Gordon Bell Vanguard, San Jose 22 February 2012

1. The Evolution to the Computer History Museum… Out of the Closethttp://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/tcmwebpage/outoftheclosetv2.3.pdfdescribes the evolution of The Computer Museum to the Computer History Museum Gordon Bell Vanguard, San Jose 22 February 2012

2. Outline • Background: History of the museums. • On collecting artifacts and stories… Just before it is put in the junque and the pioneer’s decease.The 15 pioneers and pioneer computers • Three stories about the artifacts • Tour: Alcoves, Docents, and Mona Lisa's

4. Computer Structures Book • Bell and Newell, 1971 • A “Linnaean” taxonomy for computer types • PMS for Processor-Memory-Switch: A functional notation and structure for naming and describing all information processing systems including computers, networks, etc.

5. Six Phases: Serendipity“On building a Museum, time is your friend. Just wait.” gbell“Chance Favors the Prepared Mind” – Pasteur • Concept and seed: Collectors and Preservers (xxx -1975)Founded on collecting: Smithsonian was inadequate. Science & Deutsches Museums.Belief that we could build the world’s best Computer Museum. • Alpha: The Museum in a Closet Project, Digital (1975) • Beta: The Digital Computer Museum, Digital (1979-1984)Maurice Wilkes Opening Lecture, followed by 15 Pioneers

6. The Digital Computer Museum, Marlboro MA6,000 sq. ft. of exhibits

7. The Digital Computer MuseumFive founding principles from 1983 Report • Historical preservation. “To that end, the P,M,S notation forms the basis of the taxonomy determining the extent of the kingdom of computing and providing guidelines for exhibits.” • A lecture series for the computing pioneers and contributors to record their stories. “Thus, we are giving the podium to people who can give first-hand biographies of machines, programs and languages they have known.” • “The focal point of the Museum is the machines themselves.” Frank Oppenheimer stated: "Well-engineered machines speak eloquently …. Museum designers can't equal them" • A main “audience of computer scientists, programmers, history buffs, and those with a curiosity about computer evolution” • “Broad-based involvement by maintaining a working relationship between the enthusiastic volunteers, donors of artifacts, patrons, students, scholars and a staff that can keep stirring the soup”.

8. The Computer Museum Report, Summer 1983

9. First 15 of the 45 Marlboro lecturesItalics denote artifact acquisitionVIDEO CAPTURE Was ESSENTIAL… We did too few…. • Maurice Wilkes: The Design and Use of EDSAC, Sept. 24th, 1979 • George Stibitz The Development, Design and Use of the Bells Labs Relay Calculators, May 8th, 1980 … • Jay Forrester: The Design Environment and Innovations of Project Whirlwind June 2nd, 1980 • John Vincent Atanasoff: The Forces the Led to the Design of ABC,the Atanasoff-Berry Electronic Computer November 11th, 1980 • Konrad Zuse: Designing and Developing the Z1-Z4 March 4th, 1981 • James Wilkinson: The Design and Use of the Pilot Ace April 14th, 1981 • John Brainerd: Development of the ENIAC Project June 25th, 1981 • David Edwards: The Evolution of the Early Manchester Machines Sept. 9th, 1981 • Tommy H. Flowers: Design and Use of Colossus October 15th, 1981 • Arthur Burks: The Origin of the Stored Program February 18th, 1982 • Harry Huskey: From Pilot Ace to G-15 November 18th, 1982 • Grace Hopper, The Harvard Mark I. April 14th, 1983 • Donald Davies: Early History of Cipher Machines April 24th, 1983 • Robert V.D. Campbell on the Harvard Mark I-IV October 23rd, 1983 • J. Presper Eckert: ENIAC’s 40th Birthday February 13th, 1986 (at Boston)

10. Artifacts in the Marlboro Exhibit Data-operation components e.g. arithmetic units, logic circuitry, a valve from Manchester Mark I; Data-operations aka calculators e.g. abaci, slide rules, printed tables, sectors and other Navigational instruments, the Lehmer Number Sieves, a Hollerith system replica, a Napier’s Bones, a Pascaline replica, Hillis’sTinker Toy Computer; Transducerse.g. telegraphy equipment, typewriters (subsequently discontinued), light pen, plotters; Memoriese.g. Atanasoff capacitor store drum, core memories, delay lines, drums, handbooks, player piano disk, tapes, Williams tube. Computers e.g. Brigham Young U. Stretch. Bendix G-15, Burroughs ILLIAC IV, CDC 160 and 6600, Data General Nova, DEC PDP-1,5,7, 8, 11 (3 models), 12, Fairchild Symbol pioneered dual in-line IC, Honeywell ARPA IMP, IBM 1130, 1620, 7030 (Stretch), and 360/195 console, LGP-30, Lincoln Laboratory LINC and TX-0, MITS Altair, MIT Whirlwind, NASA Apollo Guidance Computer, Philco 212, Raytheon Polaris Guidance Computer, RR Solid State 80, Siemens 2002, Sperry Univac NTDS (Seymour Cray design), TI Advanced Scientific Computer, Viatron System 21, and Xerox Alto. Working: restored TX-0, PDP-1, and Marlboro’s VAX computer installation.

