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_ADSP_CUSTOM_MED, DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED,FREEMAIL_FROM,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 2852 invoked from network); 16 Sep 2022 05:56:46 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 16 Sep 2022 05:56:46 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3D0BB4178B; Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:56:39 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-oa1-f47.google.com (mail-oa1-f47.google.com [209.85.160.47]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A8A0B41772 for ; Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:56:30 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-oa1-f47.google.com with SMTP id 586e51a60fabf-1279948d93dso50596136fac.10 for ; Thu, 15 Sep 2022 22:56:30 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20210112; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:in-reply-to:references :mime-version:from:to:cc:subject:date; bh=93kR1X0SSMN+QweV0HLNyaqMd5r3TM9zQ+yUOqGRHjU=; b=eajrBRajB5AoQ2pphndvIjMuaJahQz1EOhdFRohpy6CQDSJo6jW/0gaVjc6roALfaS 9QjYrwCS947KcaPR2x4nYF1mDA/5mcZw4xs8qgN0dY5KssL8loHKV8ah40iis16AzAf/ zTSM4/lsgtfEth9yACWH7rXNAwnhfpjbgGBnwr3r0uaP4N8cdE1wIEfcLY+if08WSa0D IlwQQQHNqrd+hEp1BYQbRg3YqX222ti+87a72PMzyApphlGDOTvJFO6P35jE+4B8IxnX ayaLlD80DOyy9mKNA6RztqAtOpJWQCFfZrtZiP2iiKbDCMtsX+Qj2j7SAGylq2Fzfxsm 2Zog== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:in-reply-to:references :mime-version:x-gm-message-state:from:to:cc:subject:date; bh=93kR1X0SSMN+QweV0HLNyaqMd5r3TM9zQ+yUOqGRHjU=; b=ogApXyvdhlW5AbgW0FpkB3PjvxWwBRV8OTyTbCQl2PKVx0WNaXq5+ylhXfgPcNgDO7 DuEMOmg7fdDA8b5uAHpg1DHX0mOSvg9/fl0Qgw5FCrywALI+C4XpMlrNNru+MrTrKHuU mKJ2nResRkMB0/z3gZBWmFuc+DHtfQSvFHINEcMIKtGyVYG4+JkI4io2MAA04vmRIZ8l Wf4McRhL0q4Vjt/oTyJMzDLmdKh+Z9ovXgVigej3Gv1d/u+092h4nFVHXBBZZj+sEnu7 XTHEX5N0VC3+ZbkW3wZeGLix34HQ4iJXL6kZGitcJa5XFwi9OZj/q0yfLp1GNsQZh+gx 83XQ== X-Gm-Message-State: ACrzQf2sO6K4r42eZDNIgoGs+D90YLTyMz4xxboHIn+fyo6YR6pYfIAD afBZNC5yvG4tPwglQTZ1FqQP31Q7thAduJh0++w= X-Google-Smtp-Source: AMsMyM6/EAwuScye5WGLrXwG7Cdj9O9wEXSdXAHLjlt9qTWMF+8h+DpXZ4Ytl9T8n2Po+rtfeMYa67MBY+OrIgBqYaM= X-Received: by 2002:a05:6870:d6a9:b0:127:fb20:c5c0 with SMTP id z41-20020a056870d6a900b00127fb20c5c0mr1858857oap.175.1663307729372; Thu, 15 Sep 2022 22:55:29 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: In-Reply-To: From: Marc Donner Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 01:55:18 -0400 Message-ID: To: Douglas McIlroy Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0000000000005c8a8d05e8c502f8" Message-ID-Hash: 3EATHXOMJ2FUAYSINAHHZGVDBVET3KYK X-Message-ID-Hash: 3EATHXOMJ2FUAYSINAHHZGVDBVET3KYK X-MailFrom: marc.donner@gmail.com 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 CC: TUHS main list 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: --0000000000005c8a8d05e8c502f8 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable BTW, IBM=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CComputer Museum=E2=80=9D has (had?) a (the?) St= retch and Harvest. The =E2=80=9Cmuseum=E2=80=9D is a warehouse full of old stuff. On Thu, Sep 8, 2022 at 9:35 PM Douglas McIlroy < douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu> wrote: > > 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 > --=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D nygeek.net mindthegapdialogs.com/home --0000000000005c8a8d05e8c502f8 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
BTW, IBM=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CComputer Museum=E2=80=9D has = (had?) a (the?) Stretch and Harvest.=C2=A0 The =E2=80=9Cmuseum=E2=80=9D is = a warehouse full of old stuff.=C2=A0

On Thu, Sep 8, 2022 at 9:35 PM Dou= glas McIlroy <douglas.m= cilroy@dartmouth.edu> wrote:
=C2=A0> 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
--
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3Dnygeek.net
<= a href=3D"https://www.mindthegapdialogs.com/home" target=3D"_blank">mindthe= gapdialogs.com/home
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