Advent of Computing Sean Haas

This episode we pick back up where we left off. We are looking at the roots of the Mundaneum, the applications of the Universal Decimal Code, and how it call connects to hypertext.
Selected Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051227184732/http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~wrayward/otlet/xanadu.htm - Visions of Xanadu
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/4184 -- Selected Essays of Paul Otlet

 
 

 
 
 
 



 

The Internet is the closest we've come to a universal store of all human knowledge. However, it's not the first pass at this lofty goal. In this episode(and the next) we are looking at the Mundaneum, a project started in the 1890s to address the information problem. How is it connected to the larger story of hypertext? And how can this older project inform our views on the information problem?
 

Selected sources:
 

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/4184 -- Selected Essays of Paul Otlet

Back in episode 90 I made a passing reference to the Cyclops, the first consumer digital camera. It's this masterstroke of hackery that uses a RAM chip as a makeshift image sensor. In this episode I'm coming back around to the Cyclops and taking a look at the origins of digital imaging in general.
Selected Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gmSeVfmZHw - Terry Walker CHM lecture
https://sci-hub.ru/10.1109/6.591664 - The origins of the PN junction
https://sci-hub.ru/10.1364/AO.11.000522 - The silicon vidicon photometer

 
 

 
 
 
 



 

The Apple III was a pretty slick machine... in theory. From a lack of launch software, to strait up hardware failures, Apple's 3rd computer didn't really win in the market place. Why was that? Was the machine setup for failure from the start? Was it's case really designed before it's motherboard? When it comes to the III there's a surprising amount of folklore to untangle.
 

Selected Sources:
 

https://archive.org/details/sim_byte_1985-01_10_1/page/166/mode/1up?view=theater - Interview with Wozniak that covers the III
 

https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/appleIII/sandersinterview.html - Sander discussing the project
 

https://archive.org/details/apple-design/page/n14/mode/1up?view=theater - AppleDesign
 

http://www.applelogic.org/AIIIDesignBugs.html - AppleLogic

We're finally taking a look at Sketchpad. This program was completed in 1963 as Ivan Sutherland's Ph.D. research. On the surface it looks like a very fancy drawing program. Under the hood it's hiding some impressive new programming techniques.
 

Selected Sources:
 

http://worrydream.com/refs/Sutherland-Sketchpad.pdf - Sutherland's Sketchpad thesis
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=495nCzxM9PI - Sketchpad in action
 

https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738195 - Oral History transcripts

This episode I attempt to find the first interactive computer text interface. All I can say is, well, it's a journey.
 

Selected Sources:
 

https://sci-hub.se/10.2307/3917015 - Early article on Stibitz's CNC Model I
 

https://archive.org/details/fortranprimer0000orga/page/103/mode/1up?view=theater - Primer on the FORTRAN Monitor System
 

https://kyber.io/rawvids/LISP_I_Programmers_Manual_LISP_I_Programmers_Manual.pdf - LISP I manual