> On Apr 20, 2016, at 11:33 PM, Mark J. Blair <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Back when I spent a couple of years at UNLV in the late 80s, I had a class in
> which I was forced to use an account on a Harris H800 computer, if my memory
> serves me correctly. Being a BSD snob, I felt that was a terrible imposition,
> much like being forced to calculate compound interest on a stone-age abacus
> made from partially petrified dinosaur turds. *Without gloves.*
>
> Now, of course, I'm a lot more easy-going, and downright curious about things
> that might not have been my first choice for a computing environment. Even
> VMS!
>
> So, does anybody here know anything about that family of computers? I seem to
> recall getting a tour of the computer room once, and the two front panels of
> the machine were swung open to reveal two thick, mattress-like beds of
> twisted pair wires. That seemed nauseatingly primitive to me at the time, but
> now the memory seems fascinating.
>
> I also seem to remember an operator's console with two round CRTs on it, but
> I might have fabricated that memory from whole cloth.
Thick mat of twisted pair wiring, and console with two round CRTs, that's a
good description of a CDC 6000 series mainframe. They certainly weren't as
easy to use as Unix machines, but a lot faster than anything else at the time
they were released.
paul
