Burroughs Bookkeeping Machine
hardware: electromechanical calculator
<strong>Historical context</strong><br />(by Z. Stachniak)<br /><br />The industrial revolution of the 19th century brought new manufacturing methods and with them the ability to produce high quality precision instruments and mechanical devices in large quantities. The first typewriters appeared in the early 19th century and the first wave of useful calculators soon after in Europe and a few decades later in America.<br /><br />America entered the age of mechanical calculators in late 19th century, much later than Europe. When major European countries were undergoing extensive industrialization, the United States was still primarily involved in agriculture while Canada was not even on the map as a country. The Civil War of 1861-1865 did not help with the industrialization either, delaying the effects of the industrial revolution on the North American continent for a decade.<br /><br />It was not until after the Civil War when new forms of manufacturing (steam-powered) allowed the American industry to grow and spread across the nation. It was at that time, when a vibrant office equipment industry was created with calculator manufacturing centers in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. Large businesses, agencies, and institutions were expanding fast, putting more and more people into their offices. It quickly became evident that ever increasing number of calculation tasks could not be handled cost-effectively without appropriate calculating aids. <br /><br />While American institutions were looking for efficient ways for conducting their business, inventors and entrepreneurs were determined to supply them with all sorts of office gadgets. Two individuals—Dorr E. Felt and William S. Burroughs—played a key role in establishing the calculator industry. Both were determined to provide businesses with just the right kind of calculators: fast, accurate, easy to operate and, in the case of Burroughs' calulators, with printing capabilities. In the end, they created calculator empires that dominated the American calculator market well into the next century.<br /><br />When William S. Burroughs was working as a bank clerk, he envisioned the process of tedious arithmetic operations mechanized to such a degree that the results would also be automatically printed on paper. In the end, Burroughs not only designed such a machine—the Arithmometer (1884)—but also co-founded American Arithmometer Company in St. Louis to manufacture it. By the end of the 1800s, his company was successfully selling several hundred machines a year.<br /><br />In 1917, Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Detroit (formerly American Arithmometer Company of St. Louis) opened its Canadian subsidiary in Windsor, Ontario. Three years later, the Canadian branch moved to the newly constructed facility in Windsor at the corner of McDougall St. and Elliott St. Over the years, the Canadian subsidiary manufactured several calculators including motor-driven adding and listing Bookkeeping Machine and a range of portable adding machines.<br /><br /><strong>Burroughs Bookkeeping Machines<br /></strong><br />The Burroughs Bookkeeping Machines were some of the most impressive adding machines made. Although they were large and heavy, their bevelled glass walls on three sides allowed viewing of their internal mechanical operations during calculations, certainly aimed at creating a "WOW" effect with a machine priced at between $615 to $715. The calculators offered between 6 to 17 columns of keys, a numeric display, and a printing mechanism with a wide carriage featuring a paper length setting and an end of page bell. <br /><br />These calculator could perform addition only. The multiplication could be done by repeated additions. Apart from numeric keys, Burroughs Bookkeeping Machines offered several "function" keys. A column could be cleared by pressing the red key at the top of that column. Other keys were designed to clear the entire keyboard, to perform repeated additions for multiplication, to calculate total and subtotal results as well as other functions depending on the calculator's model. <br /><br />Several options were provided including electric drive that eliminated manual use of a crank handle to perform calculations. This option offered a tabular steel frame with the motor and gearbox mounted underneath.<br /><br /><strong>Museum holdings</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Burroughs Bookkeeping Machine (17 columns, electric), model/serial number C2-1286030, manufactured by Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Canada, Windsor, Ontario,</li>
<li>Burroughs Portable Adding Machine, model/serial number 03-370060, manufactured by Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Canada (?)</li>
</ul>
Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Canada
1920s(?)
