One That Got Away (was: Woohoo! Another DEC score!)

From: John Allain <allain_at_panix.com>
Date: Wed Nov 26 17:28:30 2003

>> ...There. That's my True Confession(tm).

In 1980 or so I was called into the radio station at college to see
the big computer that they had gotten in the door somehow. One
guy gutted it for box fans, one pulled the boards** for gold deplating,
I took a piece more or less intact for the blinkenlights (it was the
I/O control panel), etc. Gutted like Tomorrows dinner. It was an
IBM 1401, possibly the first office sized computer (small enough to
fit In the office, without filling it up). Even though tens/hundreds of
thousands were sold I have never seen another one since.

John A.
** one or two logic gates Per Board!
Received on Wed Nov 26 2003 - 17:28:30 GMT