Sphere papers gone

From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
Date: Sun Oct 5 11:15:42 1997

> As I recall you wanted some sort of justification and I really
> couldn't think of anything beyond "yeah, I'd like to get a look at
> that" -- really I figured you would find other respondents who could
> offer it better homes.

There is a reason I did that. In a previous giveaway, NSFnet stuff,
I was flooded by lots of people simply wanting the tape drives and nothing
else (there was one exception). This did not make me very happy, as I felt
that many of the respondants did not care about where these drives came
from, rather that they were free drives. Much of this old NSFnet stuff
(there is more free stuff to come - I unearthed some of the OOB modems,
useful when the network crashed) really does have far more historical
value than actual value. These machines (the RS/6000s with appropriate
other things), numbering 75 or so, were the "Internet" for some time,
and fuelled its explosive growth thru the first part of the 1990s, until
the other ISPs started to appear.

I am not saying that the Sphere papers are of real historical significance
- the company simply did not last very long, and in my opinion, was a
producer of junk - but anything Sphere is very rare.

Speaking of NSFnet stuff, I may be able to get some of the really old
stuff, when the network was built with RTs, token rings, and 56 K DSUs. If
I can get one of the old RTs, would the Vintage Computer Festival people
be interested as a door prize?

> I guess it's time for one of those questions I still don't have a good
> answer for. Where the foo has all the SS-50 stuff gone? Or is it still
> hiding? Or is it just not here in Sillycon Valley?

I have seen very little as well. That says something, as the boards tend
to really stick out in the crowd. They never reached the popularity of the
S-100 stuff, and was probably made in quantities much smaller than just
about every other bus.

William Donzelli
william_at_ans.net
Received on Sun Oct 05 1997 - 11:15:42 BST