View From The Porch: Back when it really was a series of tubes.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Back when it really was a series of tubes.

I believe my exact words were "If I don't get a photo of this, my roommate will kill me."

It's not a big truck!

13 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...: She won't kill you!

That is, if you ship it back home ASAP, that is. : ); 1:46 PM, October 04, 2012
Ken said...: Love the patch bay. I can remember a band called Baby Sirloin used to play in Kent, OH in 1980-81ish, used to haul around an ARP 2600 synthesizer with the big vertical patch bay. KSU's electronic music lab had the same model.; 2:06 PM, October 04, 2012
Keads said...: Actually that is the prototype of the Matrix ver. 1.0. It could hold two people and they always thought something was "off".; 2:25 PM, October 04, 2012
Stuart the Viking said...: You see how those vacuum tubes are brown? Back in the 40's with the war going on even glass was rationed so they ended up having to melt down beer bottles to use the glass to make tubes for these things.

No... not really. Just an old joke, but it's hilarious how many people you can get to believe it.

s; 2:48 PM, October 04, 2012
Turk Turon said...: "If I don't get a photo of this, my roommate will kill me."

True-er words were never spoken!; 4:10 PM, October 04, 2012
Canthros said...: Neat. Did they have a difference engine, too? (yuk, yuk, yuk.)

I'll have to show that to my father, who collects and restores tube radios for fun.; 4:21 PM, October 04, 2012
Anonymous said...: Anyone remember the Heathkit analog computer from the early 60's?
or does roomie have one in the attic?
Terry
Fla.; 5:02 PM, October 04, 2012
Geodkyt said...: Heh. I work at Dahlgren. Compu-Central for the Navy, from way back when. Practically every wall around here has a poster showung the computational lab log sheet from our first computer with the computer bug taped to it that caused the failure. . .; 5:20 PM, October 04, 2012
Tam said...: Keads,

"Actually that is the prototype of the Matrix ver. 1.0. It could hold two people and they always thought something was "off". "

Awesome! :D; 5:35 PM, October 04, 2012
Gewehr98 said...: There's a good chunk of a Sperry Univac sitting upstairs in my dad's 2-story barn workshop. Tons of tubes in neat rows. Before he gives it to Goodwill I should box it up and send it towards Indianapolis...; 9:17 PM, October 04, 2012
Roberta X said...: Oooooooooooooooooo.

Wish I had room for a Univac. Did anyone ever write a web-browser for those? ;); 7:43 AM, October 05, 2012
Joel said...: I did once, Rx. But casting all those programming cards out of pewter was a bear.

(I'm going to look like an even bigger idiot if Univac predated cards.); 9:29 AM, October 05, 2012
Anonymous said...: You're safe, cards came before tubes. Just ask Hollerith if you don't believe me. Perhaps jacquard could give an opinion.

Rich; 10:01 PM, October 05, 2012