11. The Digital Computer Museum Board • 18 member board. Six from DEC including Olsen and Bell • Charlie Bachman, inventor of the Integrated Data Store • Harvey Cragon, designed TI Advanced Scientific Computer • Bob Everett, CEO of MITRE Corp. • Les Hogan, CEO, Fairchild • John Lacey, CDC • Pat McGovern, founder, ComputerWorld • George Michael, Livermore Computer Scientist • Bob Noyce, the inventor of the IC and Intel founder • Brian Randell of the University of Newcastle • Mike Spock, Founder and Director of the Boston Children’s Museum • Erwin Tomash of the Babbage Institute • Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas

13. Six Phases: Serendipity“On building a Museum, time is your friend. Just wait.” gbell“Chance Favors the Prepared Mind” – Pasteur • Concept and seed: Collectors and Preservers (xxx -1975)Founded on collecting: Smithsonian was inadequate. Science & Deutsches Museums.Belief that we could build the world’s best Computer Museum. • Alpha: The Museum in a Closet Project, Digital (1975) • Beta: The Digital Computer Museum, Digital (1979-1984)Maurice Wilkes Opening Lecture, followed by 15 Pioneers • Going Public I: The Computer Museum, Boston (1984-1999)Bob Noyce pre-opening lecture; J. Prespert Eckert Opened

14. The Computer Museum, Boston 1984 Annual Attendance: 135,000 Collection of over 500 of “first and early PCs” Pioneer lectures serie > Industry breakfast series Dozen major exhibits e.g. Walk Through Computer Computer Clubhouse w/MIT It didn’t die

15. The Computer Museum Boston, 13 Nov. 1984 12,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Walk-through Computer Robot Gallery, Timeline Games, Networks, Children’s Software Virtual Fish tank

16. Six Phases: Serendipity“On building a Museum, time is your friend. Just wait.” gbell“Chance Favors the Prepared Mind” – Pasteur • Concept and seed: Collectors and Preservers (xxx -1975)Founded on collecting: Smithsonian was inadequate. Science & Deutsches Museums.Belief that we could build the world’s best Computer Museum. • Alpha: The Museum in a Closet Project, Digital (1975) • Beta: The Digital Computer Museum, Digital (1979-1984)Maurice Wilkes Opening Lecture, followed by 15 Pioneers • Going Public I: The Computer Museum, Boston (1984-1999)Bob Noyce pre-opening lecture; J. Prespert Eckert Opened • The Computer Museum Board tires & decides to fold. • Acquisition: Boston Museum of Science July 1999 acquires cash, name, and a few board members; and • Spinout: Artifacts move to Silicon Valley, formingThe Computer Museum History Center, Moffett Field, CA (1995-2000)… Plan a building for a Silicon Valley Center. Sell High! (pre-.com, get commitments for $55M)

17. The Computer Museum History Center1996-2002 Moffett Field, CA

18. Six Phases: Serendipity“On building a Museum, time is your friend. Just wait.” gbell“Chance Favors the Prepared Mind” – Pasteur • Concept and seed: Collectors and Preservers (xxx -1975)Founded on collecting: Smithsonian was inadequate. Science & Deutsches Museums.Belief that we could build the world’s best Computer Museum. • Alpha: The Museum in a Closet Project, Digital (1975) • Beta: The Digital Computer Museum, Digital (1979-1984)Maurice Wilkes Opening Lecture, followed by 15 Pioneers • Going Public I: The Computer Museum, Boston (1984-1999)Bob Noyce pre-opening lecture; J. Prespert Eckert Opened • Acquisition: Boston Museum of Science July 1999; and Spinout: The Computer Museum History Center, Moffett Field, CA (1995-2000)… Plan a building for a Silicon Valley Center. Sell High! (pre-.com, get commitments for $55M) • Going Public II: The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, (2000- present) 2002: get SGI building. Buy Low! (Get 3 x the building at 1/3rd the cost)January 10, 2011 R|Evolution Timeline Opens

19. Computer History Museum, 2002119,000 sq. ft.

20. Yosemite Warehouse, 2007 25,000 sq. ft. warehouse Purchased for the purpose of storing the Museum’s Collection. Located in Milpitas, CA

