ScuzzBlog: Diaries October 2021
Entry 30th October 2021: Post 1: Computers in your life - 1971 style.
Computers in your life - 1971 style.
Just a quick follow up to that Gerry Anderson blog and a comment
regarding computers of that era. I recall watching many TV progs
of the time and computers were generally shown as multi coloured
flashing light devices with punch tape, magnetic reels and quite
varied and complex input devices. Rarely did you see a monitor or
a display screen with any kind of graphical interface.
My first experience of a real life computer was a terminal cabinet
in a white room at college in 1975. It literally was a 3 foot sqr
by 6 foot high cabinet with a punch tape terminal on a desk with
a telephone receiver that was just that... a telephone.
So when you see images of the late sixties and early seventies I
guess most would relate to the Apollo 11 moon mission control
centres for their inspiration. Gerry Anderson's UFO which was
supposed to be set in the future of the early eighties featured
terminal stations made up of switches, dials and magnetic tape
without any kind of monitor or display other than dials etc.
And so when I dug out a book from 1971 I wasn't surprised to see
large rooms filled with cabinet style units, magnetic tape large
units and punch tape cascading out from terminals. It really is
a world away from what was about to happen in the next decade.
Just as an aside, I do like the regal looking lady in her coat. I
did work in a large office during the period and the ladies in
the Comptometer room did dress in their Sunday best. How times
have changed. A Comptometer was the first commercial key operated
mechanical calculator. The job using them was very popular at the
time and rooms would be filled with lines of operators punching
in the numbers. Quite hypnotic as I had to deliver files full of
hand written documents from the estimating department that would
now be accurately checked and evaluated.
Computers in your life - 1971 style.
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