The number of words "first" in the article rolls over.
First "Hello, World" program, first MUD game, first shooter, first deathmatch, first GUI, first "desktop", first Ethernet, first three-button mouse, first ball mouse, first optical mouse, first full-page monitor (full-page -sized monitor), the first multiplayer game... the first personal computer.
Year 1973
In the city of Palo Alto, in the legendary R & D laboratory of Xerox - PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated), on March 1, there was a release of a machine that would later be called the world's first personal computer (not a home computer, but for individual use).
Alto was a research prototype, not a commercial product. It was assumed that the Alto would become a mass-produced machine, but it was never put into production. However, a total of several thousand Altos were produced, most of which were used by Xerox PARC itself and various universities.
The cost of one Alto machine is estimated to be between $12 and $000.
Six years after the release of Alto, Jobs will see it and borrow it and open up a bunch of new chips to the world.
For creating a computer team (, , , ) in 2004 received , and Chuck Thacker also received the Turing Award in 2009.
In October 2014 Xerox Alto at the Computer History Museum.
Let's try to look under the hood and get acquainted with the developers.
Computer development began in 1972 with a paper ("Why Alto?") written by Butler Lampson (which was inspired by Douglas Engelbart's concept . Designed by Chuck Thacker.
"Every computer problem is solved by another layer of abstraction"
In the 1960s, Lampson participated in at Berkeley, during which the Berkeley Timesharing System was developed for the Scientific Data Systems SDS 940 computer.
In the 1970s, Lampson co-founded the laboratory , where he participated in the development of Alto, as well as in the development of laser printing technologies, Ethernet networks, word processing in mode , (2PC) , first (LAN), developed several significant programming languages, such as .
In the 80s, Lampson left for Digital Equipment Corporation. He currently works for Microsoft Research, where he focuses on security and anti-piracy issues. He teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lapson's "Why Alto?"
XEROX Inter-Office MemorandumThat's it CSL Date: December 19, 1972
from Butler Lampson Lease Palo Alto
Subject Why Alto Organization PARC
1. Introduction
This memo discusses the reasons for making a substantial number (10-30) of copies of the personal computer called Alto which has been designed by Chuck Thacker and others. The original motivation for this machine was provided by Alan Kay, who needs about 15-20 'interim Dynabooks' Systems for his education research. Alto has a much broader range of applications than this origin might suggest, however. I will begin by outlining its characteristics, and then go on to consider some of the many exciting uses to which Alto can be put. It turns out that there is some interaction with almost every CSL research program.
2.Characteristics
An Alto system consists of
48-64K 16-bit words of memory (plus parity and perhaps error correction).
A 10 megabyte Diablo disk which transfers one word every 7 us, rotates in 25 ms, and has a track-to-track seek of 8 ms, and worst-case seek of 70 ms.
A 901 line TV monitor whose display surface is almost exactly the size of this page. It is oriented vertically, and is designed to be driven from a bit map in the memory. It takes 32K of memory to fill the display area with a square (825x620) raster. These dots are about 1.4 mils square. It is possible to reduce their width to about 1 mil, which gives an 825×860 raster and 44.3K of memory. The square raster can display 8000 5×7 characters with descenders or 2500 beautiful proportionally-spaced characters.
An undecoded keyboard which allows the processor to determine exactly when each key is depressed or released, and a mouse or other pointing device.
A processor which executes Nova instructions at about 1.5 us/instruction, and can be extended with extra instructions suitable for interpreting Lisp, Bcpl, MPS, or whatever.
A high-bandwidth (10 MHz) communication interface whose details are not yet specified.
Optionally, a fixed-font character generator similar to the one designed and built by Doug Clark. This would save a lot of memory and would permit higher quality characters than can be done with a square raster, but adds no basically new capability. It should cost about $500.
Optionally, a Diablo printer, XGP, or other hardcopy device.
A table about 45" wide and 25" deep to house the machine and mount the display and keyboard.
Most important, a cost of about $lO.5K, which can be reduced to $9.7K by the use of a 2.5 megabyte disk. The cost is about equally split among disk, memory, and everything else. We have spent about twice as much on Maxc per 1974 CSL member.
The system is capable of doing almost any computation which a PDP-10 can do. For most problems it can deliver better performance to the user than a time-shared 10, even if the latter is lightly loaded (obvious exception: lots of floating-point computation). Furthermore, we have under development Lisp, Bcpl, and MPS systems which can run on a Nova and therefore, with slight modification, on Alto. Since most of our own future software work is expected to be done in one of these languages, most of it should be able to run on Alto.
The next paragraph shows that there should be plenty of computing power. Both Lisp and MPS will have some kind of hardware-assisted mapping, as that virtual memory size will not be a problem; a similar arrangement for Bcpl seems feasible, but has not been investigated.
