quadibloc
2024-08-08 05:02:03 UTC
Recently, I ran across this web page:
http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-evolution-of-ibm.html
It included a photo of the SSEC being inspected by people at Harvard;
apparently, after the
SSEC was decommissioned at IBM's downtown headquarters building, and
taken apart, instead of
being put into storage immediately, it was loaned to Harvard in order to
be put into service
there.
In a way, it's surprising that Harvard, instead of, say, Columbia
University was the lucky
recipient, what with the SSEC coming into being because Watson was
miffed at Harvard's Aiken.
Be that as it may, while the photo is credited to a news wire service,
its proximate source
is a children's encyclopedia, so I don't expect to find much additional
detail by pursuing the
trail directly, and Google searches, so far, have also not turned up
much.
But apparently the SSEC had a longer operational life span than
generally realized, having had
a second life that has generally been forgotten.
Maybe not. Maybe they couldn't put it back together and get it working
at Harvard, for all I
know.
But perhaps someone here has encountered this little-known story.
John Savard
http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-evolution-of-ibm.html
It included a photo of the SSEC being inspected by people at Harvard;
apparently, after the
SSEC was decommissioned at IBM's downtown headquarters building, and
taken apart, instead of
being put into storage immediately, it was loaned to Harvard in order to
be put into service
there.
In a way, it's surprising that Harvard, instead of, say, Columbia
University was the lucky
recipient, what with the SSEC coming into being because Watson was
miffed at Harvard's Aiken.
Be that as it may, while the photo is credited to a news wire service,
its proximate source
is a children's encyclopedia, so I don't expect to find much additional
detail by pursuing the
trail directly, and Google searches, so far, have also not turned up
much.
But apparently the SSEC had a longer operational life span than
generally realized, having had
a second life that has generally been forgotten.
Maybe not. Maybe they couldn't put it back together and get it working
at Harvard, for all I
know.
But perhaps someone here has encountered this little-known story.
John Savard