Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpcc01!hpbbn!hpbbrd!hpfcmdd!hpfcso!hplisa!hplvli!boyne From: boyne@hplvli.HP.COM (Art Boyne) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Yesterday's technology (was Re: '386 Questions) Message-ID: <19230001@hplvli.HP.COM> Date: 23 May 90 18:55:44 GMT References: Organization: Loveland Inst. Div Lines: 18 >>Does anyone remember FOCAL-8? > >Yes, and I think I can still program in FOCAL if I had to. The first micro >I had (homebrew) had both Basic and FOCAL in ROM. Not only do I still remember FOCAL-8, I still have a copy of the old PDP-8 Programming Languages book that describes FOCAL, BASIC, PAL-8 assembler, and 8K FORTRAN. >Does anyone remember the PDP-8/S? The S stood for "slow". We lowly types didn't even have the 8/S - we had a 8/L with 4K of core, a KSR-33 TTY w/ tape punch/reader, and a *brand new* photoelectric tape reader which meant loading in FOCAL didn't take 45 minutes like it did on the KSR-33. The PDP-8/L was wirewrapped, and hardware updates were made by cutting wires and adding new ones! Art Boyne, boyne@hplvla.hp.com