The calculator was donated by Unisys Canada Inc. in 2016
World, the early 1900s
Commodore VIC-20
hardware: home computer
<strong>Historical context</strong><br /><br />Commodore International Ltd. (or Commodore) was one of the world's largest manufacturers of electronic hand-held calculators as well as home, educational, and business microcomputers. It was best known for its popular personal computers including the PET line of personal desktops as well as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and the Amiga computers. It was founded on October 10, 1958 as Commodore Portable Typewriter Company Limited in Toronto, Ontario. Two years later, the company incorporated its Commodore Business Machines subsidiary in New York. In 1976, Commodore reorganized its corporate structure as Commodore International Ltd. and moved its financial headquarters to the Bahamas and the operations headquarters to Pennsylvania. The restructured company encompassed several entities world-wide including Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada. <br /><br />In 1947, the company's founder<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>Jack Tramiel<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>emigrated from Poland to the US. During his US army service (1948-51) he gained considerable experience in repairing office equipment which he turned into business in his civilian life, first in Bronx, New York, and later in Toronto, Canada, where he moved in 1955.<br /><br />His Toronto business was initially focused on repairs and selling licensed typewriters, adding machines, and other office equipment. Initially located at 2 Toronto Street, in the city's downtown core, a short distance from the IBM Toronto Downtown Office, the company relocated several times before establishing its headquarters in Scarborough, Ont.<br /><br />During the 1960s the scope of Commodore's business expanded to office furniture as well as to electric and eventually electronic calculators. The first Commodore-branded adding machine was the model C mechanical calculator manufactured by a Czechoslovakian company Nisa and sold by Commodore around 1960. The first exclusive Commodore adding machine<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>the 202<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>was announced in 1967. The following year, the company began to turn its focus toward electronic desktop and, soon after, hand-held calculators.<br /><br />Commodore entered the market of hand-held electronic calculators in late 1970s with its CBM 110 device. Within months, the company introduced what would become a popular series of Minuteman calculators. That series, in turn, was followed by the "SR" and "SF" line of scientific and financial hand-held calculators. By the mid-1970s, Commodore was selling a wide range of electronic calculators, becoming one of the largest American manufacturers of these devices.<br /><br />Commodore's entry into microcomputer market was, to a large degree, the result of fierce price war in the calculator market that started in late 1973, and the decision of Texas Instruments<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>one of the main suppliers of calculator chips<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>to enter the calculator market and to compete with its clients. To stay competitive and independent of third parties for the chips and displays that went into its products, Commodore purchased MOS Technology in 1976. With the acquisition came not only MOS integrated circuits (most notably the 6502 microprocessor) but also Chuck Peddle's<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>the 6502's chief designer's<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>considerable technical expertise and impeccable sense of changing trends in electronics market. While at MOS, he built the KIM-1 single-board computer that quickly became popular among computer hobbyists. Peddle urged Commodore not to underestimate the market potential for mass-manufactured microcomputers and his team got permission to go ahead with a project of designing a desktop computer around the 6502 processor. The all-in-one Commodore PET (or Personal Electronic Transactor) was introduced in 1977. It was successfully marked world-wide, which opened the door into the consumer electronics market for the company's next best sellers: the VIC-20 introduced in 1980, and the Commodore 64 unveiled in 1982.<br /><br />By 1983, in just 25 years, a small downtown Toronto typewriter sales and repair shop was transformed into one of the most revered personal computer companies in the world, shipping more units world-wide than any other computer company. However, the departure of Tramiel from Commodore in 1984 marked the beginning of the company's downfall. Commodore was loosing grounds to the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh platforms. The purchase of Amiga and the sales of its aging fleet of 8-bit computers sustained the company for a while but eventually, in 1994, Commodore began its liquidation.<br /><br /><strong>Commodore VIC-20<br /></strong>The VIC-20 home computer was one of the most successful Commodore products. Its prototype was previewed at the National Computer Convention in Chicago in June 1980 but, as a product, it was first launched three months later in Japan as VIC-1001. ``You are about to meet a friendly computer! Friendly in price, friendly in size, friendly to use and learn on and experience" proclaimed Commodore introducing its VIC-20 microcomputer. [From<em> Personal Computing on the VIC-20: A Friendly Computer Guide,</em> Commodore Business Machines, 1982, p. II.]<br /><br />Commodore sold 8000,000 VIC-20s world-wide in 1982, reached the one million mark early in 1983 when they were being shipped at the rate of 100,000 units per month, making the VIC-20 one of the best-selling computers of all times.