A 64K Alto has as many Lisp cells as 32K of PDP-l0 memory. BBN claims to run Lisp users with an average 25K working set and a 30 ms page fault interval. Forty-two disk tracks hold 256K Lisp cells, and the average access time to a record on one of those tracks is about 32 ms, compared for 17 ms for the 10's drum. Hence, if execution speed on Alto is half the 10 speed or less, paging will cost no more than on the 10 for Lisp programs. It is highly plausible that we can get a Lisp system on an Alto with a few specialized instructions which can deliver half the performance of a Tenex Lisp running in a 32K swap space. Comparable results can be expected for other languages.
3. Applications
All the applications considered here depend on two facts which summarize the contents of the last section:
Alto is more powerful than a VTS terminal connected to Tenex;
Alto is cheap enough that we can buy one for each member of CSL, if that should prove desirable.
a) distributed computing. We can very easily put in an Aloha-like point-to-point packet network between Alto's, using a coax as the ether (or microwave with a repeater on a hill for home terminals). We can then do a large variety of experiments with dozens of machines. It is easy to try experiments which depend on the independence of the participants as well as those which use specialized components which must cooperate to accomplish anything. In particular, we can set up systems in which each user has his own files and communications is done solely for the interchange of sharable information, and thus shed some light on the long-standing controversy about the merits of this scheme as against centralized files.
b) Office systems. We can run Peter's Lisp-based NLS-competitor or the xNLS system. The computational overkill of Alto will allow us to concentrate on the capabilities of the system rather than on optimizing its performance. Information gained from this approach should complement that obtained from the multi-user xNLS experiments. It may also be possible to run these on Alto and thus escape from Nova dependency; this possibility requires further investigation.
c) Personal computing. If our theories about the utility of cheap, powerful personal computers are correct, we should be able to demonstrate them convincingly on Alto. If they are wrong, we can find out why. We should, for example, be able to satisfy heavy Lisp users such as Warren and Peter with an Alto. This would also take a big computing load away from Maxc. It should also be quite easy to simulate the hardware configuration of other proposed personal computers (eg, different memory hierarchies) and thus to validate those designs. This is important because more compact machines will require a much larger investment in engineering development and more precise optimization of the memory system.
d Graphics. Alto is an excellent vehicle for Bob Flegal's graphics work, and will make the fruits of that work available to a wide community. It can't do Dick Shoup's stuff.
4 Competition
Alto competes with some other things we or SSL are doing. I think this is a good thing, since it encourages the proponents of both approaches to excel. specifically;
a) VTS can do higher quality characters, has intensity control and blinking, costs half to two-thirds as much if you only want a terminal, and can take advantage of the video switch. It can't do graphics and may suffer from the queuing problems of shared-resource systems (the controlling Nova and communications are shared). And, of course, it is only as good as the computer which uses it.
b) Maxc can compute, and for applications which use existing software, need large working sets, or do lots of multiplications, it will be better. Also, it is known to be good for Lisp, etc., while the suitability of Alto for such large systems remains unproven.
c) Novas which don't have complex interfaces to other hardware (eg, Toy, XGP) can be replaced by Altos. Those which do, like the Maxc Nova or probably the VTS Nova, are secure.
d) The implications of Alto for the local network are unclear.
e) Imlacs are wiped out.
[]
Together with Butler Lampson and other alumni, he founded the Berkeley Computer Corporation, where he developed computer electronics. However, the company was not a commercial success and Thacker got a job at the Xerox PARC research center.
During the 1970s and 80s, he became one of the developers of the Ethernet protocol, and also made a great contribution to the creation of the first laser printer. In 1983, Thacker founded the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC Systems Research Center) and in 1997 helped establish the Microsoft Research Laboratory in Cambridge. After returning to the US, Thacker developed hardware for the Microsoft Tablet PC based on his experience working on the Dynabook at Xerox PARC.
“The Internet is not about technology; it's about communication. The Internet connects people who have shared interests, ideas and needs, regardless of geography.”
Was a director at ARPA's 1965 to 1969, founder and director of Xerox PARC's Computer Science Laboratory from 1970 to 1983, founder and director of Digital Equipment Corporation's to 1996.
The author of the OOP concept ("I coined the term 'object-oriented' and I'll tell you what, I didn't mean C++.") and a laptop.
By the way, Kay said his famous phrase "The best way to predict the future is to invent it" in 1971 and (Nobel laureate, creator of holography) - in the 63rd. Inventing the Future (1963): "The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." (An investigation into this .)
Roller at TED
Xerox Alto
Hardware
The Xerox Alto had 128 KB of RAM (worth $4000), expandable up to 512 KB, a hard drive with a 2,5 MB removable cartridge.
Disk drives
Monitor
To display graphic information, a monochrome monitor 606×808 pixels was used, executed in a non-traditional portrait orientation.
Stone
Chip: multi-chip sectional microprocessor-based arithmetic logic unit (bit-slice arithmetic logic unit) based on with microcode support (up to 16 parallel tasks with fixed priorities). 5.8MHz CPU
Klava
64-key keyboard
Mouse
All mice used with the Alto were three-button mice. The first mouse was mechanical, with two wheels set perpendicular to each other. This model was soon replaced by the ball mouse invented by Bill English. Later, an optical mouse appeared, first using white light and then infrared radiation. The buttons on the first mice were located one above the other, and not next to each other, as is now customary.
