1954 Popular Mech mag pic
Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:22 pm
If you can't read it.. the caption says:
"Scientists from the RAND Corporation have created this model to illustrate how a "home computer" could look like in the year 2004. However the needed technology will not be economically feasible for the average home. Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 30 (50?) years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. With teletype interface and the Fortran lanquage, the computer will be easy to use."
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:05 pm
I love stuff like this. 
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:13 pm
wonder what WW2 battle ship they stole that 'wheel' from?
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:21 pm
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:21 pm
LOL
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:23 pm
Im pretty sure this is a hoax.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:59 pm
it is a hoax, but it's not far off the mark. Actually, in 1954 most computer makers would not have envisioned a home computer any more than a supermarket would envision anyone wanting a cash register in their house.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:14 pm
Some quotes:
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
"But what ... is it good for?"
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-Bill Gates, 1981
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people,
and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
"I've never met a human being who would want to read 17,000 pages of
documentation, and if there was, I'd kill him to get him out of the gene pool."
- Joseph Costello, President of Cadence
I can say for fact that the Ken Olson quote is accurate, my Marketing professor in college was one the top dogs in Digital's marketing division at the time, he witnessed Olson saying this not once, but several times. Everytime he said it, marketing would chastise him for it.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
"But what ... is it good for?"
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-Bill Gates, 1981
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people,
and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
"I've never met a human being who would want to read 17,000 pages of
documentation, and if there was, I'd kill him to get him out of the gene pool."
- Joseph Costello, President of Cadence
I can say for fact that the Ken Olson quote is accurate, my Marketing professor in college was one the top dogs in Digital's marketing division at the time, he witnessed Olson saying this not once, but several times. Everytime he said it, marketing would chastise him for it.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:32 pm
sorry guys.. i didn't know it was a fake. One of my co workers emailed that around today. I googled rand corporation and eventually foung this:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp
"Although the photograph displayed could represent what some people in the early 1950s contemplated a "home computer" might look like (based on the technology of the day), it isn't, as the accompanying text claims, a RAND Corporation illustration from 1954 of a prototype "home computer." The picture is actually an entry submitted to a Fark.com image modification competition, taken from an original photo of a submarine maneuvering room console found on U.S. Navy web site, converted to grayscale, and modified to replace a modern display panel and TV screen with pictures of a decades-old teletype/printer and television (as well as to add the gray-suited man to the left-hand side of the photo): "
ooops !! sorry !
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp
"Although the photograph displayed could represent what some people in the early 1950s contemplated a "home computer" might look like (based on the technology of the day), it isn't, as the accompanying text claims, a RAND Corporation illustration from 1954 of a prototype "home computer." The picture is actually an entry submitted to a Fark.com image modification competition, taken from an original photo of a submarine maneuvering room console found on U.S. Navy web site, converted to grayscale, and modified to replace a modern display panel and TV screen with pictures of a decades-old teletype/printer and television (as well as to add the gray-suited man to the left-hand side of the photo): "
ooops !! sorry !
Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:59 pm
Anyone interested in the history of computers should check out this book:
Fire in the Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071358927/qid=1140486844/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-0829156-5097743?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
It probably sounds boring, but it's really interesting how everything came together, and how much of it was driven forward by hobbyists. Great book, makes you really wish you were a part of that time and place.
Fire in the Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071358927/qid=1140486844/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-0829156-5097743?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
It probably sounds boring, but it's really interesting how everything came together, and how much of it was driven forward by hobbyists. Great book, makes you really wish you were a part of that time and place.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:25 pm
The PC I used at super8 used fortan, and at least they got the keyboard right.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:10 pm
The terminal is a Digital Corp. Decwriter II, I used to have one in my apartment arounf 1985. I had a private bulletin board and a Dungeon-type game running secretly on the University mainframe. Ah, the good ol'days.
Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:49 pm
The Dark Lord knows his DECs...
I connected a LOT of those back then...
I connected a LOT of those back then...
Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:11 pm
'85, I was still in High School and sporting a badass C-64 with two 1541 disk drives!
I felt so 133t!
I felt so 133t!
Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:18 pm
I still remember the hum it made and the sound of the 300-bauds dot matrix.