<br /><br />Designed in the `computer-in-keyboard' style, the VIC-20 featured the MOS Technology 6502A processor, a BASIC interpreter in ROM, and easy to use QWERTY-style keyboard. The computer used an ordinary color TV set for the display. The high-resolution color graphics capabilities of the VIC-20 made the computer an attractive family entertainment box to rival the supremacy of gaming consoles. Indeed, in spite of its limitations the addition of an external disk drive, a low cost printer, and of a popular VICModem, made the VIC-20 ``the most user friendly computer on the market...friendly in price, friendly in size, friendly to use and expand.'' [From the back cover of <em>Personal Computing on the VIC-20: a friendly computer guide</em>, Commodore Business Machines, 1982.]<br /><br />From the start, Commodore provided the VIC-20 with the diverse software libraries on easy to use ROM cartridges and cassette tapes. Modems for the VIC-20, such as the VICmodem, allowed users to get on line and try electronic mail for the first time or to browse through the libraries of information available on computer bulletin board systems and commercial computer networks. A number of on-line services such as CompuServe, Delphi, Dow-Jones, Genie or The Source owed their popularity and growth to the low-cost VICmodem. <br /><br />In North America, the VIC-20 was sold for the strategically low price of $299.95 through mass merchandise retail outlets (such as K-Mart, Sears, and Toys-R-Us) as well as computer dealers and selected electronics stores. Some of the VIC-20s were manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada. <br /><br /><strong>VIC-20 specifications</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>CPU: MOS 6502 at approx. 1 MHz</li>
<li>RAM: 5KB expandable to 32KB</li>
<li>ROM: 20 KB occupied by BASIC 2.0 *8KB), KERNAL (8KB), and character set (4KB); external ROM cartridges,</li>
<li>video processor: MOS 6560/6561 VIC,</li>
<li>display: text node: 23 rows and 22 column</li>
<li>graphics mode: 176×184 pixels</li>
<li>sound: MOS 6560/6561 VIC,</li>
<li>keyboard: 62 key QWERTY-style keyboard with additional four function keys,</li>
<li>ports: expansion port (for various types of cartridges), Audio/Video port, floppy disk drive/printer port,</li>
<li>cassette tape storage port, user port (general purpose serial/parallel port),</li>
<li>serial bus IO port, game port (for connecting a joystick, a paddle, or a lightpen),</li>
<li>peripherals: modems (e.g. the VICmodem), floppy disk drives (e.g. the VIC-1540), cassette tape drives (e.g. the C2N), printers (e.g. the 1525 printer),</li>
</ul>
<br /><strong>Museum holdings</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Commodore VIC-20, serial nr 662878 manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada,</li>
<li>Commodore VIC-20, serial nr P1105919 manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada,</li>
<li>Commodore Datassette, serial number S796519,</li>
<li>Commodore C2N Cassette, serial nr 1734692, with operating instructions,</li>
<li>Commodore VIC 1541 floppy disk drive, serial nr 2092779, with user's manual and guide,</li>
<li>Commodore 1520 printer, serial nr 007931,</li>
<li>Commodore VICmodem, Model 1600, serial nr. 060749,</li>
<li>Pocket Modem for Commodore systems,</li>
<li>Commodore VIC 1211A Super Expander, 3KB (with documentation),</li>
<li>Xetec Super Graphix Jr printer interface,</li>
<li>extensive library of educational, entertainment, and personal software on VIC-20 ROM cartridges and cassette tapes,</li>
<li>VIC-20 manuals, guides, books, and promotional literature.<strong><br /></strong></li>
</ul>
Commodore Business Machines
world, 1980--1985
Commodore Plus/4
hardware: home computer
<strong>Historical context</strong><br /><br />Commodore International Ltd. (or Commodore) was one of the world's largest manufacturers of electronic hand-held calculators as well as home, educational, and business microcomputers. It was best known for its popular personal computers including the PET line of personal desktops as well as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and the Amiga computers. It was founded on October 10, 1958 as Commodore Portable Typewriter Company Limited in Toronto, Ontario. Two years later, the company incorporated its Commodore Business Machines subsidiary in New York. In 1976, Commodore reorganized its corporate structure as Commodore International Ltd. and moved its financial headquarters to the Bahamas and the operations headquarters to Pennsylvania. The restructured company encompassed several entities world-wide including Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada. <br /><br />In 1947, the company's founder<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>Jack Tramiel<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>emigrated from Poland to the US. During his US army service (1948-51) he gained considerable experience in repairing office equipment which he turned into business in his civilian life, first in Bronx, New York, and later in Toronto, Canada, where he moved in 1955.<br /><br />His Toronto business was initially focused on repairs and selling licensed typewriters, adding machines, and other office equipment. Initially located at 2 Toronto Street, in the city's downtown core, a short distance from the IBM Toronto Downtown Office, the company relocated several times before establishing its headquarters in Scarborough, Ont.