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NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:15:49 +0000
Subject: Re: byte me, The joy of FORTRAN
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From: c186282 <c186282@nnada.net>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2025 01:15:44 -0500
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On 2/27/25 7:33 PM, Rich Alderson wrote:
> c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> writes:
> 
>> LONG back I was in a govt data-center. They had some kind of, I'm pretty
>> sure, early DEC.  The "CPU" was a kinda cubic-meter plastic box of DISCRETE
>> TRANSISTORS.
> 
> DEC always packaged things in metal until very late in the game, so whatever
> you saw it wasn't a DEC product.

   I think the locals BUILT the plastic box, and
   routed extra cooling air into it. Don't remember
   any maker name/symbols on it.

   In any case, huge boards of (mostly?) discrete
   transistors. Wasn't IBM ... more like one of
   their CPU boxes laid on its side and all opened
   up. Too long ago to remember extra details -
   but it made an impression. This would have been
   mid 70s, but the computer was older and someone
   talked about getting something newer.

   I remember it DID run the entire county IT need,
   wonderfully low-speed connections to every agency.

   In any case, the good/bad old days  :-)