Manchester ‘1998 The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth of the Modern Computer June 18,...

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The University of Manchester Celebrates the Birth of the Modern

Computer

June 18, 1998

Gordon Bell

Microsoft Corporation

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1948… the stored program “value of the order codes” 1958 one level stores ideas and technology transfer---

influencing the rest of the world 1998 the best is yet to come

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The stored program concept...

“the most exciting time was June 1948 when the first machine worked. Nothing could ever compare with that.” --Kilburn, 1992

anyone who has ever built a “universal” hardware or software machine has had this feeling...

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NSF tree

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NSF tree base

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Manchester logic and memory

“Random access” memory got the computer started

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Baby

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Wilkes with EDSAC Delay line memory

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On order code compatibility and program investment

“when a machine was finished, and a number of subroutines in use, the order code could not be altered without causing a great deal of trouble. There would be almost as much capital sunk in the library of sub-routines as the machine itself, and builders of new machines in the future might wish to make use of the same order code as an existing machine in order that the sub-routines could be taken over without modification” --- Wilkes ‘49

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Three implications… holds for all order codes including machines, operating systems, databases, languages, and some apps Very high cost of similar computers

and fatal flaw for most designs e.g. 100 minicomputer companies

The Unix Cartel… high priced apps and systems, locked-in users

Standards driven “virtuous cycle”

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The law of program and data inertia sustains platforms!

The investment in programs and processes to use them, and data exceed hardware costs

The cost to switch among platforms e.g. IBM mainframe, VMS, a VendorIX, or Windows/NT is determined by the data and programs

The goals of hardware suppliers are uniqueness to differentiate and lock-in

The goals of software/database suppliers are: to differentiate and lock-in and operate on as many platforms as possible in order to be not tied to a hardware vendor

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Software Economics: Bill’s Law

Bill Joy’s law (Sun): don’t write software for <100,000 platforms @$10 million engineering expense, $1,000 price

Bill Gate’s law:don’t write software for <1,000,000 platforms @$10M engineering expense, $100 price

Examples: –UNIX versus Windows NT: $3,500 versus $500–Oracle versus SQL-Server: $100,000 versus $6,000–No spreadsheet or presentation pack on UNIX/VMS/...

Commoditization of base software and hardware

PricePriceFixed_costFixed_cost

Marginal _costMarginal _cost==UnitsUnits

++

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Inno

vatio

n

The Virtuous Economic Cycle that drives the PC industry

Volum

e

Competition

Standards

Utility/value

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Deuce Drum: Imagine synchronizing this drum with 11, 32-word delay lines

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Deuce Console

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English Electric Deuce… Commercialisation of NPL Pilot Ace

Based on Turing’s design - Harry Huskey c1947 After attending Turing’s NPL Lectures in 1947 Kilburn

was not to build a computing machine “like that”

Micro-coded instructions. Direct action … bits controlled hardware. Lots of bits to chose and get right!

Paging used … matrix packages, SODA… our desire to make it more“programmable”,

and convert it into an IBM 650 Used by Fortran and George (for KDF9)

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Manchester exports Stored program concept “existence proof” The first generation memory Manchester phase encoding B tubes aka index registers…

– Pegasus’ general registers... Extracodes Paging & the one level store Programmed controlled I/O ICL architecture, Dataflow, Amulet,