<br /><br />During the 1960s the scope of Commodore's business expanded to office furniture as well as to electric and eventually electronic calculators. The first Commodore-branded adding machine was the model C mechanical calculator manufactured by a Czechoslovakian company Nisa and sold by Commodore around 1960. The first exclusive Commodore adding machine<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>the 202<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>was announced in 1967. The following year, the company began to turn its focus toward electronic desktop and, soon after, hand-held calculators.<br /><br />Commodore entered the market of hand-held electronic calculators in late 1970s with its CBM 110 device. Within months, the company introduced what would become a popular series of Minuteman calculators. That series, in turn, was followed by the "SR" and "SF" line of scientific and financial hand-held calculators. By the mid-1970s, Commodore was selling a wide range of electronic calculators, becoming one of the largest American manufacturers of these devices.<br /><br />Commodore's entry into microcomputer market was, to a large degree, the result of fierce price war in the calculator market that started in late 1973, and the decision of Texas Instruments<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>one of the main suppliers of calculator chips<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>to enter the calculator market and to compete with its clients. To stay competitive and independent of third parties for the chips and displays that went into its products, Commodore purchased MOS Technology in 1976. With the acquisition came not only MOS integrated circuits (most notably the 6502 microprocessor) but also Chuck Peddle's<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>the 6502's chief designer's<span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span>considerable technical expertise and impeccable sense of changing trends in electronics market. While at MOS, he built the KIM-1 single-board computer that quickly became popular among computer hobbyists. Peddle urged Commodore not to underestimate the market potential for mass-manufactured microcomputers and his team got permission to go ahead with a project of designing a desktop computer around the 6502 processor. The all-in-one Commodore PET (or Personal Electronic Transactor) was introduced in 1977. It was successfully marked world-wide, which opened the door into the consumer electronics market for the company's next best sellers: the VIC-20 introduced in 1980, and the Commodore 64 unveiled in 1982.<br /><br />By 1983, in just 25 years, a small downtown Toronto typewriter sales and repair shop was transformed into one of the most revered personal computer companies in the world, shipping more units world-wide than any other computer company. However, the departure of Tramiel from Commodore in 1984 marked the beginning of the company's downfall. Commodore was loosing grounds to the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh platforms. The purchase of Amiga and the sales of its aging fleet of 8-bit computers sustained the company for a while but eventually, in 1994, Commodore began its liquidation.<br /><br /><strong>Commodore Plus/4</strong><br /><br />In 1984, Commodore followed its successful VIC-20 and C64 computers with a series of low cost Commodore 16, 116 and Plus/4 computers designed to compete with the entry-level home computers manufactured by scores of companies around the world. In the end, none of these new Commodore computers could match the success of the VIC-20 or the C64 and their production was soon discontinued. While the Commodore 16 and 116 were rudimentary home computers, the Plus/4 came with ROM-resident office software suite consisting of a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, and a graphics program. Unfortunately, with the arrival of desktops offering a much richer and advanced applications (such as the Apple Macintosh and the IBM AT), the era of `computers-in-keyboard' was coming to an end. The Pus/4 was discontinued in 1985.<br /><br />Some of the Plus/4 computers were manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada.<br /><br /><strong>Commodore Plus/4 specifications<br /></strong>
<ul>
<li>CPU: MOS Technology 7501/8501 at approx. 1.8 MHz,</li>
<li>RAM: 64 KB,</li>
<li>ROM: 64 KB (with built-in Commodore BASIC 3.5, a machine language monitor, a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, and graphics program),</li>
<li>video processor: MOS Technology TED (TED 7360)</li>
<li>display in text mode: 40×25 characters; three text modes: standard, extended color, and multicolor,</li>
<li>display graphics mode: 160x200 (multicolor) and 320×200 (hi-resolution) with 121 colors (16 primary colors, 8 luminance levels),</li>
<li>sound: two tone sound generators,</li>
<li>keyboard: QWERTY-style, simplified, 59-key with additional 4 programmable function keys and four cursor keys,</li>
<li>ports: serial bus (IEEE-488, port for a disk drive or printer), cassette tape storage port, user port (RS-232 general purpose serial/parallel port), memory expansion port (for various types of cartridges), two game ports (for use with joysticks), audio/video port (to connect a monitor,</li>
<li>peripherals: disk drives (e.g. Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive), cassette drives (e.g. Commodore 1531 Datassette), monitors (Commodore 1801 and 1802), modems (e.g. Commodore Modem 300), printers (e.g. Commodore MPS-802 printer), game controllers, mouse (e.g. Commodore 1351).</li>
</ul>
<strong>Museum holdings</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Commodore Plus/4, serial nr. CA1043221, manufactured by Commodore Business Machines Ltd., Canada</li>
<li>Commodore Plus/4 basic documentation.</li>
</ul>
Commodore Business Machines Ltd.
H.19
world, 1984-1985
Computel Systems Ltd., scans of images
computer services industry
An image of the Ottawa office of Computel Systems Ltd.
Computel Systems Ltd.