21. Web Youtube KQED/NPR Education outreach The Computer Museum Report, Summer 1983

22. Ike Nassi Dally, Smarr Federico Faggin Len Shustek, Chairman Feigenbaum, Lenat Dave Patterson Dave Reed Negroponte, Hawley Peter Cochrane Alan Kay John Gustafson Chuck Thacker Gordon Bell Dubinsky, Culler Kleinrock, Lucky John Hollar, CEO Babbage DE2 Working Exhibit Tim Robinson The Computer History Museum R|Evolution Exhibit, 25,000 sq. ft.10 January 2011

23. Three stories • John Vincent Atanasoff and the ABC: How JVA disinvented the computer and made the recipe open source • Lee Boysel’s company, Four Phase Systems: How one demo was able to thwart the work of 100s of lawyers and make the microprocessor royalty-free • Johnniac: How one museum’s trash became a Computer History Museum treasure

24. Story of the ABCAtanasoff-Berry Computer The “first” electronic digital computer…

25. What Does It Mean to be the First Computer? An Historian’s View Michael R. Williams Served as curator at Computer History Museum

26. Historians seldom use the word “first” • Project xxxxx was the first mechanical, analog, automatic, non-programmable, fully operational, calculating machine available in Northwest Washington. • Use enough adjectives and you can usually be sure that whatever you create can be a “first”

27. Firstelectronic machines • ENIAC (1944)“First large scale, general purpose, digital, electronic, calculating machine” • Military project • 17,000 vacuum tubes • Built at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania

28. First electronic machines • The ABC is known as“The First Electronic Digital Computer” • Designation given in 1973 by a US judge in a patent lawsuit (overturned ENIAC patent) • Needs and views of patent lawyers are different from those of historians

29. Who gets credit? The main thing that historians will do is: Document the situation but NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION!

30. But who owns the computer? ENIAC Rand Kardex 1927 1950 1952 1966 IBM Sues! 1955 ENIAC patent filed 1957, issued 1964

31. Uh-oh: Another Unknown Pioneer Atanasoff - Berry Computer (1939-1942) The ABC was the “disinvention” of the computer” – Gordon Bell

32. ABC Reconstruction: It worked!DOE Ames Lab. Led by John Gustafson

33. The first Microprocessor…make that the “first commercially available” i.e. sold as a component, microprocessor • 1971 Intel establishes the market • 1995 TI asserts its patents for the invention of the microprocessor, cross licensed to Intel • Lee Boysel prepares to demo the Four Phase single processor chip c1969. TI folds.

34. The First Microprocessor:The microprocessor’s disinvention“One demo trumps a thousand lawyers”--Bell • 1969 Four Phase Systems ships a byte sliced microprocessor!Board member Bob Noyce acts to interest Intel in approach. • 1971 Intel 4004 establishes the market for component micros • 1995 TI asserts its patents for the invention of the microprocessor, cross licensed to Intel • Lee Boysel prepares to demo the Four Phase single processor c1969 running as a one chip micro at TI versus Everybody trial • TI folds Friday before the trial, at “demo threat”Four Phase story and its “first” dis-invention http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/282/2291 Lee Boysel story as told by Bell • Intel now, usually claims “the 4004 is the first commercially available microprocessor sold as a component”

36. From The Dump: Johnniac

37. Ike Nassi Dally, Smarr Federico Faggin Len Shustek, Chairman Feigenbaum, Lenat Dave Patterson Dave Reed Negroponte, Hawley Peter Cochrane Alan Kay John Gustafson Chuck Thacker Gordon Bell Dubinsky, Culler Kleinrock, Lucky John Hollar, CEO Babbage DE2 Working Exhibit Tim Robinson The Computer History Museum R|Evolution Exhibit, 25,000 sq. ft.10 January 2011

38. The Mona Lisa’s Industrial seminals (18) • ENIAC, JOHNNIAC, UNIVAC • LINC … first PC • PDP-1 “Spacewar”, PDP-8 • IBM System/360 • ARPA IMP • PC Collection: Apple 1..MAC, IBM PC… another 500+ • Cray’s (RR, LC, 6600, Cray 1,2) • Cal Tech Cosmic Cube Cluster • Google Search Engine One of a kind (12) • Napier’s Bones • Jacquard Loom model • Pascalinereplica • Babbage DE2 Reconstruction • Hollerith replica • ABC Reconstruction • Core Memory #1 • IBM RAMAC #1, 5 MB Disk • Sqee; SRI Shakey robot • Four Phase “The 1st micro” • Xerox PARC Alto,…Ethernet • IBM DeepBlue Chess

41. Napier’s Bones c1700

42. Jacquard Loom Model &Weaving of Inventor

43. Pascaline ReplicaArithomometer

44. Photo: Doron Swade It works! Difference Engine No. 2

46. Hollerith Solves the Census problem(RobetoGuatelli, Replica_

47. An Enigma “collected” for TCM opening

48. Edmund C. Berkeley’s Squee Robot

49. Norden Bombsight

50. Manchester Mark I, Williams Tube