Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker!husc6!encore!pinocchio.encore.com
From: jkenton@pinocchio.encore.com (Jeff Kenton)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Looking for a really odd computer
Message-ID: <12857@encore.Encore.COM>
Date: 3 Oct 90 19:46:29 GMT
References: <2721@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>
Sender: news@Encore.COM
Lines: 23

From article <2721@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>, by davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr):
> 
> The question is, has anyone ever made a general purpose computer with and
> odd word size? No one doesn't count, thank you bit slicers.
> 
>   I can't think of any, but back when 32 vs 36 was still being debated,
> many minis were made with 16 or 18 bit words, so did anyone ever build a
> 9-bit byte system?
>

Well (trick answer time) the PDP-10 let you use any size "bytes" you wanted,
up to 36, and lots of people used 6, 7, 8 and 9 for different things.

At Adage in the early '70s we had a 30-bit word machine which made serious
use of the 15-bit halfwords.

All in all, the answer to your question is probably "no".


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