Univac move to Blue Bell PA
lwin
> > campus in Blue Bell, PA, where they are to this day.
>
> Don't you mean Unisys?
>
> (I live a few miles from 'em)
They were Univac when they moved out there.
Don Quixote
>x-no-archive: yes
>...
>Would anyone know what prompted them to leave Philadelphia?
(Presuming you mean Unisys... Last I hear the U of P was
still maintaining a presence in Philadelphia? Or were they
(Eckert and Mauchly) out of Philadelphia by then?)
Same reason everyone does.
Actually I think Filthidelphia was in a long period of
decline at the time. Not unlike many other cities, but
seeing as how I lived there, I am willing to be disparaging
of the place. I have heard it is better now, but still
avoid the place.
It probably boils down to money, most things do. Wage taxes
come to mind, as well as that quality of life thingy. Do
cities in Pennsylvania have taxes on corporations?
--
'After I started drinking yesterday I didn't do anything else stupid.
That would seem to speak for itself.'
Adam, in the Monastery.
Bill Marcum
lwin wrote in message <94a2st$c...@netaxs.com>...
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>Many years ago Univac moved from Philadelphia out to a new office
>campus in Blue Bell, PA, where they are to this day.
>
the town from Blue Ball? Is Intercourse still there?
Dave Lugo
AFAIK, UNIVAC refers to a series of systems, it was not a company name.
Unisys was formed when Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986.
Do you have a cite where the company was known as Univac?
Regards,
Dave
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Shawn Dessaigne
: lwin wrote in message <94a2st$c...@netaxs.com>...
Blue Bell and Blue Ball are two different places. They both still exist,
as does Intercourse.
--
Shawn Dessaigne - http://www.tcnj.edu/~dessaig2/
/------------------------------------------------\
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| con...@yahoo.com | a French horn is it's |
|-----------------------| too tangled up." |
| Music Education Major |------------------------|
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\------------------------------------------------/
Eric Fischer
> AFAIK, UNIVAC refers to a series of systems, it was not a company name.
> Unisys was formed when Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986.
>
> Do you have a cite where the company was known as Univac?
The early records of the ASA (now ANSI) X3.2 (now X3L2) subcommittee
tend to refer to the company as "Remington Rand UNIVAC." By the early
1970s there was "UNIVAC, Division of Sperry Rand" instead. Then in the
February, 1979 issue of Datamation there is an ad from Sperry Univac,
with a footnote at the bottom "Sperry Univac is a division of Sperry
Rand Corporation." So even if it was never more than a division, it
was still more than a product.
eric
John Varela
> They had a lot of big signs outside their sites that said Univac.
Now you know you're old.
--
John Varela
Bruce B. Reynolds
writes:
>>Many years ago Univac moved from Philadelphia out to a new office
>>campus in Blue Bell, PA, where they are to this day.
>>
>You mean after all the years of jokes, they finally changed the name of
>the town from Blue Ball? Is Intercourse still there?
>
Different taverns/different towns: Blue Bell is in Montgomery County, along
PA 73, northeast of Norristown; Blue Ball is in Lancaster County, along
US 322, and northeast of Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand.
--
Bruce B. Reynolds, Independent/Legacy Systems Consultant: Trailing Edge
Technologies, Glenside PA---Sweeping Up Behind Data Processing Dinosaurs
Bruce B. Reynolds
>The location seemed an poor place for a World Headquarters. It was
>far from the airport and back then a long drive over strictly local
>roads.
Part of the movement of HQs to exurban places: there is a local airport,
which used to have scheduled flights (Wings Field), but the local roads
are all still two-lanes in the area, which now includes other HQs such
as US Healthcare. Who was the Sperry Univac chief at the time, and
did he live on one of the horse farms along Skippack Pike???
>I could understand wanting to move out of the Pep Boys auto parts
>warehouse--building transistorized computers alongside rebuilding
>carburettors isn't cool.
