i'm tired of PCB layout right now, so let's read some old Computer Design magazines from 1975. 
if you want to read them on your own, check out bitsavers.org/pdf/computerDe…
it starts off with modems! wow, looks like someone's project box.
an IBM compatible 8" floppy disk drive system. rack mount!
that is either a very tiny person or a very large monitor.
it's HP selling a logic analyzer. i think the '1's and '0's are generated with vector circuitry.
chairmen of the board. 😐
finally, a pushbutton that costs less than a Pinto!
motorola hawking their 6800 microprocessor family. they really did a good job of putting together everything: peripheral chips, design tools, documentation, software, support, etc.
a printer ad by Centronics. yes, *that* Centronics!
this is a very nice looking paper tape punch/reader
this whole ad is *SO* '70s. the glasses. the font. the stilted copy. and long too.
"hey Jim, what's this written on the back of the tape? what's 'ASCII Pr0n?'"
what's this, computer security and privacy in 1975???
ooh a software engineering conference!
wow, some big names
a shotgun wedding 😂
"the smart company with the dense chips" maybe not the best slogan, western digital.
this input device seems vaguely familiar. 🤔
next issue! now THIS is an interesting robot.
teletype sure knew how to advertise. one full page with just this picture.
oh and nearly a full page of copy. haha.
oh neat the HP-2640 opens up just like a Commodore PET.
more compact than floppy disks of the era.
pretty good deal for a 16-bit computer with a funny name.
it's 1975 -- core memory rules, semiconductor memory is right around the corner, and GE is *still* trying to sell vacuum tubes.
for context on that last one:
this tube has a chip inside, but the chip is just layers of silicon with no patterning.
🤦
unbeknownst to AC/DC fans, the band ran a side business building power supplies out of a band member's garage.
looks like a plain old terminal ad, right? but look closely.
wat
"pineapple" 😂
oh wow, the very first ad for the classic ADM-3 terminal!
the first American connector manufactured to true metric dimensions was released in 1975?
here's a neat little numeric indicator.
hmm, when DID the first robocalls start happening?
here's a punched tape perforator mechanism. wish i had one.
next issue!
a burroughs self-scan II display. interesting, it appears to be a gas plasma display. "assemble your own flat panel display and hang it on the wall."
bubble memory!
looks like Cannon also did flex circuits as well as standard connector assemblies. "lowers your total installed cost" is a relative term i guess
hahaha dumb terminal, dumb mistake
The corroded contact. The bent IC lead. The loose contact.
Coming this Halloween.
Coming this Halloween.
a jello mold? no, it's a *rotating disc memory* that looks suspiciously like a hard drive
"these connectors processed in a facility that also processes nuts"
making a more reliable cassette tape drive mechanism... you won't see these features in a consumer deck.
speaking of tape heads, Canon used to make them!
and here i thought the HP calculators were just more polished than the competition.
UsingACalculatorChipToControlTheSpacesBetweenWords
so...you have to pump the ink in now? #PlotterTwitter
smh
oh look, an Altair 8800 used as a PROM programmer!
when a shell company gets ambitious
it's not a DIP switch, it's a PIP switch!
even in the mid 70s, the largest and oldest manufacturer of light pens realizes that "it's all over"
it's Friday! and time for another issue of Computer Design!
strip, slip, zip it's done 🤔
in this 1975 ad, Intel correctly identifies that they have hit a crossroads, and 16-pin RAMs (with RAS and CAS) were the way to go with the older 22-pin RAMs (non-multiplexed address) were provided for legacy designs.
i hesitated before putting this one up, but i think it's worth considering from the standpoint of history. back in the day, this would have been considered a bit risqué but not offensive, which just goes to show just how pervasive sexism was in the industry. smh.
the classic HP 2644A terminal.
it's a front panel computer! i really like the colored line effects on this ad.
here's an early CAD system for PCB design. the description of the process is very similar to how we still do it. there's even a mention of an autorouter!
this optical character recognition system is done using analog electronics--a matrix of resistors represents the character to be recognized!
in this ad, Western Digital shows engineers just how lazy their sales team is. 😂
lay your eyes on this very early announcement for the 6501. it is the 6502, but pin compatible with the 6800. MOS was sued by Motorola and had to change the pinout, resulting in the 6502. the $20 price was about 1/10th what the 6800 went for. this understated ad sent shockwaves!
interesting discussion about new Intel 8080 peripheral chips. these were the chips later used in the original IBM PC, 6 years later! they were getting a bit long in the tooth--the DMA controller could only handle 16-bit addresses, 8080 style, although the 8088 had 20 bits.
interesting, you could buy core memory cores on a tape. also the dig against semiconductor RAM is quite amusing.
that is a lot of relays.
an Arabic-language terminal was a big deal. this was a long time before Unicode or anything like that.
Signetics selling their 82S100, an early field programmable logic array. this was before GALs and PALs, and well before FPGAs.
i guess this guy didn't CMOS coming.😂
HP ad for the 2644 terminal.
the TI 990 and 9900. they were selling the 9900 in the 990/4. the 99/4 (and 99/4a) computer came later.
the november 1975 issue has a really interesting article on front panel design for microcomputers. it discusses the IM6100!
ooh, it's the IBM 5100!
in soviet russia, we make chip with extra strong structure. we sell chip to you. we have agents in your USA.
i approve the use of die photos as a sales tool.
wtf. another terrible ad.
well this is a clever idea, and it avoids the whole erase/program/debug cycle.
