At 19:20 12/05/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I've got the first few pix of my Univac online now.
>Here's the URL: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp/univac/
>
> Cheers,
> Bill.
Hi Bill,
I've visited yr. URL and auot the page
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp/univac/giorn1.jpg you wrote:
>This came from a web page in Italy. I think the accompanying article says
something >about the first computer used in some school in Italy.
>Unfortunately, I don't read much Italian, and Babelfish didn't
>do so well either.
But Bill, I'm here :-) ...just ask!
It's true, the article is used in this website (the school's website) as
proof of being (since 1970) the first Italian school (not university)
equipped with a computer.
MESTRE is "VENICE on earth" = is the small city that connects
Venice-on-water with the continent.
There they have schools, offices, houses, etc. that in Venice are not
possible or effordable.
"Zuccante" is the name for this school that is a technical engineer school
with a training course for programmers.
Briefly the article explained the new chance offered by this school to the
student-workers with evening (after work) courses that allowed to get the
degree in "computer science engineering".
The aim of the article's author was to convince the readers about the
advanced equipment in school's laboratory and the importance of the
outcoming new profession:computers programmer
Curiosity:
The author wrote that the new development was the "new disk and tape system
that is capable to expand the memory of the central unit, allowing the
warehousing of thousands of useful processing data"
^^^^^^^^
In the reality Mr. Luciano Tagliapietra (the man in the picture that was the
UNIVAC technician), tells that despite what was written in the article,
those expansion units where never bought by this institute, because in 1973
that kind of computer with only 16 Kb memory and the need of air
conditioner, was considered at the sunset.
>Since there is more machinery in this picture than I've got, I wonder if I
have a
>whole machine.
Hmm, I can't tell what Mr. Tagliapietra is handling in the picture, but the
rectangular opening in the top of the first machine with the slope, seems to
be a card reader.
Probably the other was a big puncher?
Ciao
Riccardo Romagnoli
<chemif_at_mbox.queen.it>
I-47100 Forl?
Received on Fri May 14 1999 - 20:44:38 BST