Was not the Philadelphia building the WWII building of Atwater Kent in
the Hunting Park area? Plenty of hi-tech stuff was done there, even
before UNIVAC, and without air conditioning.
Dave Lugo
Unisys themselves have probably forgotten by now :)
Micheal H. McCabe
>Different taverns/different towns: Blue Bell is in Montgomery County, along
>PA 73, northeast of Norristown; Blue Ball is in Lancaster County, along
>US 322, and northeast of Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand.
Hence the expression: The way to Paradise is through Intercourse.
--
Micheal H. McCabe
p98m...@aol.com
Mike
It's not *always* the way to Paradise... Last time there, I rushed across
the main street to a bakery during a driving rainstorm to buy a shoo-fly
pie, only to have the Amish woman shut and lock the door in my face -- it
was Saturday, 5 o'clock sharp! I didn't think those folks were supposed to
be using digital timepieces :-)
Mike
Williams, Steve
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>> AFAIK, UNIVAC refers to a series of systems, it was not a company name.
>> Unisys was formed when Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986.
>
>> Do you have a cite where the company was known as Univac?
>
Herman Lukoff describes the early history of EMCC -> Univac ->
Remington Rand Univac in his boof 'From Dits to Bits'. He was one of
the earlier EMCC emplyees, an original geek coming from a ham radio
background. (I don't think Herman would have been upset at being
characterised a geek.)
I don't have a copy of the book handy, but I seem to remember that the
name Univac was used as the corporate name for a short time before the
Remington takeover.
He also mentions the move to Bluebell, but not much about the
intentions behind it. From what I remember of what he wrote, one thing
they wanted was to set up a campus atmosphere where head office,
marketing, development and manufacturing could coexist in some
proximity. That would have been expensive even in the suburbs of a big
town undergoing the post-war building boom.
If you can still find it, I would recommend this book.
jchausler
John Varela wrote:
The truly depressing thing is that they probably don't know
that "univac" has some other previous connotation.
Chris
AN GETTO$;DUMP;RUN,ALGOL,TAPE
$$
wri...@sabu.ebay.sun.com
> lwi...@bbs.cpcn.com (lwin) wrote:
>
> >x-no-archive: yes
> >
> >> AFAIK, UNIVAC refers to a series of systems, it was not a company name.
> >> Unisys was formed when Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986.
> >
> >> Do you have a cite where the company was known as Univac?
> >
>
It is Machine Accounting 3 & 2
Sabu
Chris Hedley
jchausler <jcha...@earthlink.net> writes:
> John Varela wrote:
>> http://www.univac.com/
>>
>> Now you know you're old.
>
> The truly depressing thing is that they probably don't know
> that "univac" has some other previous connotation.
Sigh; lots of brands are being lost. First the VAX becomes better known
as a vacuum cleaner, now Univac books holidays for you. Long gone are the
days where Ye Olde Tea Shoppe built its own range of mainframes!
Chris.
Micheal H. McCabe
> Last time there, I rushed across
>the main street to a bakery during a driving rainstorm to buy a shoo-fly
>pie, only to have the Amish woman shut and lock the door in my face -- it
>was Saturday, 5 o'clock sharp! I didn't think those folks were supposed to
>be using digital timepieces :-)
I live within shouting distance of an Amish Community....
Thus, seing an Amish man in the hardware store didn't suprise me....
He was asking his brother what grade of bolts he was supposed to buy.
He was using a cellular phone!
Guess the definition of "plain" changes from place to place!
--
Micheal H. McCabe
Charlie Gibbs
>x-no-archive: yes
>
>> AFAIK, UNIVAC refers to a series of systems, it was not a company
>> name. Unisys was formed when Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986.
>
>> Do you have a cite where the company was known as Univac?
>
>They had a lot of big signs outside their sites that said Univac.
>
>After the merger with Sperry, it was known as Sperry Univac.
When I joined them in '79, they were known as Sperry Univac,
although lots of their older hardware still in the field simply
said Univac. When I left in '83 they had just changed their
name to Sperry, which is what it was at the time they merged
with Burroughs to become Unisys.
