[inforoots] GRiD and the IEEE 488 GPIB

[Barrie Robinson]

This is just a shot into the darkness of computing history.  Was 
Micro Computer Machinery of Kingston & Toronto, Ontario the first 
"PC" with their little APL machine of the mid 70's??.  It was small 
enough to be called a laptop


At 08:48 PM 2/17/2006, John Carpenter wrote:
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>Stan Siler wrote: ">> We [Grid] pioneered the concept of a "bus" for 
>connecting peripherals,
> >> we used GPIB (an IEEE standard developed by HP for test equipment) ..."
>Thanks to GRiD, many other small computers used the IEEE 488 bus for 
>peripheral connectivity. The Osborne 1 was one of those.  I still 
>have my early white-case Ozzie.  In the days before abundance of 
>computer terminals, I used to bring in my Ozzie when I started a new 
>job - I'd be up and running with memos, budget spreadsheets, etc. 
>the first week - it was pretty cool.  But like most people, I 
>considered the Ozzie to be a "personal" tool.  So, imagine my 
>surprise when I joined Adage of Billerica, MA in 1984, and found a 
>half-dozen gray-case Ozzies in use in their test lab!  By that time, 
>Adage was concentrating on high-end CAD terminals, as peripherals 
>for IBM mainframes (the CADD application of choice was "Interactive 
>Prance CADAM."  The terminal concentrator connected to an IBM 
>mainframe Bus and Tag cable.
>
>So, how to test new terminals without using mainframe 
>resources?  The techs at Adage (probably under the supervision of 
>John Mustone) adapted the Ozzies' IEEE 488 port (through a 
>conversion box) to emulate the mainframe bus & tag connection.  In 
>that room, the world turned upside down: the humble Osborne 1 was 
>emulating a million-dollar IBM mainframe!  Who woulda thunk 
>it?   Some very good engineers did, and created versatile and 
>inexpensive test devices.
>
>The IEEE 488 interface and its versatility was the stimulus for many 
>great ideas.  The possibilities of any-to-any connection opened a 
>world of possibilities.  Cottage industry, indeed!
>
>John Carpenter
>Reading, Massachusetts
><mailto:carpenter114 at comcast.net>carpenter114 at comcast.net
>
>
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Regards
Barrie

Barrie Robinson
(705) 721-9060 
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