Comment by Waterluvian
4 months ago
In Part 2 the photo immediately after “It seems IBM integrated it to the motherboard” completely fooled my brain into believing that I’m looking at the side wall of a garage. The garage door to the left. The opener equipment top-right.
And I’m just immediately fixated on this whole vibe of a life-sized tinkering workspace that’s the inside of a PC case.
makes me think of the IBM AN/FSQ-7 built into the SAGE air defense stations, the largest computer ever built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FSQ-7_Combat_Direction_Cent...
While realistically I understand it was just a bunch of racks and consoles, due to the permanent nature of the installation and the way it was integrated into the building I like to imagine the operators and technicians scurrying around admits bunches of wires and tubes.
> Weight 250 tons
So that doesn’t qualify for free shipping, I imagine.
I absolutely love the aesthetic of a big classic telephone receiver attached to the end.
Those huge CRT vector consoles with the light gun are amazing as well.
And, and, (I really am unable to contain my glee here) each one come with a cigarette lighter and ashtray. I love it.
Growing up My father enjoyed classic cars and at one point we had a 1962 Cadillac, and yes, it did have the infamous Cadillac fins, not as majestic as the 1959 models(peak fin year) but they were there, it looked like a four door bat-mobile. Anyway, the other thing I remember about it was that it had 5 ashtrays and lighters, one for each kid. Truly peak luxury.