--
cgi...@sky.bus.com (Charlie Gibbs)
Remove the first period after the "at" sign to reply.
D.J.
p98m...@aol.com (Micheal H. McCabe) wrote:
[]I live within shouting distance of an Amish Community....
[]
[]Thus, seing an Amish man in the hardware store didn't suprise me....
[]
[]He was asking his brother what grade of bolts he was supposed to buy.
[]
[]He was using a cellular phone!
[]
[]Guess the definition of "plain" changes from place to place!
I know someone who is a Mennonite. Different groups within those
communities either have no modern items, or decide on a case by case
basis what modern items are allowed. The guy I know has Internet
access and electricity in his house. If I remember correctly, he has
a clothes washer, but not a dish washer.
JimP.
--
djim55 at tyhe datasync dot com. Disclaimer: Standard.
Updated: January 17, 2001
http://www.crosswinds.net/~djim51/updated.html
Registered Linux user#185746
Mike
> communities either have no modern items, or decide on a case by case
> basis what modern items are allowed.
Usually the bishop or elders of each community decides what is "modern" and
what is not. These days, it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to
survive economically unless they adopt some modern conveniences, hence
phones, computers, etc., are more prevalent. It leads to some interesting
anachronisms, though. For example, you may find the power for the computer
being generated from propane <g>.
Mike
Walter Bushell
>Mike
So a good deal of the power in the "real world" is generated from natural
gas, what' the diff. ;)
--
--
walter
And differing opinions serve but to declare,
The truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where. A. Pope
Adam Sampson
> I live within shouting distance of an Amish Community....
> Thus, seing an Amish man in the hardware store didn't suprise me....
> He was asking his brother what grade of bolts he was supposed to buy.
> He was using a cellular phone!
> Guess the definition of "plain" changes from place to place!
Wired (yes, I know, but it's not that bad) covered this a couple of
years ago. <URL:http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish_pr.html>
--
Adam Sampson
a...@gnu.org
Eric Chomko
: > Hence the expression: The way to Paradise is through Intercourse.
My cookoo clock keeps just as good time as my electric clock, except when
I let the weights hit the floor. Then it's only as good as the rest of the
clocks in the world that are right twice a day. :)
Eric
: Mike
Eric Chomko
: In article <94dsl3$c...@netaxs.com> lwi...@bbs.cpcn.com (lwin) writes:
[...]
: >After the merger with Sperry, it was known as Sperry Univac.
: When I joined them in '79, they were known as Sperry Univac,
: although lots of their older hardware still in the field simply
: said Univac. When I left in '83 they had just changed their
: name to Sperry, which is what it was at the time they merged
: with Burroughs to become Unisys.
But wasn't Sperry called Sperry Rand at one point? And before that
(Sperry), Rand was part of Remmington Rand? I have a mechanical calculator
with a metal tag: Remmington Rand. I suspect that this goes back to the
50s but am unsure for certain.
Eric
Eric Chomko
: A 1963 navy book refers to UNIVAC, a Division of Sperry Rand Company.
And before that Rand was part of Remmington Rand.
Eric
Benjamin D. Lukoff
"Williams, Steve" <st...@lgx.ch.unisys.com> wrote:
> lwi...@bbs.cpcn.com (lwin) wrote:
>
> Herman Lukoff describes the early history of EMCC -> Univac ->
> Remington Rand Univac in his boof 'From Dits to Bits'. He was one of
> the earlier EMCC emplyees, an original geek coming from a ham radio
> background. (I don't think Herman would have been upset at being
> characterised a geek.)
> I don't have a copy of the book handy, but I seem to remember that the
> name Univac was used as the corporate name for a short time before the
> Remington takeover.
> If you can still find it, I would recommend this book.
