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Class of 1965 50 th Anniversary

Class of 1965 50 th Anniversary. Computing from 1964 to today Size & Speed, Usage, Impact John S. McGeachie D’65 T’75 P’88. What computing was like before 1964. Dartmouth Time-Sharing and BASIC. Size and Speed, 1965. What is Time-Sharing? Many users share one computer system

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Class of 1965 50 th Anniversary

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  1. Class of 1965 50th Anniversary Computing from 1964 to today Size & Speed, Usage, Impact John S. McGeachie D’65 T’75 P’88

  2. What computing was like before 1964

  3. Dartmouth Time-Sharing and BASIC Size and Speed, 1965 • What is Time-Sharing? • Many users share one computer system • Input, output, thinking occupy most of a user’s time • Computer usually idle • Why? • Typical computer system 1963 ~ $ 1 million • Equivalent to $ 6.9 million in 2015 • Not your average PC.

  4. DN-30 (40 users) Size and Speed, 1965 Dartmouth Time-Sharing System (DTSS)- Data: 14 million bytes ... for ALL users- Speed: ~ 65,000 instructions per second GE-235 DISC

  5. Time-line – we beat the estimates! • 1963 Fall – learn to program, grasp strategy • 1964: • Winter – code execs, debug Basic • Spring – success! Three teletypes. • Summer – 20 teletypes, Algol • Fall – background; system replicated at GE • 1965: • Summer – GE begins commercial service in Phoenix & NYC • Fall – 40 teletypes

  6. Suddenly, a large user population (Dartmouth Time-Sharing, Kemeny and Kurtz, Science, 11 Oct 1968. Volume 162, pp. 223-228)

  7. Size and Speed ... Then and Now • Dartmouth Time-Sharing System • 14 million bytes ... for ALL users • ~ 65,000 instructions per second • Apple Watch • 8 billion bytes ... on your wrist! • > 10,000 times faster

  8. Use and Impact of Technology From mostly engineering and economics ... to everyday life: • Your car • Your home (tv, thermostat, fridge, stereo …) • Your books (the Kindle reader) • Your doctor • Your finances • Your pills ... (!) • Your communications (the Internet) • Your social life • Your privacy! • Exploration: Robotic, space, hazardous environments • Easy of use …

  9. The early players • Kemeny & Kurtz – select hardware, develop strategy, create Basic • Busch ’66 (DN-30) & McGeachie ’65 (GE-235) – design and code execs, devise overall tactics, be impatient • Bellairs ’65 – Basic (JGK on sabbatical) • Moore ’65 – Symmaint, Fortran • Froehbose ’65 – Edit • Garland ’63, O’Gorman ’64 – Algol • Jim Brackett (GE) – keep hardware running, get modifications approved

  10. How did it affect me? Citation by Kemeny page 4, paragraph 2

  11. How did it affect me? Computer technology career ... • 1965-1977: Programmer, IT consultant, manager. • Computer consulting firm startup. • Helped Dartmouth with next generation DTSS. Became head of computing at Dartmouth. • Attended Tuck School, graduated in 1975. • 1977-1997: Technology consulting US and abroad. • Intelligent thermostat company startup. • 1998-2005: “Retired”– back to hands-on … • Involved in our kids’high-tech startups. • Person-to-person connection-finding startup with two Tuck classmates. Company sold to WSJ. • 2006 - ? software engineering, now at Oracle.

  12. Going forward - some thoughts • “Big Data”– enormous amounts of data being collected across the board – ethical issues. • “Cloud” computing replacing local PCs. • Combination of computing power and data have potential to make huge changes in healthcare, including genetically engineered medications. • Internet a concern as it is now becoming increasingly vulnerable to hackers.

  13. YouTube Video • Search for “Birth of Basic” – a 30-minute video created for the 50th anniversary of BASIC in May 2014.

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