The IT History Society (www.IThistory.org) passes another milestone with the
creation of the IT information technology software database. This
international database will eventually include basic information all
software ever created. The initial database consists of over 2,000 entries
and over time, the database is expected to exceed 100,000 entries. The
database is located at http://ithistory.org/software/software-name.php
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Hello everyone,
A little while ago Mathai Joseph emailed me to let me know about his new
eBook on the history of computing in India. According to the blurb
"This book analyses the rise of Indian computing. Interleaving history and
memoir, it describes key moments and decisions that led to the slowdown in
the 1960s and 1970s and the changes in the 1980s that fuelled the ascent of
the software industry to pre-eminence in what has become one of the world's
most important industries.
Along the way the author reflects on the nature of science, the importance
of computing and the interplay of theory, experiment and technology. He
discusses the wide differences in the academic perception of computing in
India and the rest of the world and how it affected the growth of Indian
computer science as well as the computing industry."
This has a list price of $3.99 for the Kindle edition, but it is currently
free at <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGR5JLU>
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGR5JLU. According to his website,
<http://www.mathaijoseph.com> http://www.mathaijoseph.com, it is free on
"June 6 and 7," though I suppose that doesn't actually say that it is not
free on other dates.
Anyway there has been very little written on the history of Indian IT so I'm
sure the book will be a useful resource for those of you with an interest in
the area.
Tom
For those of you interested in software studies or forensic computer history, have a look at this fascinating demonstration of upgrading through every version of Windows from the first to Windows 7. The video itself a great historical resource even if you don't plan to follow its proceduresā¦ thanks to Sellam Ismail for the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPnehDhGa14
Dag
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Dag Spicer
Senior Curator
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA 94043
650.810.1035 direct
650.810.1055 fax
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I'm forwarding this for a colleague; please reply to her directly. They seem to be look both for spare parts for an IBM 1440 and for people who used it at the Chicago Police Dept.
The Center for Technology & Innovation (http://ctandi.org/history.html) sounds like an interesting emerging site for computer history (among other things).
Janet
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Susan Sherwood <director(a)ctandi.org>
> Date: June 2, 2013 10:32:33 AM EDT
> To: abbate(a)computer.org
> Subject: How to find Chicago Police Dept. IT retirees?
>
> Janet
>
> Amy Slaton suggested you might have a lead for finding computer groups,
> whose members might have worked for the Chicago Police Department IT
> department in the 1960s and 70s.
>
> The Chicago Police Department had a large installation of IBM 1440
> mainframes (issued 1962 using early SMS card technology). We are
> restoring a 1440 system to operation and are in search of some missing
> pieces. In particular, we need an selectric typing element, known as an H-Ball for the 1447 console that operators used to control the 1441 CPU. The H-Ball has an unusual layout of programming characters. We're also interested in any spare parts that might have been either taken as
> souvenirs or surplussed when the department upgraded to more modern
> equipment.
>
> Any suggestions you have for tracking down parts, manuals, people with
> memories of the CPD operation, will be appreciated.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Susan Sherwood
> Executive Director
> Center for Technology & Innovation
> 321 Water Street, Binghamton, NY 13901
> Future home of TechWorks!
>
> Office 607-723-8600
> Mobile 607-624-1090
>
> www.ctandi.org
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 10:40:31 +0000
> From: Slaton,Amy <slatonae(a)drexel.edu>
> To: Slaton, Deborah <DSlaton(a)wje.com>, Susan Sherwood <director(a)ctandi.org>
> CC: Bill Green <wgreen(a)stny.rr.com>, "FPETR(a)aol.com" <FPETR(a)aol.com>
>
> Hi Susan:
> Sorry, I can't think of anyone either, but there are probably a lot of
> employee/union newsletters through which you might reach someone who
> knows someone who was in IT there.
>
> Also, if mainframes were not widely found at that point (and challenging
> to use), might the CPD's operators have been active in one of the
> computing organizations? Maybe you can use their mailing lists or
> newsletters. For names of those orgs, you could try my friend Janet
> Abbate [she is abbate(a)va.tech] or Paul Ceruzzi at the Smithsonian, perhaps.
>
> ....Good luck, sounds like a fabulous project!
> Amy
>
> Amy E. Slaton, PhD
> Professor
> Department of History and Politics
> Drexel University
> Philadelphia PA 19104
> 215-895-2463/610-660-8299 (v)
> 215-895-6614 (f)
> slatonae(a)drexel.edu
> http://STEMequity.com
> ________________________________________
> From: Slaton, Deborah [DSlaton(a)wje.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 10:23 PM
> To: Susan Sherwood
> Cc: Slaton,Amy; Bill Green; FPETR(a)aol.com
> Subject: RE: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
>
> Hi Susan,
> I am sorry but I don't know of any contacts within the CPD.
> Does the CPD have a historian?
> I hope you can obtain the missing part!
> Deborah
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Sherwood [mailto:director@ctandi.org]
> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 7:15 AM
> To: Slaton, Deborah; slatonae(a)drexel.edu
> Cc: Bill Green; FPETR(a)aol.com
> Subject: Re: FW: Aloha! - updated - Mission accomplished
>
> Deb and Amy:
>
> Any chance the WJE IT/IS team or Slaton family friends might have
> contacts with the Chicago Police Dept IT folks? Apparently, CPD had one
> of the largest arrays of IBM 1440 mainframes, which is the device we
> have working (mostly) here in Binghamton. We're looking for spare
> parts, in particular an H Ball typing element from the 1447 Console
> Unit. We're hoping someone might have saved it as a souvenir when the
> system was updated.
>
> Any contact information or leads to potential retired Chicago Police
> computer guys will be most appreciated.
>
> All the best,
>
> Susan
>
> On 5/30/2013 8:29 PM, Slaton, Deborah wrote:
>> Susan,
>>
>> Please see the e-mail below from Dave Felleti. He was able to retrieve the printer and it is Annex I, one of the buildings on our Northbrook campus.
>>
>> Please let us know when you are able to arrange to have it picked up and Dave will be able to direct the mover to the correct location. You can reach any of us by e-mail or at our general office number (847-272-7400).
>>
>> Many thanks to Dave for this effort!
>>
>> Deborah
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Felleti, David
>> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:27 PM
>> To: Slaton, Deborah
>> Cc: Scheffler, Michael
>> Subject: Re: Aloha! - updated
>>
>> Mission accomplished. The printer is in Annex I.
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