This is a wonderful book and I'd like to find a copy of it myself! So
far I have only been able to find it in libraries. It's out of print,
and there is only one used copy I've been able to locate on the
net...asking price $150! I'd love to see this book back in print. Maybe
Dover could be convinced to do it. Until then, your library's
interlibrary loan service ought to be able to get a copy for you.
Ben Lukoff
(remove the current year from my email address to reply)
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Harvey Taylor
<blu...@my-deja.com> Benjamin D. Lukoff wrote:
> In article <9bqn6t8alroguvlgj...@4ax.com>,
> "Williams, Steve" <st...@lgx.ch.unisys.com> wrote:
>> lwi...@bbs.cpcn.com (lwin) wrote:
>>
>> Herman Lukoff describes the early history of EMCC -> Univac ->
>> Remington Rand Univac in his boof 'From Dits to Bits'.
> [snip]
> > If you can still find it, I would recommend this book.
>
> This is a wonderful book
>
There is another decent Univac book called
"A Few Good men from Univac" by D.E. Lundstrom.
MIT Press ISBN: 0-262-12120-4
<cordially>
-het
--
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Harvey Taylor mailto:h...@despam.pangea.ca http://www.pangea.ca/~het
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jchausler
"Benjamin D. Lukoff" wrote:
> This is a wonderful book and I'd like to find a copy of it myself! So
> far I have only been able to find it in libraries. It's out of print,
> and there is only one used copy I've been able to locate on the
> net...asking price $150! I'd love to see this book back in print. Maybe
> Dover could be convinced to do it. Until then, your library's
> interlibrary loan service ought to be able to get a copy for you.
Based on your name, are you related to Herman? Yes it is a fine
book. I have a copy I purchased in 79 or so at the personal
computer convention in Philly (it had been the Atlantic City
show previously) that year. I was very sad when finishing the
book I read that he had died just after completing it. (And,
no, I don't plan to sell my copy ;-)
Brian Inglis
<dji...@cheesydatasync.com> wrote:
>
>p98m...@aol.com (Micheal H. McCabe) wrote:
>I live within shouting distance of an Amish Community....
>Thus, seing an Amish man in the hardware store didn't suprise me....
>He was asking his brother what grade of bolts he was supposed to buy.
>He was using a cellular phone!
>Guess the definition of "plain" changes from place to place!
>
> I know someone who is a Mennonite. Different groups within those
>communities either have no modern items, or decide on a case by case
>basis what modern items are allowed. The guy I know has Internet
>access and electricity in his house. If I remember correctly, he has
>a clothes washer, but not a dish washer.
>
>JimP.
I thought I saw some of our local Hutterites in a mall using a
cell phone, but I thought...Naw, they must just be dressed in a
similar style. So I guess comms technology has a high priority
nowadays, presumably for safety as well as convenience, given
their geographically dispersed communities, and distance from
supply centres.
Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada
--
Brian_...@CSi.com (Brian dot Inglis at SystematicSw dot ab dot ca)
use address above to reply
lwin
>
> > This is a wonderful book and I'd like to find a copy of it myself! So
> > far I have only been able to find it in libraries. It's out of print,
> > and there is only one used copy I've been able to locate on the
> > net...asking price $150! I'd love to see this book back in print. Maybe
> > Dover could be convinced to do it. Until then, your library's
> > interlibrary loan service ought to be able to get a copy for you.
An interesting comparison is that between Lukoff and Tom Watson.
While Lukoff was working his way through school climbing under
the county of seedy bars to run jukebox wires, Watson was having
a blast at NYC's fanciest clubs (21, Stork, etc.).
David Powell
jchausler <jcha...@earthlink.net> writes:
> John Varela wrote:
>> http://www.univac.com/
>>
>> Now you know you're old.
>
> The truly depressing thing is that they probably don't know
> that "univac" has some other previous connotation.
Agreed. It's much the same with the current useage of "Flip Chip".
Regards,
David P.
Benjamin D. Lukoff
He was my cousin, but not my first cousin. I never knew him
personally, though my father did when they were growing up in
Philadelphia.