Computel Systems Ltd. promotional brochure
1970s
Computel Systems Ltd. Archive
digital scan
Corel NetWinder 275
Corel NetWinder 275 network computer
The NetWinder was a compact, high-performance, low power computing designed by Corel of Ottawa and released in 1988. It was a RISC-based machine equipped with networking and multimedia capabilities, operated under Linux. Sold with keyboard, mouse, and stand. <br /><br /><strong>Hardware:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>CPU: StrongARM 110 processor, 275MHz, together with the Intel 21285 FootBridge companion chip.</li>
<li>RAM: 32, 64, or 128 Mbytes</li>
<li>hard drive: 2, 4 or 6 GBytes ,WinBond 553 IDE controller</li>
<li>2 Ethernet connections: one 10BaseT (WinBond 940 Ethernet, NE2000 compatible) - 10/100BaseT (Digital 21143 ("Tulip") Ethernet)</li>
<li>EPP/ECP port driven by Winbond '977 SuperIO</li>
<li>serial port driven by Windbond '977 SuperIO</li>
<li>IrDA port</li>
<li>2 PS2 ports for keyboard and mouse (SuperIO '977)</li>
<li>power supply: 12V, 1.5A..</li>
</ul>
Software:<br />OS: Red Hat-based dialect of Linux<br /><br />The museum has a NetWinder model 275, serial number NW644DM11.<br /><br />NetWinder documentation and other resources are available from <a href="http://www.netwinder.org/docs.html">netwinder.org site.</a>
Corel
1998
H.21
1998-?
Cybernex XL display video terminal
computer hardware: display video terminal
<strong>Historical Context</strong>:<br />In the 1950s, the operators of mainframe computers used dedicated consoles, hardcopy terminals (such as teletypes and modified electric typewriters), and a variety of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays to run and control data processing tasks. Computer consoles typically featured rows of switches and associated lights that allowed operators to run and control the execution of programs, analyze data stored in memory, and to control other hardware interfaced with computers. Hardcopy terminals were used to print on roles of paper information such as operator's commands, computer responses, and other console messages. Finally, CRTs were used to displaying information (e.g. memory contents) in a rudimentary graphical form.<br /><br />The "glass teletype" that appeared in the mid-1960s was the first attempt at providing a single device allowing computer operators to run their systems having all the essential control and data processing information displayed on a screen. However, it was not until the early 1970s, when the first "dumb" video display terminals, featuring limited editing capabilities, were introduced (one of the earliest such terminals was the 7700A Interactive Display Terminal introduced by Lear Siegler Inc. in 1973). All these terminals shared the same basic keyboard-display-interface design: each featured a keyboard, a CRT screen that could display full sets of alphanumeric characters, and each had the capability to send and receive data via communication lines to a remote host computer. By the mid-1970s, video terminals became the most effective human-computer interface devices and they remain so until the mid-1980s, when they were displaced by microcomputers that could be interfaced with mainframes and minicomputers to perform terminal jobs in addition to microcomputing tasks, when PC monitors had become a common occurrence worldwide.<br /><br />In Canada, the design and manufacturing of computer display terminals began in the early 1970s. Comterm Inc. (Montreal), Cybernex Ltd. (Ottawa), Electrohome (Kitchener), Lektromedia (Pointe Claire), NORPAK (Kanata), TIL Systems Ltd (Toronto), and Volker-Craig (Waterloo) were some of the pioneering companies.<br /><br />Cybernex Ltd. was an Ottawa-based manufacturer of video terminals, co-founded in 1974 by James Gadzala, Colin Turner, Bruce Douglas, and David Londry. The company's first product was the D1600 digitizing video terminal for the aero photogrammetry industry. In the following years, the company introduced a broad line of display terminals including the LTL Series (1975), LGR Series (1976), TH Series (1977), MDL-100 Series (1978), XL-80 Series (1980) as well as RB, RG, RH, SA, and XM Series. The terminals offered emulation of several popular terminal models from vendors such as Adds, Basic Four, Burroughs, Data General, Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Hezeltine, Honeywell, IBM, and Lear Siegler. Initially, the company's main clients were large Canadian corporations (including Bell Canada) and government departments. In 1982, Cybernex entered the US market. <br /><br />In addition to its video display terminals, the company also manufactured the LC3 microcomputer for a range of applications including software development, industrial controllers, and systems for dedicated applications. The computer was built around the Motorola 6809 microprocessor and was offered with the Cymon operating system and Cybol programming language also developed by Cybernex.<br /><br />Cybernex introduced its second generation of microprocessor-based highly successful video display terminals--the XL Series--in 1980. In their basic configuration, the XL terminals offered 12 inch green screens which could display 24 lines of 80 characters, and 82-key QWERTY-style detachable keyboard featuring a numeric keypad. The displays' hardware was controlled by the Motorola 6800 8-bit microprocessor. Options included white or amber screen with the 25th status line as well as an advanced keyboard featuring 107 keys including two rows of function keys. <br /><br />The museum has an XL-8025 terminal, serial number 81024539, with an 82-key keyboard. <br /><br /><strong>Note</strong>: the label attached to the bottom of the terminal has a handwritten model number XLGR-1 while the terminal's printed circuit board has XL-8025 etched on it.
