rkm@afinitc.UUCP (Randy More) (05/10/84)
PLEASE--PLEASE--PLEASE--PLEASE don't anyone say HAL is a rot2 of IBM. This is pure coincedence. Clarke will probably rue this untill the day he dies because everyone keeps saying it and it is simply not true. Clarke says that HAL was just a nice name, so he used it. Randy More ..!ihnp4!afinitc!rkm
aii@tropix.UUCP (Alice I. Insley) (05/11/84)
"Why HAL" seems to be one of the MOST favorite trivia questions around. The "off the cuff" answer is the HAL-IBM relationship, but this was actually accidental. The computer (from what I heard) is named after its creater, the HAL computer company in Urbana Illinois. There really IS a company of this name in Urbana, and it existed before the film or book. It is also (supposedly, I didn't catch this myself) a mention os this company and it's location in the credits. Alice Bentley ...rochester!ritcv!tropix!aii
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (05/14/84)
[] Many of the displays used in HAL's makeup were from a company in New York called Information Displays. They were the forrunners of the interactive display systems and many other neat things. They were just 10 years ahead of the industry as there were very few CPUs that knew what to do with the fancy display. T. C. Wheeler
hr@uicsl.UUCP (05/17/84)
#R:tropix:-22400:uicsl:7600051:000:234 uicsl!hr May 17 10:27:00 1984 [^^^ Why is this line needed? ^^^] I believe that HAL Communications makes equipment for ham radio operators. They had a booth at the Dayton "hamvention". They probably advertise in the amateur radio magazines if you are interested.