Computer Historian David Greelish is going to keep us laughing !!!!

David Greelish - Long time computer collector and historian posted on his "The Classic Computing Blog" August 7, 2013 -------- 




I Want to Be a Ballerina . . . Wait . . . I Mean Comedian!

This may be his last computer blog post -- well maybe not.  David had an epiphany experience and is going to  put his effort in a new direction - Comedy.  This is great -- I think you should follow your dream and I bet David will do just great in comedy.

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 Here are a few quotes from his blog.

"This is how I feel, and this is what I've been thinking about. However, I'm not entirely disappointed, and I'm certainly not bitter. I’m excited and enthusiastic! I'm very proud of all of the great stuff I've done in the field, just that it's time for me to leave the "band" and break out on my own! Wait, I think I got away from that epiphany point I had wanted to make earlier (this writing stuff is hard). Here it is then. I have had one other hobby longer than anything else as an adult, and it goes back even further to when I was a child - comedy! Yes, it's a hobby. I think of laughing and humor as one of my hobbies, and it frankly has saved my life and gotten me through hard times. The ability to release stress and escape from the hardships of life through laughter is essential to me, and I feel it is essential to most people, whether they recognize it or not."
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"So, back to that epiphany thing again; why am I not pursuing comedy myself? I love it and I joke all the time, plus I think I know good comedy. Why, because I have been too busy layering on one computer history project after another in hopes of the breakthrough, that's why. I believe that if you're creative, you will never be fulfilled in life unless you create. Again, I'm very happy with what I've created so far, but it's not enough, and I want to now create comedy! I know I will find even more fulfillment there - I know it in my heart"

                               David tells us about his interest and change to comedy.
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Read his whole blog and I think you will agree this is a move that should be a great change for David and as he says " Again though, you may see the occasional blog post or tweet from me, and I would still welcome any chance to be someone's podcast guest to discuss computer history."


                                                                                                David Greelish - About me

David you can't go wrong following you dream to do comedy. I am sure all the computer folks like myself not only wish great success for you - we want to have fun with you so share your comedy with us along the way to fame.
  ^{"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector Historian}  
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"The First Apple" A fresh look at Apple 1 computer pioneers / collectors by Author, Bob Luther - His Book

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NEWS FLASH - Bob Luther is selling his "First Apple 1 Computer"  December 11,2014 at Christie's Auction.  
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"the first Apple" - Bob Luther's - fresh off the press - book is full of interesting and often intriguing interviews of some of the folks associated with the start up of the Apple Computer Company. Bob has reason to believe the Apple 1 computer he purchased at a Sheriff's Sale in 2004 is the first one sold by the Apple Company to a consumer.  He interviewed many techies, historians and collectors of Apple memorabilia to document his Apple 1 computer. This is a great story of his fortunate find and being the winning bidder.  I have found every interview he did in researching the material for his book held my interest - I read most of the book in one setting. I was fascinated to learn all the tidbits of information and sometime intrigue about the various eclectic folks associated  the Apple 1 computer as told in "the first Apple" book.  Send Message CLICK   Like us Click

           Bob Luther tells you in his own voice what inspired him to write his book "the first Apple"

Bob started collecting as a young teenager and before he had a drivers license he purchased 1962 Corvette. When he was able to drive he had 1963 Red Mercedes sedan. He read classified advertising over the years an became a skilled "Picker" of interesting and valuable / collectable stuff.  In 2004 Bob read a small classified advertisement in the Washington Post about a sheriff's sale of items seized from a wealthy dot com entrepreneur who had fled the US. The sheriff was selling a large quantity of very rare and collectable items. The sale was on a very cold Saturday and Bob braved the cold and purchased several rare items including the Apple 1 microcomputer - the Apple 1 eventually resulted  in his writing the  book "the first Apple".  I have read the book and it is a very interesting story about his computer and the interviews he did with collectors and pioneers associated with the Apple company and his Apple 1. 

Here is where you can get more information: I highly reccommend Bob's book as a great read for anyone interested in how the Apple 1 was a major player in the computer revolution.
www.thefirstapple.com
www.facebook/thefirstapple
Here is where you can buy your copy Amazon  Soft Cover book : here is ebook link A nice introduction to Bob Luther as author here.


 Update - Bob talks about shipping books for his Kickstarter program - 8-22-13

LR Bob Luther - David Larsen

 About 2 years ago I received a phone call from Sarah Hutton - a research intern at that time for Bob. She had many good questions for me as the owner of several Apple 1 Computers. About one year ago Bob came to Floyd, Virginia for a visit and to interview me about our Apple 1 experiences. I am delighted that the interview ended up in the  book as the former Christmas Tree Grower in Southwest Virginia.  

my favorite reading place

I have been associated with computers for more than 50 years and was totally engaged during the first 30 years of the microcomputer revolution while teaching at Virginia Tech.  I continue to this day as a serious collector and historian of microcomputer memorabilia. I have learned a host of new and interesting stories  from Bob's book - Anyone with an interest in computer history and specially about Apple 1 computers will find this book keeping them up at night well past regular bed time.
"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector Historian

