Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!amdahl!nsc!doudna
From: doudna@nsc.nsc.com (David Doudna)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Looking for a really odd computer
Message-ID: <1990Oct3.234941.16768@nsc.nsc.com>
Date: 3 Oct 90 23:49:41 GMT
References: <2721@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>
Organization: National Semiconductor, Santa Clara
Lines: 19

From article <2721@crdos1.crd.ge.COM>, by davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr):
> 
>   There has been discussion of computer word size, does the number of
> bits have to be a power of two for new systems, etc. I was looking at a
> discussion in another group and saw a really nice way to solve the
> problem, but rejected it because it wasn't portable to any system. 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?

If I remember right, the PDP-8 I worked on used 12-bit words.

Not numerically "odd", but certainly ODD!  :-)

-David Doudna
doudna@nsc.nsc.com