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Advent of Computing

History Podcasts

Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.

Location:

United States

Description:

Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.

Language:

English


Episodes

Episode 127 - Nim

3/10/2024
This is going to be a wild rambling ride. In 1939 a computer called Nimatron was made. It was one of the earliest digital electronic computers in the world. It did one thing: play a game called Nim. Over a decade later, in 1951, another Nim machine hit the scene. This computer called Nimrod, was designed to demonstrate how computers worked... by playing a game of Nim. These machines, humble as they may sound, end up deeply complicating the history of computing. Join me as I, once again, muddy the long arc of progress. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/faster-than-thought-b.-v.-bowden - Faster Than Thought https://www.goodeveca.net/nimrod/NIMROD_Guide.html - Faster Than Thought

Duration:01:00:32

Episode 126 - IBM Compatible (No, Not Those)

2/18/2024
This episode wraps up the System/360 trilogy by taking things back to where they started for me. We will be looking at System/360 clones, how they could exist, why they existed, and why IBM didn't crush them. We close with a discussion of how these earlier clones impact our understanding of the IBM PC story. The truth is, by 1981 IBM was no stranger to clones. This is the culmination of a wild story, so prepare! Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/iclbusinesstechn0000camp/mode/1up - ICL: A Business and Technical History https://archive.org/details/impactreportamdaunse/page/1/mode/1up - Impact Report by INPUT https://www.stayforever.de/ibm-pc-a-conversation-with-dr-david-bradley/

Duration:01:13:47

Episode 125 - US v IBM

2/1/2024
My coverage of the IBM System/360 continues! In this episode we look at US v IBM, and the fallout that surrounded the release of the System/360. By 1969 IBM already had a history of antitrust litigation. What was IBM doing to upset the Department of Justice, and how does it tie in to the larger story of clone computers? Selected Sources: http://www.cptech.org/at/ibm/ibm1956cd.html - 1956 Consent Decree https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/298/131/ - 1936 Consent Decree https://archive.org/details/foldedspindledmu00fish/page/n5/mode/2up - Folded, Spindled, and Mutilated

Duration:01:10:32

VCF SoCal - Interview with Micki and Steve

1/19/2024
In this episode I sit down and talk with Micki and Steve about VCF SoCal, a new Vintage Computer Festival! The event is taking place in Orange, California on Febuary 16th and 17th. VCFs are a wonderful time, and a great opportunity to meet up with other retro enthusiasts. The weekend will be filled with exhibits and speakers, including myself! I will be in attendence, and talking about some super cool technology. Stick around until the end of the interview for the full details. More information on VCF SoCal can be found at: https://www.vcfsocal.com/

Duration:00:29:31

Episode 124 - The Full 360

1/14/2024
The release of the IBM System/360 represents a major milestone in the history of computing. In 1964 IBM announced the 360 as the first family of compatible computers. Users could choose a system that was just the right size for their needs, mix and match peripherals, and have no fear of future upgrades. If you started on a low-end 360 you could move up to a top of the line model and keep all your software! Something like this had never been done before. Such a watershed moment resulted in interesting cascading effects. In this episode we will look at the 360 itself. In the coming weeks we will be examining how it shaped and dominated the market, how it led to a federal antitrust suit, and how a mysterious series of clone computers survived in uncertain times. Selected Sources: https://spectrum.ieee.org/building-the-system360-mainframe-nearly-destroyed-ibm https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/11/102658255-05-01-acc.pdf - Fred Brooks Oral History https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2017/11/102655529-05-01-acc.pdf - 14K Days

Duration:01:03:31

Episode 123 - The Jupiter Ace

12/31/2023
Released in 1982, the Jupiter Ace is a fascinating little computer. It's hardware isn't much to write home about. It's just an 8-bit microcomputer very much in line with other systems of the era. Where it shines is it's software. In a period when most home computer ran some version of BASIC the Ace was using Forth. On the surface that might sound like a trivial difference, but that one deviation from the norm made all the difference in the world. Selected Sources: https://www.theregister.com/2012/09/21/jupiter_cantab_jupiter_ace_is_30_years_old - The Register article on the Ace https://jupiter-ace.co.uk/documents_index.html - Every other Ace resource you could ever want

