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AT&T Dataphone
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Networks
AT&T designed its Dataphone, the first commercial modem, specifically for
converting digital computer data to analog signals for transmission across its
long distance network. Outside manufacturers incorporated Bell Laboratories'
digital data sets into commercial products. The development of equalization
techniques and bandwidth-conserving modulation systems improved transmission
efficiency in national and global systems.
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DEC PDP-1
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Computers
The precursor to the minicomputer, DEC's PDP-1 sold for $120,000. One of 50
built, the average PDP-1 included with a cathode ray tube graphic display,
needed no air conditioning and required only one operator. It's large scope
intrigued early hackers at MIT, who wrote the first computerized video game,
SpaceWar!, for it. The SpaceWar! creators then used the game as a standard
demonstration on all 50 computers.
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COBOL design team
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Software & Languages
A team drawn from several computer manufacturers and the Pentagon developed
COBOL, Common Business Oriented Language. Designed for business use, early
COBOL efforts aimed for easy readability of computer programs and as much
machine independence as possible. Designers hoped a COBOL program would run
on any computer for which a compiler existed with only minimal modifications.
Howard Bromberg, an impatient member of the committee in charge of creating
COBOL, had this tombstone made out of fear that the language had no future.
However, COBOL has survived to this day.
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LISP Programmer's Reference
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Software & Languages
LISP made its debut as the first computer language designed for writing
artificial intelligence programs. Created by John McCarthy, LISP offered
programmers flexibility in organization.
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