Second Generat|on Computers

1rans|stor Computers
(19S61963)


O 1he compuLers bullL ln Lhe 1930s and 1960s are consldered Lhe 2nd generaLlon compuLers
O 1hese compuLers make use of Lhe LranslsLors lnvenLed by 8ell 1elephone laboraLorles and Lhey
had many of Lhe same componenLs as Lhe modernday compuLer
O or lnsLance 2nd generaLlon compuLers Lyplcally had a prlnLer some sorL of Lape or dlsk
sLorage operaLlng sysLems sLored programs as well as some sorL of memory
O 1hese compuLers were also generally more rellable and were solld ln deslgn
O LranslsLor compuLer was a compuLer whlch used LranslsLors lnsLead of vacuum Lubes
O 1he flrsL generaLlon of elecLronlc compuLers used vacuum Lubes whlch generaLed large
amounLs of heaL were bulky and were unrellable
O second generaLlon of compuLers Lhrough Lhe laLe 1930s and 1960s feaLured boards fllled
wlLh lndlvldual LranslsLors and magneLlc memory cores
O 1hese machlnes remalned Lhe malnsLream deslgn lnLo Lhe laLe 1960s when lnLegraLed
clrculLs sLarLed appearlng and led Lo Lhe Lhlrd generaLlon machlnes
C 1 (rogrammed ata rocessor) (1960)

O lglLal LqulpmenL CorporaLlon lnLroduced Lhe 1 ln november 1960 Lhe worlds flrsL small
commerclal lnLeracLlve compuLer
O 1he 1 was Lhe flrsL of Lhe LC 18 blL compuLer serles
O 1he 1 sold for abouL $120000 whlch made lL one of Lhe mosL lnexpenslve compuLers of
LhaL Llme L $120000 Lhls sysLem was far less cosLly Lhan Lhe mllllons malnframe compuLers
cosL aL LhaL Llme
O 1he also uLlllzed a keyboard LhaL allowed Lhe operaLor Lo Lalk Lo lL and change Lhe
programmlng mldsLream lf necessary 1he 1 was relaLlvely small and dld noL requlre
speclallzed alr condlLlonlng lus Lhe sysLem could flL comforLably ln Lhe corner of a room and
dldnL requlre alr condlLlonlng
O 1he 1 was an 18 blL machlne developed by 8en[amln Curley 1he 1 used lglLals own
sysLem modules whlch came from Lhe exlsLlng range of 10MC loglc released ln laLe 1939 uslng
1s own lnlLlal producL laboraLory modules englneer 8en urley deslgned a hlghspeed
solld sLaLe dlglLal rogrammed aLa rocessor whlch could operaLe wlLh many Lypes of lnpuL
ouLpuL devlces and no lnLernal machlne changes
O ome of Lhe early 1s lncluded graphlc dlsplay sysLems as perlpherals 1hese were Lhe flrsL
commerclally avallable compuLer graphlcs Lermlnals
O LoLal of 33 1s were made s laLe as 1970 lglLal LqulpmenL CorporaLlon reporLed LhaL
all 33 were sLlll ln operaLlon 1he lasL 1 was reporLedly bullL ln 1969 LC 1 appllcaLlons
lncluded message swlLchlng lnsLrumenL conLrol and speclal purpose Llmesharlng s Lhe
worlds flrsL commerclal lnLeracLlve compuLer Lhe 1 was used by lLs purchasers Lo ploneer
Llmesharlng sysLems maklng lL posslble for smaller buslnesses and laboraLorles Lo have access
Lo much more compuLlng power Lhan ever before
O 1he `rogrammed aLa rocessor 1 was Lhe flrsL of serles of 14 (no 13) compuLer sysLems
uslng slmllar componenLs buL dlfferlng greaLly ln capablllLy
O nlLlal modules used dlscreLe LranslsLors laLer `fllpchlp modules used smallscale lnLegraLlon
havlng up Lo a dozen LranslsLors ln a package
O 1he 2 was a 1 wlLh an alLernaLe memory board
O 1he 1 could be operaLed by one person and feaLured a graphlcs C81 dlsplay LhaL used a
llghL pen
O norman 1aylor of Lek boughL Lhe second 1 for use ln elecLronlc drafLlng Lhe worlds flrsL
use of a C appllcaLlon
O Leve 8ussell programmed Lhe M1 unlL Lo play Lhe game pacewar whlch wenL on Lo be a
sLandard LC dlagnosLlc program LhroughouL Lhe 1960s
O 1 aL M1 became Lhe flrsL compuLer Lo run a vldeogame ln 1962
O lLhough Lhe compuLer could be used for many dlfferenL and sophlsLlcaLed purposes lLs
relaLlvely slmple organlzaLlon enabled lL Lo be sold wlLh a handbook only 72 pages long
O 1he lowcosL hlghperformance 1 redeflned Lhe compuLer as an affordable and accesslble
Lool lnsLead of as one avallable only Lo blg buslness blg governmenL and blg sclence
O Ls shorL word lengLh and hlgh speed sulLed Lhe 1 Lo laboraLory and sclenLlflc conLrol
appllcaLlons LhaL requlred lLs compuLaLlon ablllLy and realLlme conLrol
O awrence lvermore aboraLory flrsL used Lhe 1 for perlphery supporL processlng for Lhelr
large sclenLlflc calculaLors and for graphlcs lnpuL and ouLpuL
O Lomlc Lnergy of Canada used a 1 for pulsehelghL analysls and van de raaff
generaLorexperlmenL conLrol and nLernaLlonal 1elephone and 1elegraph used 1
compuLers ln messageswlLchlng sysLems
O lglLal broughL Lhe proLoLype 1 Lo demonsLraLe aL Lhe !olnL
O CompuLer Conference ln 8osLon ln ecember of 1939
Spec|f|cat|on 1
Word Length 18 blLs
Speed 3mlcrosecond cycle Llme
r|mary Memory 4k word core
Instruct|on Set