Duration:00:57:35

Episode 122 - To Edit Text

12/17/2023
Tools are the most important programs in the world. Without quality tools it's impossible to write quality software. One of those most important of those tools, and the most hotly coveted, is the text editor. These programs offer us a window into the digital world. It's no wonder that programmers the world over basically live inside text editors. In this episode will discuss when exactly that digital window was opened. When did text editors first appear? What forms did they take? Selected Sources: https://www.computerhistory.org/pdp-1/_media/pdf/DEC.pdp_1.1960.102650331.pdf - Colossal Typewriter Manual https://www.si.edu/media/NMAH/NMAH-AC1498_Transcript_StephenPiner.pdf - Piner Oral History https://opost.com/tenex/anhc-31-4-anec.pdf - The Beginnings of TECO

Duration:00:59:08

Episode 121 - Arguments Against Programming

12/3/2023
Most accounts of the early history of programming languages all share something in common. They all have a sentence or two explaining how there was great resistance to these new languages, but eventually all programmers were won over. Progress was made, despite the forces of counterrevolutionaries. What you won't find in most histories are the actual arguments these counterrevolutionaries made. This episode we are looking at those arguments. I've tracked down a handful of papers that argue against digital progress. Are these truly cursed articles, or is there something to be learned from arguments against programming? Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1455270.1455272 - Why Not Try A Plugboard? https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/367390.367404 - Comments from a FORTRAN User https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/320932.320939 - Methods of Simulating a Differential Analyzer on a Digital Computer

Duration:01:04:13

Episode 120 - Simply COSMAC

11/12/2023
Have you ever opined for a simpler time? Have you ever wanted a computer that you can understand all the way down to the silicon? Then RCA's COSMAC might be the architecture for you! COSMAC was a simplified computer architecture designed in the early 70s. It's tiny, cheap, and built to be easy to understand. But is the chip actually useful? Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5721710/page/26/mode/1up?view=theater - All the ELF articles in one place! https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MC.1974.6323475 - A Simplified Microcomputer Architecture

Duration:01:03:08

Episode 119 - The Batch!

10/29/2023
This episode we are looking at a ghost of bygone days: batch processing! Before fancy terminals peppered computer rooms, before there was a microcomputer on every desk, there was the batch. In this non-interactive form of computing a user could wait hours, days, or even weeks to get a chance at computer time. Machines were kept well away from programmers, guarded by digital clerics. Why did such an arrangement exist? And did it ultimately help the programmer? Selected Sources: https://multicians.org/thvv/compatible-time-sharing-system.pdf - Compatible Timesharing System, 15th Anniversary https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MAHC.1983.10026 - Rykman on GM-NAA I/O https://ethw.org/First-Hand:Operating_System_Roots - Operating System Roots

Duration:01:00:28

Episode 118 - Viral Dark Ages

10/15/2023
It's finally Spook Month here on Advent of Computing! To kick things off I'm tackling a bit of a mystery. Between 1972 and 1982 there is only one well documented virus. This period is book ended with plenty of sources and, yes, even viruses. But this decade long span of time has almost nothing! Was this era truly safe from the grips of malicious code? Or is there a secret history lurking just beneath the surface? Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/358453.358455 - Worms at Xerox PARC! https://archive.org/details/crimebycomputer0000park - Crime by Computer https://archive.org/details/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_05_201803/page/n89/mode/2up - Programming Pastimes and Pleasures

Duration:01:15:35

Episode 117 - What's in a Byte?

9/24/2023
Byte has to be one of the most recognizable parts of the digital lexicon. It's an incantation that can be recognized by even the uninitiated. But where does the byte come from? Has it always existed, or did it more recently come into being? And, more specifically, why is a byte 8 bits? Is it some holdover from long ago, or is there some iron clad rule of 8's? Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-02/page/n145/mode/1up?view=theater - Buchholz on the "byte" in BYTE! https://sci-hub.se/10.1049/pi-3.1949.0018 - A STORAGE SYSTEM FOR USE WITH BINARY-DIGITAL COMPUTING MACHINES https://ia600208.us.archive.org/32/items/firstdraftofrepo00vonn/firstdraftofrepo00vonn.pdf - The First Draft of a Report on EDVAC

