[SIGCIS-Members] Silicon City

[Evan Koblentz]

Sounds like I am partially mistaken about Bell Labs.

I was thinking of the 1940s and later.

On Dec 19, 2015, "Ceruzzi, Paul" <CeruzziP at si.edu> wrote:
>George Stibitz worked at he West St. Bell Labs building. That's where
>he developed the "Complex  Number Computer." If I am not mistaken the
>new "High Line" park terminates at the old building--originally the
>railroad tracks went through the building but apparently it was bricked
>up later on. If there are any New York historians on the list I'd love
>to know.   Legend has it that the legendary M-9 Gun Director--an analog
>computer--was conceived while a Bell Labs engineer was crossing the
>Hudson on a ferry from Hoboken to West St. Do I have that right or am I
>mixing that up with someone else?
>
>If you haven't visited the High Line you should--a fantastic park.
>
>Paul Ceruzzi
>________________________________
>From: Members [members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org] on behalf of Kim Tracy
>[tracy at cs.stanford.edu]
>Sent: Friday, December 18, 2015 2:09 PM
>To: Evan Koblentz
>Cc: members at SIGCIS.org
>Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Silicon City
>
>Bell Labs did start in 1925 in NYC on West Street as part of Western
>Electric and moved to Murray Hill, NJ in the early 1940s.  A number of
>folks that I worked with started at the West Street location.  So, some
>of the computing work was done there but much more after that in NJ.
>
>--Kim
>
>
>--Kim Tracy
>tracy at cs.stanford.edu<mailto:tracy at cs.stanford.edu>
>
>On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 1:57 PM, Evan Koblentz
><evan at snarc.net<mailto:evan at snarc.net>> wrote:
>Would also like to encourage others to go, perhaps most especially to
>start a conversation about how we can imagine computer histories. I
>attended yesterday with a colleague and left feeling dismayed--the
>sticky fingers of IBM (a major donor for the exhibit) appeared to be
>all
>over it (at one point I openly laughed at some wall text that described
>Apple as a "plucky startup" but insisting IBM /really/ drove the tech
>revolution). There are a few special, very sincere parts--the 1964
>Worlds Fair dome, the focus on NYC's role in electronic art and music
>(Cage, Bell Labs, etc) but otherwise reads like the history of
>computing
>told through the history of IBM--which feels strange given that there's
>no special effort to frame IBM as aregionalist /company.
>
>Would love to stoke a conversation, even off list, about other's
>impressions...feel free to drop me an email.
>
>
>I'm planning to go soon.
>
>NYHS asked for my assistance several months ago. I provided a lot of
>feedback about NY computer history beyond Big Blue. They said I'd be
>credited as a consultant, so I am disappointed to hear that the
>exhibition is basically just an IBM gig.
>
>I hope that didn't claim Bell Labs as a NY entity. Statue of Liberty is
>in * New Jersey * waters, the "New York" Giants and Jets both play in
>New Jersey, now Bell Labs? Note to myself .... go see the exhibit
>firsthand before getting judgmental. :)
>
>In 1966 -- a decade * before * IBM started telling customers that real
>computers are made out of metal by east coast corporations, not plastic
>by west coast hippies -- Steven Grey began publishing the "Amateur
>Computer Society" newsletter from his home in Manhattan. This was
>before the Mother of All Demos, Xerox PARC, and the People's Computer
>Company.
>
>Upon starting his newsletter, Gray contacted IBM to see about funding.
>IBM replied with a very nice letter saying no. The letter is signed by
>Thomas Watson Jr. -- there are copies online, but the original is at
>the (Wall, N.J.) InfoAge Science Center where I run the computer wing.
>
>Tens years later, when Creative Computing, Byte, DDJ, etc. all emerged,
>and the photocopied ACS newsletter closed, IBM invited Gray to lecture
>about this "new" idea of microcomputing -- in the Thomas Watson
>Research Center.
>
>I'm just saying. :)
>
>
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