From: nospam@bucket.bit () Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: A Computer In the Basement? Date: 6 Jan 1998 22:29:47 GMT Organization: Send spam to the bit bucket... Lines: 77 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: unix3.netaxs.com X-No-Archive: Yes X-Newsreader: slrn (0.9.4.3 UNIX) Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!news.algonet.se!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-xfer.netaxs.com!netaxs.com!nospam I found this article while going through some old magazines, the following are a few extracts. Anyone know more about this machine? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POPULAR MECHANICS, APRIL 1968, Page 77. A COMPUTER IN THE BASEMENT? [Photo caption: Homemade programmer's desk contains keyboard, page printer, paper tape punch, and paper tape reader] There have been many predictions that the home of tomorrow will be radically different from the home of today, because it will be run by a computer. But no one knew precisely what a computer could do in the home until Jim and Ruth Sutherland of Pittsburgh, PA, designed, built, and programmed "ECHO IV." ECHO means Electronic Computing Home Operator, and building it has been a family affair. Jim is a computer-systems design engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corp., and his wife, Ruth, is a home economist. Their home-computer venture began two years ago when, as a hobby, Jim started buying obsolete computer parts and sketching logic circuit diagrams... [Photo caption: ...Computer takes about 20 square feet of basement floor space] ....Simple keyboard entry and printer output routines were the first ECHO programs the Sutherlands wrote. These were followed by the paper tape input and paper tape punching routines. Subsequently, these programs allowed other, more complicated programs to be entered into the computer, verified on the printer, and stored permanently on paper tape... [Photo caption: Input-output units are made from an electric typewriter keyboard and a surplus teletype printer.] ....As more jobs are loaded into ECHO, its core memory storage capacity of 8192 words may be exceeded, and that's when Jim will begin building some magnetic-tape auxiliary bulk memory units. The computer understands 18 commands -- or machine-language instructions -- which can be arranged into computer programs and stored in memory for future use... ....One important task which ECHO performs reliably is the updating of the hour portion of binary-coded decimal clock displays found in four different rooms of the Sutherland home. Jim designed and built the timepieces several years ago, and even though the clocks have no hands, the children learned to tell time by them before they understood ordinary clocks... ....Ruth believes the kitchen is where the computer will really perform well and save time in routine jobs. Recipes will be increased or decreased proportionately to provide any number of servings, with the necessary shopping list printed out automatically... ....ECHO provides the Sutherlands with a proving ground for experimental family games... As television displays are added to the system, many new games involving logic and strategy will provide family entertainment. Recently Jim connected his color TV to a controller that will eventually regulate the TV schedule. For instance, on a school night, the children might have to answer correctly some key questions via the keyboard before ECHO will switch on the set. The antenna rotator will also be controlled by ECHO to insure proper alignment of the antenna with the corresponding channel number entered through a control keyboard. This way, one manual entry directs both set and antenna to the desired channel... ...."Computers are capable of being programmed to perform important household tasks today, but when we look ahead 20 years, even our wildest expectations will probably seem pale when compared to what ECHO, 1987 version, may be doing for us..." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bob Alpert * Non-spam email may be sent to balpert "at" netaxs.com. | | http://www.netaxs.com/~balpert * "Point and click makes me sick!" | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: thvv@best.com (Tom Van Vleck) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: A Computer In the Basement? Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 20:07:54 -0800 Organization: Multicians Lines: 3 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: thvv.vip.best.com X-Trace: 884146087 14164 (none) 206.86.0.12 X-newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.2.2 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.erols.net!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!news1.best.com!nntp2.ba.best.com!thvv.vip.best.com!user I got my start in computing in a suburban basement in the Chicago area in the late 50s. See http://www.best.com/~thvv/boyd.html for a description, including press coverage.