Cybernex Ltd.
1982
North America, 1980s
Commodore SuperPET SP9000 computer
hardware: microcomputer
<strong>Historical context</strong><br />(by Z. Stachniak)<br /><br />Early microprocessor-based computers (microcomputers) presented a cost-effective and low-maintenance alternative to high-performance minicomputers that dominated the computer scene of the 1970s. Initially, their utilization was confined largely to applications that did not require the full processing power of the minis. Microcomputers also presented a unique opportunity to expand and enrich academic computing programs and infrastructure.<br /><br />A 1979 study conducted at the University of Waterloo (UW) on possible use of microcomputers for academic teaching and research concluded that "many of the jobs run on computers at Waterloo could be done using the computational capacity possessed by microcomputers." (See [1.) At that time, UW's mainframe computer served approximately 25,000 student jobs each day. However, "none of the inexpensive, mass-manufactured microcomputers had the appropriate hardware to operate our planned software," stated the authors of<em> Waterloo Micro Computer Systems for the 1980s</em> [1] "mainly because the memory was not large enough, and because there was insufficient flexibility, particularly with respect to input/output." The study set in motion two microcomputer development projects at the Computer Systems Group of UW -- the microWAT and the SuperPET.<br /><br />In the opinion of Wesley Graham, director, Computer Systems Group at UW expressed in [2], <br /><br />"microcomputers offered many advantages such as economy, reliability and flexibility. But the software available was not suitable for our use. In addition, the addressable memory of micro systems was too small to house the software and leave a meaningful work area. [...] Waterloo liked the advantages of micros and set out to bridge the gap. With software systems written to meet our needs, the software problem was solved. Then we introduced a virtual memory concept with hardware and resolve the addressable memory size problem. By using a RS232 interface, the micro could communicate with a shared data base. And by duplicating the software system onto a mainframe, the same program could be run using large memories at high speed.Thus a student could begin to solve his problem on the micro and, if necessary, complete it on the mainframe.<br /><br />Commodore adopted these ideas and created the SuperPET. We installed 35 such systems at Waterloo in July, 1981 and they have proven as effective as expected." <br /><br />The Commodore SuperPET was a dual processor personal computer created by the Computer Systems Group at UV primarily for the educational market. It's hardware design expanded the Commodore CBM 8032 (PET) architecture by an additional 64KB of bank switched RAM, a Motorola 6809 microprocessor and an RS232 interface. The computer could execute all the PET software using its MOS 6502 processor. The 6809 CPU and the bank-switching RAM architecture adopted by the SuperPET design allowed the execution of sophisticated 6809-based software including several programming language interpreters, editors and assemblers. Several of these software products were written at the UW's Computer Systems Group using the WSL systems development language. An OSW-9 MMU (Memory Management Unit) board developed primarily by Avygdor Moise from York University, Toronto, allowed the operation of the SuperPET under the sophisticated OS-9 Operating System from Microware Systems Corp.<br /><br />The SuperPET's design was brought to the production stage by BMB CompuScience of Waterloo. The computer (also known as Micro-Mainframe or MMF9000) was announced in April, 1981 at Hanover Computer Fair, manufactured by Commodore and distributed in North America, Europe and Australia. However, the introduction of the IBM PC in August 1981 and the subsequent rapid growth of IBM PC-compatible computer market put an end to the microWAT and SuperPET programs.<br /><br /><strong>Technical specifications</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>CPU: MOS Technology 6502 and Motorola 6809 at 1MHz,</li>
<li>RAM: 96KB (64KB on an bank switched RAM board),</li>
<li>ROM: 48KB (containing Waterloo KERNAL and CBM Basic 4.0),</li>
