This is a small page in honor of some of the computers I've worked with over the years. At one point in time, I had the idea to acquire a working model of each of these. I still actually have a few, but time and space restraits make using and maintaining the real thing tough, so I've gone the virtual route -- pictures and emulation.
Here is a list of machines that I spent significant time on through the years. They are presented here in approximate chronological order (some deviations).
If applicable, I give some information about the current state of the machines I still have or what I'm using for emulation.
Thanks to OLD-COMPUTERS.COM for supplying many of the images found on this page. It is a great resource for anyone interested in old computers.
I first got access to a Model I at home. My father bought one early on, I guess around 1977-78. Initially we just had the monitor and keyboard/computer, but the EI extended interface, 2 5 1/4" drives, and other periphrials soon followed. I wrote some early BASIC programs on this machine, including a lottery ticket number generator (dreaming early on of ways to not need to work) and attempts at some of graphic designs.
I re-encountered the Model I and was introduced to the Model II when in high
school. I took a BASIC programming class in the 9th grade. In the lab were 3
LA36 teletypes, 2 Model II's, and about 8 or 9 Model I machines. The Model IIs
were at a premium since they had persistent storage and you could actually
save you assignment. The Model Is had no storage, not even cassette or
printer (at least you could get a hard copy from the LA36 connected to a DEC
PDP-10 -- more later), so you had to get everything typed in and debugged before
class was over and have the teacher check it out for you to get credit or you
would need to start from scratch next class. Worse, it was not uncommon to
have someone walk up to your machine and quickly type "NEW", punking you while
were getting the teacher. To combat this, you would need to team up with a
friend and agree to watch each others' backs to prevent code vaporization.
I got in trouble with the Model II. When I stumbled upon the fact that you could password protect the data files, my friend Scott and I would write unflattering messages about our teacher in some files and then leave them for friends of ours in a later period class to read and reply to. It was primitive texting! Unfortunately the teacher caught wind of it, and cracked our friend into giving him the password. He didn't take to kindly to some of what was written, even though it was mostly just sophmoric jokes. He got his revenge later. He gave me a C.
I still have my Dad's Model I, although the drives are hosed now. I can still boot up the machine and re-write what was probably my first program:
10 PRINT "HELLO" 20 GOTO 10
I use xtrs for TRS-80 emulation.
OK, a terminal not a computer, but this was my first experience with a device
that allowed me access to a computer, so it is here. Three of these were lined
up in the corner of my 7th grade math class at with Mrs. Newton at Tewksbury
Junior High School (now the
Wynn Middle School
circa 1980-1981. These were connected to systems running at
Shawsheen Tech in Billerica. Based
on an email from Mike "Old Man" Sullivan (director of computer services at
Shawsheen Tech in 2007), my best guess is that I was working on a
DECSYSTEM-20
DEC
PDP-10 computer running the
TOPS-20 operating system.
We wrote a lot of English-to-metric conversion programs in
BASIC back then:
convert farenheit to celcius, pounds to kilograms, etc. Also a lot of
ENTER THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN? 1968 YOU ARE 13 YEARS OLD!I guess they were trying to trick us into learning
how to apply math by bribing us with computer time.
I continued working my way through the Tandy line of products while in High
School. After BASIC, I took a
FORTRAN-77 class the following year. The school had built a new science
with with computer lab and the computers were updated. I remember thinking how
sleek the Model IV looked compared to the other models. And, everything
had floppy drives -- mass storage remains a beautiful thing to this day!
This was probably also my first encounter with the evil empire: the FORTRAN
compiler we were using was by a company named MicroSoft.
I use xtrs for TRS-80 emulation.
This was the first computer of my very own. My father bought it for me for Christmas. I think he was getting sick of me hogging the TRS-80. The keyboard sucked, but this machine had nice colors and sounds -- and a joystick! Still no drives, I was using a cassette player for storage. I absolutley loved Star Raiders and was convinced that with this game, the apex of game computing had been achieved and there was no reason to learn more code! I still did dabble some with Atari BASIC, but there was only so much time between sessions of Star Raiders, Submarine Commander, Missle Command, Asteroids, Zork I and Thorne-EMI's Ice Hockey.
I also got a 300 baud modem for this machine and started to hang out intermittently on some of the local BBS's
I still have my original Atari 400, but it has what appears to be a heat problem now, and locks up after a few minutes of use once it gets warm.
I use Atari800 for Atari emulation.
