had using a design by a team led by in Chicago indicated that worked on that company’s Bob Kolk. between 1978 and 1985, users BIZMAC [Feb 7]. spent around 300,000 hours Wang sold the 2200 primarily playing Empire. Homer “Barney” Oldfield hired through value-added resellers them away from RCA to set up who installed extra software Empire IV (1976) was ported to GE’s Industrial Computer catering for different customers, X Windows [June 19] in the Department. Although Spielberg and was originally marketed as a 1980's as X-trek, and then to the and Propster were tasked with “computing calculator”, Internet in the 1990's as Netrek. designing a business machine, supposedly to avoid frightening the department’s name was customers with the word chosen to pacify Ralph Cordiner, “COMPUTER”. About 65,000 Kermit Deployed then GE chairman and CEO, who were shipped during its lifetime, believed that GE should focus and found wide use in small and May 1981 solely on industrial products. medium-size businesses. Cordiner was eventually brought The Kermit file transfer protocol around after the success of GE’s 2200s were used extensively in and communications software ERMA system [Sept 14], but not the 1970's by Gosplan and was developed by Frank da Cruz before he had fired Oldfield at Goskomstat , the main Soviet and Bill Catchings at the the GE-225’s rollout. planning and statistical agencies. Columbia University Computer However, fears of nefarious Center. The GE-225 used about 10,000 backdoors in the Western transistors, 20,000 diodes, and hardware led to the system’s Kermit’s design was largely 8K of core memory. Up to 11 reverse engineering, and the influenced by the limitations of peripheral could be linked to the development of the Iskra-226 the campus’ DECSYSTEM-20s machine and operate clone. and the microcomputers of the time. For example, it was simultaneously. Later additions 2 impossible to send large bursts the first color computer to reach German curse word. Also, VC of data to the DEC-20 – it was that price point. could be marketed as though it “like trying to make a sparrow was an abbreviation of eat a meatball hero”. Kermit’s VolksComputer (“people’s data packets were small, 96 computer”). characters at most: “seeds, In any case, many people insects, and worms that a sparrow can digest.” dubbed the machine the ‘Vixen’, which had been its codename By the mid-1980's, Kermit was during development. the de facto standard for data The VIC-20 was succeeded by communications between the even more popular computers. The Commodore VIC 20. Commodore 64, announced on Of course, it was named after [Jan 7] 1982. One important reason for its low “Kermit the Frog” from The cost was that Commodore built Muppets, and with the all of its main chips at their MOS permission of Henson Technology [Sept 9] Associates. A ‘backronym,’ Somewhere Over manufacturing facility. The main created to avoid possible later CPU was the 8-bit MOS 6502, trademark issues, was “KL10 the Rainbow which Commodore also sold to Error-Free Reciprocal Apple. May 1982 Microprocessor Interchange over TTY lines”. The VIC-20 was the first ever DEC’s [Aug 23] Rainbow 100 computer to sell over 1 million microcomputer was a dual-CPU The designers chose the name units, beating the Apple II [June box with both a Zilog Z80 Kermit because of the presence 5] to that record by a few [March 9] and a Intel 8088 of a 1981 Muppets calendar on months .