<li>video: MOS Technology 6545, 12" monochrome display, 25 rows of 80 characters, three character sets,</li>
<li>keyboard: QWERTY-style, 62 keys, and 11-key numeric keypad,</li>
<li>ports: IEEE-488 port, two Commodore Datasette ports, Expansion port, RS232 port, CBM parallel programmable User port</li>
<li>Memory and Processor selection switches,</li>
<li>options: OSW-9 MMU (Memory Management Unit) board allowing the use of popular OS-9 Operating System,</li>
<li>other features: memory and processor selection switches.</li>
</ul>
<br /><strong>Key software</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Waterloo KERNAL (in ROM),</li>
<li>CBM Basic 4.0 (in ROM),</li>
<li>microBASIC, microPascal, microFORTRAN, microCOBOL and microAPL from University of Waterloo Computer Systems Ltd.,</li>
<li>microEditor from University of Waterloo Computer Systems Ltd.,</li>
<li>6809 microprocessor assembler from University of Waterloo Computer Systems Ltd.,</li>
<li>OS-9 Operating System from Microware Systems Corp. (using the MMU board).</li>
</ul>
<br /><strong>Museum holdings</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Commodore SuperPET Model 9000, serial nr. SP0002320,</li>
<li>Commodore CBM 8050 Dual Drive Floppy Disk,</li>
<li><em>Commodore Super-Pet SP9000 Technical Manual</em>, Commodore Computer, 198?</li>
<li><em>Waterloo 6809 Assembler, Waterloo microSystems SuperPET Specifics,</em> draft copy,</li>
<li>J.B. Schueler and B.J. Stecher, <em>Waterloo microPIP File Utility Program for the Commodore SuperPET,</em></li>
<li>J.C. Wilson and T.A. Wilkinson, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microAPL, Tutorial and Reference Manual</em>, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>P.H. Dirksen and J.W. Welch, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microAPL, Tutorial and Reference Manual</em>, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>J.W. Graham and K.I. McPhee, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microBASIC, Tutorial and Reference Manual,</em> Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>D.D. Cowan, J.W. Graham, J.W. Welch, and T.A. Wilkinson, Waterloo BASIC for Commodore Microcomputers, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>D.D. Cowan, J.W. Graham, J.W. Welch, and T.A. Wilkinson, Waterloo BASIC for Commodore PET, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>P.H. Dirksen and J.W. Welch, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microCOBOL, Tutorial and Reference Manual</em>, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>F.D. Boswell, T.R. Grove, and J.W. Welch, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microPascal, Tutorial and Reference Manual,</em> Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>P.H. Dirksen and J.W. Welch, Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo microFORTRAN, Tutorial and Reference Manual, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>D.D. Cowan and M.J. Shaw, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: Waterloo 6809 Assembler, Tutorial and Reference Manual,</em> Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li>F.D. Boswell, T.R. Grove, K.I. McPhee, J.B. Schueler, and J.W. Welch, <em>Commodore SuperPET computer: System Overview, Tutorial and Reference Manual</em>, Waterloo Computing Systems Ltd., 1981,</li>
<li><em>Disk System User Reference Guide</em>, Commodore Electronics Ltd., 1982,</li>
<li><em>User's Manual for CBM 5 1/4-inch Dual Floppy Disk Drives</em>, Commodore Business Machines, 1983,</li>
<li>M.P. McFarlane and D.R. McNeil, <em>An Explanatory Data Analysis Package for the Commodore SuperPET</em>, SPUG/APL, May 1983,</li>
<li>D. Barnes, <em>The SuperPET STARTER-PAK</em>, 198?</li>
<li>SuperPET Bulletin Board System, printout, Paul Matzke Sysop,</li>
<li>Several documents distributed by the International SuperPET Users Group, 1984--85,</li>
<li>M. Avygdor, <em>MMU Version 2.0 Installation Procedure for 2 Boards SuperPETs</em>, York University/Toronto PET Users Group 1985(?)</li>
</ul>
<br /><strong>References<br /><br /></strong>[1] D.D. Cowan and J.W. Graham, Waterloo Microcomputer Systems for the 1980's, <em>Proceedings of the ACM '82,</em> pp. 13–17 (1982). <br /><br />[2]<em> Introducing the Remarkable Commodore SuperPET. The First Microcomputer with 5 High-Level Languages for only $2795</em>, Commodore SuperPET promotional brochure, 198?
