At 09:48 PM 3/29/99 -0800, Sellam wrote:
>On Mon, 29 Mar 1999, James Willing wrote:
>> At 08:37 PM 3/29/99 -0800, Sellam wrote:
>> >
>> >Does anyone know what the function of an IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter
>> >is/was?
>>
>> ... and yes, if you had not guessed... I still have a manual on how to
>> program these things!
>
>Cool. I especially liked the patch panel. I'd love to learn how to
>program the thing.
OOH!!! I see a program for VCF III coming on! "Progamming IBM Unit Record
Equipment"! You will have to find a couple of more pieces tho...
We'll need a keypunch, a sorter would be nice, (I have both of those, but
they are a bit hard to move that far), a reproducer would probably be
excessive, but a tabulator or calculator would be just keen! (WARNING -
IBM had a REAL interesting definition of "calculator") A collator might be
fun too...
>> (now, if I could just remember that trick that we used to teach a 402
>> tabulator how to multiply... B^} )
>
>Are you implying these things had some general purpose computing
>attributes?
Yes... (BTW: brain fart - it was a 403 that we taught how to multiply)
The Tabulators could do addition, subtraction, and summary functions (basic
accounting machines) controlled by the programming on the plug board.
The Calculators could also do multiply, divide, and logical functions.
Again, controleld by plug boards and the cards...
Any which way... watch out what you ask for! I can probably still teach
someone how to program these things! B^}
(Damn, I'm starting to feel old!)
-jim
---
jimw_at_agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
Received on Tue Mar 30 1999 - 00:15:31 BST