Difference between revisions of "TX-2"

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The TX-2's [[magnetic tape]] [[mass storage]] system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the [[LINC]] project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant [[LINC tape]] system; he then moved to [[DEC]], where he helped create [[DECtape]], very similar to LINCtape.
 
The TX-2's [[magnetic tape]] [[mass storage]] system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the [[LINC]] project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant [[LINC tape]] system; he then moved to [[DEC]], where he helped create [[DECtape]], very similar to LINCtape.
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Beginning in 1964 a [[timesharing]] system called [[APEX]] was put together on the TX-2 computer at Lincoln Lab under the guidance of Larry Roberts using a small number of consoles with graphics capability.
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==Further reading==
 
==Further reading==
  
Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2 is given in:
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* Severo M. Ornstein, "''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''" (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2
 
 
* Severo M. Ornstein, "Computing in the Middle Ages"
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
  
 
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2/ Bitsavers TX-2 documents]
 
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2/ Bitsavers TX-2 documents]
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* C. Gordon Bell, Gerald Butler, Robert Gray, John E. Mcnamara, Donald Vonada, and Ronald Wilson, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000149.htm The PDP-1 and Other 18-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978
 
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; it also mentions the TX-2
 
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; it also mentions the TX-2
 
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* [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who invented Timesharing]
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[[Category: Computers]]
 
[[Category: Computers]]

Revision as of 01:51, 9 December 2021

TX-2 plug-in module

The TX-2 was an early transistor computer; it was a follow-on to the ground-breaking TX-0 at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

The TX-2's magnetic tape mass storage system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the LINC project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant LINC tape system; he then moved to DEC, where he helped create DECtape, very similar to LINCtape.

Beginning in 1964 a timesharing system called APEX was put together on the TX-2 computer at Lincoln Lab under the guidance of Larry Roberts using a small number of consoles with graphics capability.

Further reading

  • Severo M. Ornstein, "Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983" (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2

External links