Another terminal entry, but I did spend quite a bit of time on this device logged into some of the more popular BBS systems in eastern Mass at the time. This was an ADM3A+, not the typical 2 tone blue, but the tan/gray. This was some sort of OEM deal, as it had a Zilog logo on the front.
Here is some info I dug up on NiteLite, which was probably my most-visited on-line destination.
508.663.4221 Billerica, MA Nite-Lite (1983-1989) Paul Swanson Nite-Lite
- 1983
- Nite-Lite B.B.S. goes on the air. (Was it running A.M.I.S. ?) It is called Nite-Lite because the computer monitor casts an eerie glow about the room.
- 1984
- Paul Swanson writes his own BBS hosting software for the ATARI 6502 8-bit computer. He names it Nite-Lite. The Nite-Lite BBS hosting software goes on to be the most successful commercial BBS software ever written for the ATARI 6502 8-bit computer.
- 1989
- Nite-Lite BBS puts in a second line at 508-663-2885. (MichTron boards eventually take the place of all of the ATARI Nite-Lite boards.) - Winston Smith
I still have this terminal.
Being ubiquitious, I used all shapes and sizes of Apple II and compatibles in
lots of different locations. While most of the systems in High School were Tandy,
there were 3 Apple IIs sort of hidden in the library that we used to get time on.
I mostly used Franklin's for anything Apple related since my father was an
authorized reseller for them and I had easy access to them.
Spent alot of time hacking Apple and Integer BASIC, and playing a ridiculous
amount of EA One on One Basketball with Dr. J and Larry Bird. Also
played alot of Olympic Decathalon, Choplifter, Triad, Zork, Minitman,
Karateka
A nice blend for work or play, since the Franklin keyboard was much nicer than my Atari 400 and I had disk drives and a printer for the Franklin.
I still have a II+, a few IIe systems, a IIc (no power adapter), a Franklin Ace 1000 (powers up but won't boot) and 1200 (no original drives) and a Franklin 2200 which works.
I use AppleWin and KEGS for Apple emulation
My father was an authorized reseller of Columbia Data Products at ONLINE COMPUTERS in Andover, MA.
Instead of Apple and IBM, ONLINE sold primarily Franklin (see above) and Columbia.
This was my first exposure to systems based on Intel an Intel CPU.
I use DOSBox for old PC emulation.
My first substantial experience with CP/M came on this box. I used it heavily in high-school, especially for writing papers since it was a nice system for using WordStar, especially with its integrated keyboard.
The machine also came bundled with DR Graph, CBASIC, and Multiplan. It is interesting in that its main CPU is a Z80, but it also uses a 6502 as a graphics processor, so you get two of the most popular early 8-bit CPUs in one box.
I still own one of these. It runs, but the monitor suffers from some jitter.
I use M.E.S.S. for emulation.
The last of the terminals on the list.
I logged a good amount of time on these at University of Lowell, connected up to various VAXen, running both VMS and Ultrix. I never got to actually touch or see the actual VAX mind you, so the VT100 is present to represent.
This terminal provided my first exposure to the internet and email. Also work with
I am not sure of the exact systems I was working on at the time, but I went back for a night class a couple years after graduation and the VAX cluster at the time consisted of a 6610 with 24 VUP's and 128MB RAM and a 6420 with 2 processors, 12 VUP's and 96MB RAM. They were running VMS 5.5-1. The Ultrix boxes were running Ultrix-32 v3.1
I use simh running OpenVMS 7.3 to simulate VAX/VMS.
Extremely useful information for setting up VMS on simh.
I first started using Macs while at the University of Lowell. Initially I would use them to telnet into the VAXen when all of the VT100 terminals were occupied. Other than that, they were fun to play Risk on.
I use Basilisk II for Mac emulation on a PC, although I still have a few real models hanging around.
This is where the page ends. Everything from here on out starts
to get a bit redundant. Mostly x86 commodity hardware (IBM, Gateway, DELL)
running DOS (earlier) or some flavor of Microsoft Windows (later) using either
C or a descendant like C++, Java, or C#. There was some work embedded Linux
blade servers running on MIPS processors while working on the
Unity ISIS product at
Avid Technology and on-again-off-again with
SQL,
Perl,
Python,
and JavaScript
for various subtasks.
Mostly used these IBM devices at Tranti Systems, a computerized point-of-sale company that specialized in servicing the fast food market.
Tranti produced a timeclock which was built using the 5140 Convertible enclosed in a custom case.
Also used Lotus 1-2-3 1A and MultiMate for DOS and also Borland Paradox 3.5 for some database work.