Re: Origin of 'Straight 8' name
On Fri, 21 Dec 2018, Chuck Guzis via cctech wrote: I suspect the same common connection to "turbo", popularized by the auto marketeers. On the other hand, I've never seen a computer advertised with a "Turbo-Hydra-Matic" or "Dynaflow" feature. such as "turbo LAG" Should look around the yards for insignia, such as the Subaru "Turbo XT 16"
Re: Origin of 'Straight 8' name
> Could be--but I was pointed out that "straight eight" was an automotive > term familiar to the laity that pre-dated DEC by a goodly number of > years. We live in a world dominated by automobile marketing. Some points to ponder: The term Straight-9 is basically never heard when referring to the PDP-9 and not a PDP-9/L. The term "Winchester disk" is another example of name coined after another deeply embedded cultural term having nothing to do with computing. -- Will
Re: Origin of 'Straight 8' name
On 12/21/18 11:32 AM, allison via cctech wrote: > And the automotive reference was not it. It was the straight as in not > later lettered > versions. Best similar use is: Whiskey straight, water on the side. Could be--but I was pointed out that "straight eight" was an automotive term familiar to the laity that pre-dated DEC by a goodly number of years. We live in a world dominated by automobile marketing. I suspect the same common connection to "turbo", popularized by the auto marketeers. On the other hand, I've never seen a computer advertised with a "Turbo-Hydra-Matic" or "Dynaflow" feature. --Chuck
Re: Origin of 'Straight 8' name
On 12/21/2018 01:10 PM, Al Kossow via cctech wrote: > > On 12/21/18 10:03 AM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote: > >> "Straight-8" seems to be a fairly modern name coming from collectors >> >> I never heard it called that before then. > Anyone feel like doing a alt.sys.pdp-8 search for it by date? > > I don't feel like going down the rathole of trying to find a way to > search Usenet by date right now. > > Not I, that is a deep hole to dredge. I do know it was a clear way to differentiate the various family of 8 machines and it was on alt.sys.pdp-8 I'd seen it way back like mid 80s. It may have been old by then. I used to peek there as my first PDP-8e was in hand around late 1983. And the automotive reference was not it. It was the straight as in not later lettered versions. Best similar use is: Whiskey straight, water on the side. One of the DEC history things about the era was often engineering went may different directions at the same time making for a plethora of systems that were or mostly PDP-8ish like the PDP-12 that was PDP-8 and LINK. RICM has a really pretty one. Allison
