From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 17248 invoked from network); 9 Sep 2022 01:35:04 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 9 Sep 2022 01:35:04 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F289D428A4; Fri, 9 Sep 2022 11:34:58 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-il1-f172.google.com (mail-il1-f172.google.com [209.85.166.172]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D20E1422AB for ; Fri, 9 Sep 2022 11:34:54 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-il1-f172.google.com with SMTP id k9so101520ils.12 for ; Thu, 08 Sep 2022 18:34:54 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=dartmouth.edu; s=google1; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:from:to:cc:subject :date; bh=wAvpwpN5ZinTTDHtOB56J/fIfxZvg2cXDYAnduo/H38=; b=FY0/ah9AzUSYLxhGeVsdaaedl6p0IJ7GlEfX40oXSK0Lhx+IiJJOUK7GHX4KNGxFV6 OKFlieCXGxRToHgODHrTGrRtMiILigpEgD8Gv0h3SZftTJCnYe1IaSmu3ZFwMGy/p9u4 BoNMNAbg+o5hXjUEjvJEHpYO6K5ukBNAcypv4ayf8jOuE02GIbxXc3tROQhwDIj6eN8e 8aRBZAarzvOjDfgczVgXfjcHU93Se6tL1ARNxxIlcDVKZ5YdhKCcw4wWozvrgmsd26rn wiu12ae4eFw2gjEDgAlCVIWtA22qVhN30JwEAHl6O0IRPGmG+h6GmNKkc7RbSlHLo9vh z6Ng== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:x-gm-message-state :from:to:cc:subject:date; bh=wAvpwpN5ZinTTDHtOB56J/fIfxZvg2cXDYAnduo/H38=; b=enkp4XLyCQe0NSDQ1DQpoUdvOvgg9IilJ22A6bNCGYozY0/SZa6zWsdoTexygWKLqC +B3V7IVTEpVkbtqp0XQZzV5dGMgmDNJdxR489wZKVhz3WdmbiL6rg3WifqbLr5pvTqlL 9ZjH34+BeOuMThlxDhLsdaPgVkOnkfFwMoqMMb63pTr/JNlcKWUwxr6dXl6xBlbU+IzK EYDQi/iNtUQvsMlEjmPy2jN20k8IvDoQHArsW+j/FdZcCBl/vC1Hi2g0X8S6aV2QwL2J ij+quBpnWiz7MlNnFVHGqBcw18lAD9jp/f76tjt5/Dk7xzzezwbox82sTwkfdQtsU3UT ydSg== X-Gm-Message-State: ACgBeo1pFdCkgFzinHXoPnL0ggB29I/jIMNN49C6+49tAn7uUgA0E3J1 BSDyX5IOreH8Z3r/3AHJNrmSSHXEuTPh7e1FAbLzIem7ZqoD5g== X-Google-Smtp-Source: AA6agR69o37nGksdT7BCbDLLTOSmjJKd//p18aoew+4xNtM25iAZBk8F4uXFbXVQYmEuriuj5feqPs5GGhOK1Lgo5aU= X-Received: by 2002:a05:6e02:1aa3:b0:2f1:d2a4:c7c3 with SMTP id l3-20020a056e021aa300b002f1d2a4c7c3mr3244264ilv.292.1662687234045; Thu, 08 Sep 2022 18:33:54 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 From: Douglas McIlroy Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2022 21:33:42 -0400 Message-ID: To: TUHS main list Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Message-ID-Hash: KO5P7LSRNG52OSVW4ULMRH4ZT3QI7DS2 X-Message-ID-Hash: KO5P7LSRNG52OSVW4ULMRH4ZT3QI7DS2 X-MailFrom: douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: Does anybody know the etymology of the term "word" as in collection of bits? List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: > I heard that the IBM 709 > series had 36 bit words because Arthur Samuel, > then at IBM, needed 32 bits to identify the playable squares on a > checkerboard, plus some bits for color and kinged To be precise, Samuel's checkers program was written for the 701, which originated the architecture that the 709 inherited. Note that IBM punched cards had 72 data columns plus 8 columns typically dedicated to sequence numbers. 700-series machines supported binary IO encoded two words per row, 12 rows per card--a perfect fit to established technology. (I do not know whether the fit was deliberate or accidental.) As to where the byte came from, it was christened for the IBM Stretch, aka 7020. The machine was bit-addressed and the width of a byte was variable. Multidimensional arrays of packed bytes could be streamed at blinding speeds. Eight bits, which synced well with the 7020's 64-bit words, was standardized in the 360 series. The term "byte" was not used in connection with 700-series machines. Doug