Duration:01:03:45

Episode 116 - Monte Carlo

9/10/2023
It's finally time! In this episode we are looking at the Monte Carlo method, perhaps the first practical computer program that could outpace human capability. The best part: the method relies on a random walk to reach a statistically valid answer! Selected Sources: https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10596 - Igniting the Light Elements https://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00326866.pdf - The Beginning of the Monte Carlo Method, Nick Metropolis

Duration:01:01:27

Episode 115 - Digital Lifeforms

8/27/2023
I will admit, the title here is a bit of click bait. In the early 1950s a researcher named Nils Aall Barricelli started in on a bold project. His goal was to simulate evolution on a computer and, in doing so, create a perfect lab to study evolutionary processes. What he found was astonishing. Given a simple rule set these interesting patterns emerged. He called them symbioorganisms. Despite being simple numeric constructs, they exhibited many properties of living things. Did Barricelli create a digital form of life? Selected Sources: https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/BF01556771 - Numerical Testing of Evolution Theories. Please, just read this paper and be amazed!

Duration:01:08:29

Reading - The Story of Mel

8/26/2023
This episode is simply a reading of the Story of Mel. I opened last episode with an excerpt, but didn't feel right leaving it at that. So, I present, the Story of Mel as written by Ed Nather and preserved in the Jargon file.

Duration:00:11:01

Episode 114 - The LGP-30: A Forgotten Machine

8/14/2023
In 1956 Librascope released the LGP-30, a truly wild machine. It was, for the time, the most simple and cheap machine that could actually be useful. It was the size of a desk when contemporary machines took up small rooms. It plugged into a normal wall outlet while other machines requires special power feeds. It was, perhaps, the first hint of a personal computer. And at its heart was a magnetic drum that only a true programmer could love. Selected Sources: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html - The Story of Mel https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/TEC.1957.5221555 - Frankel's MINAC Paper http://www.hp9825.com/html/stan_frankel.html - A Biography of Frankel

Duration:01:06:06

Episode 113 - Prolog, Part II

7/30/2023
I'm wrapping up my dive into Prolog with... Prolog itself! This episode I'm actually covering the development of Prolog, using all the natural language processing lore we covered last time. Along the way we will see how Prolog developed from a set of tools, and how those tools were generalized into a useful language. Selected Sources: http://alain.colmerauer.free.fr/alcol/ArchivesPublications/PrologHistory/19november92.pdf - The Birth of Prolog https://archive.org/details/introductiontoma0000hutc/mode/1up?q=%22q-systems%22&view=theater - An Introduction to Machine Translation

Duration:01:10:20

Episode 112 - Prolog, Part I

7/16/2023
I've been told I need to do an episode about Prolog. Well, here's the start of that process. To talk about Prolog we first need to come to grips with natural language processing, it's tools, and it's languages. This episode we are doing just that, going from ELIZA to Planner ro SHRDLU in an attempt to figure out how AI was first taught human tongues, where smoke and mirrors end, and where facinting programming begins. Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/365153.365168 - ELIZA https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:cm792pj8606/cm792pj8606.pdf - Planner https://web.archive.org/web/20200725084321/http://hci.stanford.edu/~winograd/shrdlu/AITR-235.pdf - SHRDLU

Duration:01:08:46

Episode 111 - To Boldly Transmit

7/2/2023
Space is cool, in all meanings of the word. Not only is it wondrous, vast, and fascinating, it can also be a cold place. It's also a very useful place to put things. This episode we are looking at the first practical use of space: communication satellites. Selected Source: https://archive.org/details/BigBounc1960 - The Big Bounce https://archive.org/details/dtic-ada-141865-ieee-centenial-journal-1984-ocr/page/n67/mode/2up - A Signal Corp Space Opera https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4308/ch6.htm - The Odyssey of Project Echo

Duration:01:03:17

Episode 110 - The Atari 2600

6/18/2023
I don't usually cover video games. When I do, you know it's for a weird reason. This episode we are looking at the Atari VCS 2600, it's strange hardware, and how it fits into the larger story of the rise of microprocessors. These new tiny chips were already changing the world, but they brought along their own problems. Selected source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/atari-2600 - Inventing the Atari 2600 https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/09/102658257-05-01-acc.pdf - Al Alcorn Oral History https://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_bob_whitehead.html - Bob Whitehead Interview

Duration:01:07:58