Engelbart's ideas implemented in the real world - mouse and :
[]
[]
Network board
Ethernet
[]
Software
The first Alto programs were written in a programming language (in BCPL, by the way, the first "Hello world" program and the first MUD were written), then the language was used , which was not widely used outside of PARC, but influenced some later languages such as Modula. The Alto keyboard lacked the underscore key, which was adapted for the left arrow character used in the Mesa language as an assignment operator. This feature of the Alto keyboard may have been the origin of the CamelCase identifier naming style. Another feature of the Alto was the ability for the user to program the microcode of the processor directly.
Despite the relatively small amount of RAM, Xerox Alto developed and used programs with graphical menus, icons and other elements that became familiar only with the advent of Mac OS and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
- Bravo and Gypsy are the first WYSIWYG word processors
- Laurel and Hardy - Network Email Clients
- Markup and Draw - graphic editors (bitmap editors)
- Neptune - file manager
- FTP and chat utilities
- Games — Chess, Pinball, Othello and a Alto Trek game by Gene Ball
- Sil - vector graphics editor for integrated circuits and printed circuit boards
- Officetalk experimental forms-processing system
- Programming languages — BCPL, LISP, Smalltalk, Mesa, and Poplar
Several pictures/screenshots of the software
Small talk
Bravo
Cedar
Markup
Draw
SIL
Laurel
[]
more program screenshots
Display from the keyboard-test program:
The Alto keyboard has a separate signal line for each key and can thus tell when any number of keys are being pressed simultaneously. In the display, the black keys are being held down. The small square above the keyboard represents the mouse (see photo 4); one mouse key is also pressed.
Display of the Alto Executive, with an example of star and question-mark notation.
NetExecutive (similar to the Alto Executive, but it allows access to resources on the Ethernet.
Typical Mesa program being edited by Bravo; note the different typefonts used in the program listing.
Directory from the Neptune directory editor. The file names in black have been selected for further operations such as printing or erasure. The cursor is displayed as a cross in a circle.
Bravo's ability to change fonts (there are hundreds of fonts for the Alto, from Gothic to Elvish Runes; the central paragraph in this display has been changed to Greek). The document in the bottom window has been converted to the form shown in the top window.
Points are placed with the cursor, and curves and lines are filled in by the program.
Lines may be "painted" with a variety of "brushstrokes" (the cursor has changed to a small paintbrush).
Texture is given to the lines; dotted lines are created with the scissors cursor.
Picture may be mathematically manipulated; a new figure may be created by reversing, tilting, or stretching a copy of the original.
The eye represents the person of an opponent. Any Alto on the net can join or leave the game at any time.
The Pinball Game:
Flippers are activated by the two shift keys; an Alto port can be connected to a speaker to provide bells and buzzer sounds.
The multiplayer track program:
This game is played entirely under mouse control. The lower portion of the screen shows a short-range sensor scan; above is the long-range display, and navigation and weapons controls.
Cedar environment on the Alto
Famous "rainbow" screen on an Alto
GAMES
- the first multiplayer game
You control a starship of one of three races: , or
on the game
First deathmatch, first first person view.
and:
- Astro-roids
- Chess
- Galaxians
- Mazewar
- Missile Command
- Rinky Dink (Clint Parker's pinball program)
- Space war
Screenshots
That's what computers are for
UPD
I didn't have time to look, but I think it will be useful:
year 2001. The Xerox Alto: A Personal Retrospective
Conclusion
“Don't doubt that a small group of thoughtful and dedicated people can change the world. In fact, they are the only ones who bring about these changes.” Margaret Meade
In my opinion, it's insanely cool to be a witness (and even more so a participant) of the creation of new and interesting gizmos. I was lucky to be next to a group of young and daring people who created Ziferblat (the first anti-cafe), though not an IT product, but still very driving and cool. I talked a little with the developers they have a lot of interesting stories. I enjoyed watching the series . Who knows links to useful materials, share, and if you yourself took part in the creation of a new one, write in the comments, I will be grateful.
Together with the company Let's start the spring publication marathon.
I will try to get to the bottom of the primary sources of IT technologies, to figure out how they thought and what concepts were in the minds of the pioneers, what they dreamed about, how they saw the world of the future. Why were “computer”, “network”, “hypertext”, “intelligence amplifiers”, “collective problem solving system” conceived, what meaning did they put into these concepts, what tools did they want to achieve results.
I hope that these materials will serve as inspiration for those who are wondering how to go (create something that never existed before). I would like IT and “programming” to stop being just “coding for the dough”, and to recall that they were conceived as a lever to change the methods of warfare education, the way we work together, think and communicate, as an attempt to solve world problems and respond to challenges facing humanity. Something like this.
0 March.
1 March.
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Source: habr.com