len@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Leonard P Levine) (09/30/89)
My first computer access was to a Honeywell 400 computer via a baudot (5 bit) connection. This was in about 1963-5 and was done on a computer owned by Honeywell and destined for use an a switcher to replace the room full of clerks who took papertape output from one of some 20 punches and manually fed them to some other reader in the same room. The system was used for a private telegraph system operated by Honey- well. It did not work for some reason, so the machine was left nearly idle. (this was during the day of the IBM 1401 computer.) One of my associates at the Honewell Research Center, a Mr. Keith Betz, programmed this fairly old computer to use the the baudot lines as on-line terminal connectors to give 12 simultaneous tasks on 12 isolated terminals. Entering a line such as A = B + C required 4 case changes as the spcial symbols and numbers were in a different case than the letters. We loved it at the time. 75 baud, papertape, yellow paper and all. The alternative was to submit card decks to a computer across town with 8 (eight) day turnaround. Jobs sumbitted on Monday came back the next Tuesday, just too late to correct and resubmit. Work was accepted on Monday only. + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + | Leonard P. Levine e-mail len@evax.cs.uwm.edu | | Professor, Computer Science Office (414) 229-5170 | | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Home (414) 962-4719 | | Milwaukee, WI 53201 U.S.A. FAX (414) 229-6958 | + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +