(no subject)

[kokosbolla.livejournal.com]

Comments

[erik]

Here's how big a geek I am:
I once owned a B 200.

[misstia]

did it have it's own room?

[erik]

It lived in the garage. I had a later model than that one pictured. Mine was the size of a very large executive desk, plus the two disk drives; the fixed disk drive (now we call these "hard disks") which was the size of a large dorm fridge, and the smsaller (size of a small dorm fridge) removable media drive, which took 18" metal disks in carriers the size of pizza boxes.

[sphelx.livejournal.com]

What's the processing power on that thing? :D

[erik]

It was not a powerhouse.

If I remember aright the removable disks stored something on the order of 1mb each. And they weighed about 5lbs each. The fixed disk was bigger. 10mb or so I think.

[sphelx.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, all them megabytes :D

[erik]

Yes. Mega. With an "M". Ten megabytes. On one disk. You could never fill that much space.

[salenelle.livejournal.com]

what did you used to do with it? For what did you use it?

[erik]

I got it for free from a doctor's office that had used it for billing. They upgraded to a 3B2. (ATT Unix box; size of a largeish PC).

Really, I just started it up to see it run and fiddled around a little learning Unix on it. I had this dream of running a BBS off it, but never got around to it. Then I moved away and it stayed where it was: in my grandmother's garage. This was all in the mid-80s.
It made a really impressive whooshing whirring noise as those pounds of aluminum spun up and all the fans got going.

[salenelle.livejournal.com]

I bet it had a grand mad scientist feel to it!

[erik]

Indeed yes. Like I was at NASA or something. The only input was the keyboard built into the desk, and the only output was the printer likewise built into the desk.

[reid.livejournal.com]

what happened to it?

[erik]

It stayed in my grandmother's garage when I moved out of my grandmother's attic. Years later there was a fire at my grandmother's house, and the garage space was needed to store things while the house was restored. The B200 was thrown away to make space for the antique furniture and art.

[reid.livejournal.com]

FOOLS!

[tvini.livejournal.com]

Angry young computer WILL EAT YOU!!!!

[inkyblue2.livejournal.com]

this is my favorite post ever. you win!

[janenx01.livejournal.com]

"See a Burroughs computer in action, Election Night, ABC-TC."

I'm an angry young computer, AND I VOTE.

[salenelle.livejournal.com]

I LOVE these old computer ads. We've come a long way, baby!

[tanwen.livejournal.com]

What was that movie with Erik Braeden & that computer, Colossus? The Forbin Project?

[trailrtrsh-zine.livejournal.com]

My father worked for Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) beginning in 1969 until the 1980's. He was a programmer and project manager. Believe it or not, his name is Hal.