I loved this machine. Stuyvesant HS in NYC had one in the late 60’s, and you had to be strategic to get use it. (In the same room was an IBM 1130. Stuyvesant had two programming classes in 1967-68, Fortran IV, and more advanced Fortran IV.)
Later, in 1969, I used the HP9100A desktop calculator. This was a 30kg HP35 with 196 steps of memory, a CRT which showed either 3 steps of the program, or the three rpn registers. It was the successor to the Programma, and was replaced by a series of desk calculators with more memory, LED displays, the ability to control analog plotters, and ultimately BASIC programming.
But the value of the early calculators like the Programma was in teaching efficient algorithm design with limited memory. While this was completely obviated in scientific programming by the late 70’s, I’m sure it served as a first introduction to software engineers writing in assembly language.
That is super cool, I've never heard of acoustic memory before.
Using a transducer a series of acoustic pulses (bits) are inserted into one end of the wire. The pulse travels along the wire at the sound speed and reach the other end where the signal is "read"
2000 bits with 6.5m of wire. You could make a 128GB flash card equivalent with only 416,000 km of wire (a bit over the distance from the Earth to the Moon)
We had one of these in my school in the seventies. I remember using it although I can't recall the technical details now other than it being extremely limited.
My dad was a civil engineer who loved computing so had the luck to be exposed to all his purchases. Memorable for me this Programma 101, an HP-67 (could be programmed with magnetic strips! And had Polish notation :), a couple of Olivetti M24 with GWBasic as OS...
The only thing they say is, The Programma 101 was used in important projects of that time like the Apollo project at NASA... Also: Usually this machine is called "programmable calculator"... As I remember, these were popular (in a much more compact form) through the 70s - 90s.
aj7|4 years ago
Later, in 1969, I used the HP9100A desktop calculator. This was a 30kg HP35 with 196 steps of memory, a CRT which showed either 3 steps of the program, or the three rpn registers. It was the successor to the Programma, and was replaced by a series of desk calculators with more memory, LED displays, the ability to control analog plotters, and ultimately BASIC programming.
But the value of the early calculators like the Programma was in teaching efficient algorithm design with limited memory. While this was completely obviated in scientific programming by the late 70’s, I’m sure it served as a first introduction to software engineers writing in assembly language.
Koshkin|4 years ago
Johnny555|4 years ago
Using a transducer a series of acoustic pulses (bits) are inserted into one end of the wire. The pulse travels along the wire at the sound speed and reach the other end where the signal is "read"
2000 bits with 6.5m of wire. You could make a 128GB flash card equivalent with only 416,000 km of wire (a bit over the distance from the Earth to the Moon)
tonyedgecombe|4 years ago
2dvisio|4 years ago
jonsen|4 years ago
vocram|4 years ago
Koshkin|4 years ago