CP/M and Imsai

From: Don Caprio <caprio_at_dcms.com>
Date: Wed Apr 3 14:23:42 2002

Thanks to all for you comments on the S-100 and Imsai.

The reason I got intersted in this was back in the late 70's I worked for
an OEM and we rolled out data Entry/Retrieval system on Datapoint, Then moved
to the Imsai, and then the Intel SBC 8086 running RMX/86. This was my first
programming job. Everything was written in assembler and progressed to
PL/I then finally forth. I loved this job. Back then programmers appreciated
tight code and knew how to save a few bytes of code.

It was amazing what we did with the Imsai. I think we had 30+ serial connections
to data entry terminals with keypunch operators banging away at 100 WPM! The
terminals were also used for data base retrieval over a dedicated line
connected to our mainframe, a Xerox Sigma 9. Our mainframe application
was written in assembler as welll (MetaSymbol).

I also ported a few 8080/z80 applications to 8086.

When I left the company ten years later we had piles of Imsai's on pallets
and didn't know what to do with them. I bet they ended up in a landfill
somewhere! Wish I had just a pallet of them today!

It's been twenty years since I worked on the Imsai. Most of my knowledge
on these and other S-100 systems is burried in my brian somewhere problem
is I can't seem to fetch it :^)

At any rate I'm up for the challange and am looking forward to putting my Imsai
system together.

Any ex employee's of Science Dynamics (Torrance, Ca) out there? Jeff, Neil,
Ralph, Dave, and Less are you there?





 and then
Received on Wed Apr 03 2002 - 14:23:42 BST