Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $69.93, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $69.93, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $69.93, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $69.93, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $70.40, new condition, Sold by Just one more Chapter rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Miramar, FL, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $109.19, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
Add this copy of Computer Engineering: a Dec View of Hardware Systems to cart. $121.97, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1978 by Digital Press.
This book just seems to stick to my hands. Can't seem to put it back on the shelf. Guess I should fess-up that I'm a vintage computing aficionado but I have several other such books and none are this sticky.
It covers the development and evolution of DEC's computer line up to about 1978. That was, in many ways, the pinnacle of minicomputer development. Focuses particularly on the PDP-11 and PDP-8 lines. Provides an excellent mix of systems-level technical info (such as instruction set tradeoffs) and management level product strategy (such as price performance tradeoffs). Doesn't just do hand-waving arguments. Presents real performance studies and hard data. Really gives you a feel for what it was like to try to build the best minicomputers in that era. Agonizes over things like the proliferation of floating point add-on options.
It was a time of simple, command-line operating systems and processors without the complexities of advanced protected modes and multiple pipelines. Men were men, and sheep were glad of it (sorry :).
Anyway, Bell and friends really do keep your (well my) interest, as they struggle with the staggering changes, which computers went through in the seventies. Memory went from core to semiconductor; logic went from transistors, to small ICs to LSI. Small computer prices dropped from $18K to maybe $4K. It was an exciting time and these guys really tell it like it was.
