Feb. 11 Day In Computer History
On this day in computer history we see the RAND Corporation take the Johnniac Open Shop System (JOSS) out of service.
Was JOSS No Good?In 1959 W.H. Ware suggested that the future of information was in the ability for multiple people to be located at different locations and yet interact with one BIG computer processor. JOSS was touted as allowing up to 10 users at “hardware stations” to access the machine interactively with a simplified programming language and allowing programmers to schedule jobs to run in batch mode without experiencing long delays. Sounds good right? But not enough!
JOSS Was The Precursor Of Even Better ThingsThe capabilities of JOSS resulted in new dreams and demands. In 1964 Rand invited cutting edge computer manufactures to showcase their ideas. Each company was asked to present their bids for machine response time, arithmetic computation speed, and the ability to store internally the exact representation of user-typed input.
The bid was won by Digital Equipment Corporation who signed a contract to install a PDP-8 computer by October 31, 1965 as well as 30 consoles which were modified IBM Selectric typewriters that permitted spacing in a single motion to the next page. Disk files were also included to allow the storage of user programs. By December of that year remote usage was tried and by December 1966 continuous 24-hour 7-days-a week service began. This was a gigantic step forward.
We work from around the world simultaneously interacting with the computer servers provided by Wealthy Affiliate. No doubt the servers are kept extremely busy. It’s hard to imagine how busy the servers really are.
Sometimes we even demand more of the servers, right? But thanks to those computer Gurus who have gone before us to pave the way for our ease of use.
Gratitude To Kyle and CarsonThank you Kyle and Carson for using the Amazon c3 and c4 servers, known for their speed, to accommodate our website development and website hosting.
Just What Will Tomorrow Bring?Stay tuned.
Recent Comments
16
Very interesting. Look at where technology has taken us. Just imagine what the future holds.
Many years ago, our best customer contacted us that they won't accept hand written invoices any more. Candy dashed to SR SuperStore and bought a computer, printers, Quick Books, and we started our business on a computer. The customer was Union Pacific Resources oilfield division. Needless to say we were frantic. I told Candy I'd never get on that computer. Now, a day never goes by that I'm not on a computer. Ironic! We have 4 computers , a notebook, and smart phones, WOW.
Like your reminiscing. Thanks so much for sharing. Your stories bring smiles. What an interesting experience.
Ugh OH! You are hooked now.
First of all I must thank you and I salute you for sharing technology information and history it's defiantly add to everyone's experience in WA community.
I enjoy reading your posts.
Have a pleasant day.
See more comments
More interesting information, George! Thanks for sharing!
Jeff
Glad you are enjoying it.
I am, indeed!