Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site wateng.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!wateng!pdbain
From: pdbain@wateng.UUCP (Peter Bain)
Newsgroups: net.arch,net.unix-wizards
Subject: byte alignment
Message-ID: <965@wateng.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 30-Apr-84 09:08:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: wateng.965
Posted: Mon Apr 30 09:08:39 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 1-May-84 07:07:29 EDT
References: <735@tekchips.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 7

The IBM STRETCH (7030) ca 1957, was bit addressable. The instruction
contained a word address (64 bit word) , bit offset, and a "byte length",
or operand size. The machine was a masterpiece of baroque architecture:
all sorts of nifty things that were practical to use only in assembler.
The term "byte" was coined for the STRETCH, and originally ment a variable 
size operand.
		-peter