Designed by Computer Systems Group at the University of Waterloo, and BMB CompuScience, manufactured by Commodore
1981
Hardware
H.29
world, the early 1980s
microWAT Microcomputer
computer hardware: microcomputer
<strong>Historical context:</strong><br /><br />Early microprocessor-based computers (microcomputers) presented a cost-effective and low-maintenance alternative to high-performance minicomputers that dominated the computer scene of the 1970s. Their utilization was confined largely to applications that did not require the full processing power of the minis. Microcomputers also presented a unique opportunity to expand and enrich academic computing programs and environments.<br /><br />A 1979 study conducted at the University of Waterloo (UW) on possible use of microcomputers for academic applications concluded that "many of the jobs run on computers at Waterloo could be done using the computational capacity possessed by microcomputers." [1] However, "none of the inexpensive, mass-manufactured microcomputers had the appropriate hardware to operate our planned software, mainly because the memory was not large enough, and because there was insufficient flexibility, particularly with respect to input/output." [1] The study set in motion two microcomputer development projects at the<br />Computer Systems Group (CSG) of UW -- the microWAT and the SuperPET.<br /><br />The microWAT was designed jointly by CSG and Jerry Krist of Northern Digital Ltd. of Waterloo. The computer was demonstrated in December 1980 and subsequently manufactured by Northern Digital. The microWAT was a small CPU unit that required a separate keyboard, display, and external storage to form a computer system. At UW, MicroWATs used Volker-Craig video display terminals and Commodore IEEE disk drives. Several microWATs were installed inside "dumb" display terminals converting them into versatile desktop computers that could operate with diskette drives, printers, plotters, and could be networked with other systems such as the IBM Series/1 minicomputers operating at UW. <br /><br />The computer was built around the Motorola 6809 microprocessor and all its hardware was deposited on several printed circuit boards including the CPU, I/O, ROM, and RAM boards. An additional small ROM card sealed from tampering (referred to as the "key" card or the "chocolate bar") was a software security device containing a key required to access software written at UW including micro BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN, COBOL and APL. According to former Northern Digital employee Heinz Wolter <br /><br />"<em>The most interesting thing in that whole system was that Wes Graham (of Watfor fortran compiler fame) had written a copyrighted poem (Haiku) that was an unencrypted key required to run the software.</em>"<br /><br />The microWATs were used, among other places, at UW for academic teaching and research. The introduction of the IBM PC in August 1981 and the subsequent rapid growth of IBM PC-compatible computer market put an end to the microWAT and SuperPET programs.<br /><br /><strong>microWAT technical specifications:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>CPU -- Motorola 6809, 8-bit</li>
<li>RAM -- three memory cards, 32Kb each</li>
<li>ROM -- 60Kb</li>
<li>ports -- two RS-232 compatible serial ports (implemented using MOS Technology 6551 Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter),</li>
<li>a single parallel port (implemented using the MOS Technology 6522 Versatile Interface Adapter)</li>
</ul>
<br /><strong>microWAT software:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>monitor</li>
<li>micro BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN, COBOL and APL languages</li>
</ul>
The museum has a microWAT computer with a CSG "key" card.<br /><br /><strong>References:</strong><br />
<p>[1] D.D. Cowan and J.W. Graham, Waterloo Microcomputer Systems for the 1980's, <em>Proceedings of the ACM '82,</em> pp. 13–17 (1982). <br /><br />[2] R.L. Hughson, Alternations in the oxygen deficit-oxygen debt relationship with beta-adrenergic receptor blockade in man", <em>J. Physiol</em>. 349, pp. 375-387 (1984).</p>
Developed by the University of Waterloo, Manufactured by Northern Digital Ltd.
1980--
H.25
Ontario, Canada, 1980-1983[?]
DY-4 DVME Boards
hardware: single board computers and peripheral cards
Various DVME computer boards designed by DY 4including:
DVME 102 Single Board Computer
DVME 105 Single Board Microcomputer
DVME 134 32 bit CPU
DVME 201 Eight Serial and Dual-Parallel Port I/O Board
DVME 704 Intelligent Serial I/O Module
DVME 706 Intelligent Serial Communications Module
DVME 712 Z80A Single Board Computer
DVME 715 Intelligent SMD Winchester Disk Controller
DVME 750 Intelligent IEEE 802.3 LAN Controller
DY 4
DY 4
Donated by Mati Sauks
YUCoM Canadian Hardware Collection
DY-4-2
c1987
DY-4 SDK Computer System
computer hardware
Rack mounted SDK computer system consisting of 2 cages of SDK boards and 2 power supply's. Note attached stating "Property of DY-4 Systems, Product Number FA-85-0159"
The system includes the DY-4 following boards:
STD 102
STD 188
STD 325
STD 401
STD 711
The system also includes the following board:
XYZFL-II
DY-4
DY-4
1985
Donated by Mati Sauks
YUCoM Canadian Hardware Collection
DY-4-10