Firsts

From: Peter Prymmer <pvhp_at_forte.com>
Date: Mon Jan 12 14:37:00 1998

classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu
Subj: Re: Firsts

Allison J Parent wrote:

!<> >First programable calc
!<>
!<> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goe
!<> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the in
!<> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bi
!
!No, this was not the first by a long means. I vaguely remember a desktop
!HP job that was years earlier.
!
!There were designs that were RTL and utililogic and even earlier designs
!that were about the size of a desk drawer that were both totally
!electronic and to some extent programable.

A complete braino on my part: I had wanted to say some like either "first
LSI electronic calc" or perhaps "first microprocessor application".
Sorry I goofed.

As you pointed out in this and a subsequent post there were many "solid state
electronic" calculators available by 1971. Hey, for that matter IBM's S/360
shipped transistorized general purpose transistorized computers (running DOS
and TOS among others) by 1964, and by 1971 they were even beginning to
incorporate integrated circuitry into what would become S/370 computers.
Interestingly the architecture (or its modern desecndant) was not put on a
single microprocessor until just a few years ago (1995 saw the 3490 CMOS
mainframe on a chip). I would not for a moment call these devices mere
calculators though (despite the early reluctance of IBM's marketing
department to call things like the 701 a "computer" for fear
of upsetting the folks employed in that occupation in the 1950's).

Peter Prymmer
Received on Mon Jan 12 1998 - 14:37:00 GMT