Vintage Computer 1958 Transistor Logic - Autonetics Recomp

Recomp

 Recently I was working in our computer museum warehouse and brought out a computer made in 1958 with transistor logic. It is an Autonetics Recomp 501 digital computer. This looks like an attempt by Autonetics to make a commercial computer from the cards and designs used in the Minuteman 1 ICBM guidance computer. Not many of these computers were made and this one is serial number 003. I located one additional Recomp computer in a California museum.  These computers had a very limited success commercially  however it sure is an interesting piece of hardware - they called it a portable office computer.  You will enjoy the photos.
Update 10-26-14 I think the Recomp 501 was first then the Minuteman 1 computer.
This really brings back some old memories of my college days. I worked at Autonetics during the summer of 1959 testing the Minuteman 1 computer - it is a small world. This has to be about the first transistor logic digital computer. The transistor was invented in 1947 and first used commercially in about 1955 or 56. 

Paragraph below is  from Wikipedia  .

 Autonetics built a portable office computer and ranging radar for trainers and fighters and was responsible for the guidance and control system for the Boeing-built Minuteman missiles. The division ultimately produced the Monica family of microcomputers, the D-17B Minuteman I computer, and the D-37B ^[4] and D-37C Minuteman II computer, in which microminiaturization reduced weight by two-thirds. Autonetics also developed and tested flight programs for the D37D Minuteman III computer.

 I don't see much information about the Recomp and would like to hear from anyone who used one or has any stories to tell about this computer. Do you know where I could obtain a Minuteman 1 computer ?

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These photo's are my computer - See additional  interesting views online with the link below these photo's.

  Photo 1
The LOGO name plate                  



                               
                                      Photo 2

Right wing with transistor modules - these swing out and you can get at all the wiring from the back side - see photo 5 for wiring view.

Photo 3
Left wing with transistor modules - this also swings out for complete access.



Photo 4
Drum memory - looks like the all the registers as well as the data are on this form of memory - ie Accumulator - the instructions were executed serially so this is a very slow computer.


Photo 5
All the wiring in the connecting cables is white and soldered point to point. Very
labor intense to make in those days. Looks like trouble shooting this would be a challenge.



Photo 6
Here you can see a close up of the wiring to the card connectors. A cold solder joint could be a hard problem to find.



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Here are some really good photos on line of an Autonetics Recomp (CLICK) - when you go to the first photo click on the photo to see index of more views. This is nice. If you search around this site some you can also find PDF files of the manuals. Looks like complete documentation on line for this old computer.



Tomorrow morning I am going to the Roanoke Virginia Hamfest and sell some of my extra amateur radio equipment. I am trying to be less  of a hoarder of  radios from my 60 years as an amateur radio operator. Tomorrow afternoon my wife -Gaynell - & I are going to a big fish fry at a cousin's place on the James River.  Should be a fun weekend.
"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector / Historian

Vintage Computers - WVTF Public Radio & why we call our museum "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum"

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A good question came up during an interview with me by  Robbie Harris, (New River Valley Bureau Chief, WVTF / RADIO IQ / Virginia Public Radio) about our museum collection -- Why do we call our museum the  "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum" ?

Here is the interview as it played on WVTF take a look/listen CLICK
Here is the short answer:

The reason I call our museum  "The Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum"  is because of the "Bugbooks" . About 1974 I was part of a team that produced these books. The first two Bugbooks were written and published by Professor Rony and I.  I named the books bugbooks because the small digital integrated circuit looked like a bug with its legs.  Professor Rony typed the manuscripts and we self published the first few printings of the "Bugbooks" .  www.bugbookcomputermuseum.com  These books were the start of a book series called "The Blacksburg Continuing Education Series" .  The books covered various topics of digital electronics, computers and software. Dr. John Titus and Dr. Chris Titus joined the group and became important members of our team.  During the period 1974 to 1984 about 75 books were published with a circulation of over 1 million copies.  Our team hired 31 other authors to help write books in the series. In addition to the books our team designed several computers and other teaching / engineering aids that were sold world wide. John Titus was the computer designer and I designed the digital engineering  / teaching hardware aids.  Many engineers, technicians and  electronic hobbyist of the late 70's and 80s used  these books and hardware.  All the books and hardware are on display in our museum. A reoccurring comment from  folks visiting the museum is - I  learned digital electronics from the "Bugbooks". The Bugbook story involves many relationships, interesting events and eclectic people.  It is my  intent to get the details of these adventures in writing -- soon I hope.

The Bugbooks covered many electronic/digital topics - here is the cover to a private label publication of one of the "Bugbooks" our group did for the  Radio Shack Corporation.







Here is the interview Robbie Harris played on Public Radio about our museum 7-29-13

The whole story associated with the "Bugbooks" is fascinating and it took us down many paths during our 31 years of teaching at Virginia Tech (VT). A few topics included along the journey included teaching electronics & automation at VT and hundreds of microcomputer workshops in various countries, book publishing, designing electronic teaching hardware, working with dozens of eclectic folks, working with the many companies that sold our books & hardware - the list gets long and includes some interesting litigation that is always present in complex relationships.
"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector / Historian