Memory address
lnsLrucLlon
CperaLe class 1/C class
Input]output

1ypewrlLer paper Lape
CaLhode ray Lube
CpLlons lghL pen
magneLlc Lape ulLrahlgh
preclslon scope
S|ze 4 cablneLs 8 x 2 v3 x 6
Software lagnosLlcs assembler
debugger
LdlLor converslon
rouLlnes for punchlng
Lapes
Number roduced 30
r|ce $120000


Spec|a| features

Spacewar!
O pace War ls Lhe flrsL lnLeracLlve compuLer game
O L was developed by M1 sLudenLs lug 8ussell hag raeLz and lan koLok for Lhe 1
compuLer
O n Lhls game players musL baLLle agalnsL enemy spaceshlps and face obsLacles llke Lhe gravlLy of
Lhe sun
O 1he players used prlmlLlve [oysLlcks Lo maneuver Lhelr shlps paceWar has helped Lo lnsplred
fuLure vldeo games
O n Lhe early 1960s M1 wasnL Lhe only lnsLlLuLe of advanced research on Lhe norLh bank of Lhe
Charles 8lver
O 1he augusLly named Plngham nsLlLuLe was ln reallLy a dlngy LenemenL on Plngham LreeL a
few blocks from M1
O Pome Lo Lwo programmers Lhe lnsLlLuLe served as a meeLlng place for assorLed sLudenLs who
shared one common LralL a growlng addlcLlon Lo M1s new 1
O When he wasnL pursulng hls avocaLlon Leve lug 8ussell asslsLed !ohn McCarLhys arLlflclal
lnLelllgence research on M1s 8M ysLem 704 8uL he preferred Lhe 1 L had a swlLch ?ou
could Lurn lL on ?ou goL a saLlsfylng clunk ?ou could Lype a slngle characLer aL lL and lL would
Lype a llLLle message back L gave you a greaL feellng of power
O ueled by Lhls sense of power whlch was supplemenLed by Lhelr lnLeresL ln !apanese monsLer
movles and Lhe pulp sclence flcLlon of LL oc mlLh 8ussell and hls Plngham nsLlLuLe
assoclaLes creaLed Lhe mosL elaboraLe compuLer hack of Lhelr era a Lwoplayer game called
pacewar! played on Lhe 1s C81 screen
O fLer lug wroLe Lhe maln conLrol rouLlne hag raeLz a Plngham fellow recalls lL was llke
1om awyer wlLh Lhe whlLewash brush unlmpressed wlLh 8ussells random sLars one hacker
wroLe a program LhaL puL Lhem ln Lhelr proper consLellaLlons (and respecLlve magnlLudes
naLurally) noLher found Lhe whole Lhlng annoylngly nonnewLonlan so he added gravlLy Lo Lhe
paLhs of Lhe spaceshlps and mlsslles

O 1 aL Lhe CompuLer PlsLory MuseumwlLh Leve 8ussell creaLor of fnf"1he large
cablneL houses Lhe processor lLself 1he maln conLrol panel ls [usL above Lhe desk Lhe paper
Lape reader ls above lL (meLalllc) and Lhe ouLpuL of Lhe 1eleLype model 88L paper Lape punch
above LhaL (verLlcal sloL) sLorage Lray for 8 fanfold paper Lapes ls aLLached Lo Lhe Lop panel L
Lhe lefL ls Lhe 8M Model 8 LypewrlLer modlfled by oroban and Lhe 1ype 30 vecLor C81 dlsplay
ls Lo Lhe far rlghL





ssembly of 1



Memory upgrade of 1







1 L lfferenL erspecLlve