MINICOMPUTERS AND PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATORS John F. Barkley, Jr. Special Area Editor office. But these systems are encapsulated for specific applications. There is a need for a general purpose single-user minicomputer system which is as easy to use as some programmable calculators but without the performance liabilities. The most traditional form of the minicomputer system is the single-user system. It is pr4m-~ily since the invention of the word '~4nicomputer" that minicOmputers have been used in applications which require some form of multi-tasking, such as, message switching, industrial process monitoring, and laboratory instrument control. Indeed, some forms of these applications are implemented with slngle-user systems using FORTRAN or BASIC. The single-user minicOmputer systems available today are hardly recognizable from their earlier counterparts. Early m4nlcomputer systems like early sports cars had no creature comforts. The available software, if there was any, usually consisted of an assembler, a loader (not necessarily a linking loader), and maybe BASIC. Someone who did not know much about computers really had to have hair on his chest to use these early systems. Today, single-user systems come with a choice of FORTRAN or BASIC, text editors, overlay capabilities, file systems, etc. Consequently, more inexperienced people are attempting to use minicomputers to build their graphics displays or run their mass spectrometers. Courses are now given in some university science departments on the use of minicomputers for the acquisition of experimental data. However, minicomputer systems have yet to surpass the new programmable calculators in usability. They are progr~mm-ble in BASIC. They have a built-in operating system and text editor. Silent keyboards and hardcopy output are an integral part of the design. Generally, only one manual is consulted for all aspects of program preparation, execution, and storage. There are no such things as systems generation, relocatable load modules, assemblers, binary object modules, and other such Jargonistic entities. On the other hand, programmable calculators can have no interrupts and they are up to one hundred times slower. This precludes their use for a large class of applications. It would be a pleasant surprise to see a well packaged single-user minicomputer system as friendly to the uninitiated computer user as these programmable caiculators. There seems to be a trend in this direction with the new educational systems for the classroom and the data management systems for the THE MOST SIGNIFICANT BITS J. E. Godderz Special Area Editor I will begin this column with a reply to Paul Meilaud, whose letter appeared in the March issue of SIGMINI Newsletter. Paul sent me a copy of the letter which was later reprinted in the Forum. First - I agree wholeheartedly with Paul's comments on the importance of reviews/analyses of hardware and software. Unfortunately, I have not received any such reviews/analyses from any users. I have received a few product announcements frOm vendors, but these may not be as impartial as a user's comments could be. I would be very anxious to help any user share his/ her experiences, criticisms or praise. Second - the surveys of minicomputers in the trade journals provide a list of machines and their characteristics which are currently available from a variety of vendors. The list may be of help to some people and of no help to others. At present, I have no information concerning the membership of SIGMINI: how many are novices in the field of minicomputers? How .Lany are experts? How many are looking for turnkey systems for specific applications? How many are looking for the most sophisticated hardware available so that they can develop their own complicated software systems? I would like to hear from you members what information you feel would help you to do your jobs better - or is of interest to you. I also ask those of you having experience with specific hardware/software products to share your views with others. I received a product Announcement for a language which permits the writing of structured programs on Nova minis. The product is called ASGOLtm and is available from MDB Systems, Inc. ASGOLtm uses constructs such as block structuring, while-do, if-then-else, and case statements. An exit statement is provided to -5-

/lp/association-for-computing-machinery/minicomputers-and-programmable-calculators-NoCYoDsyeN