COMPUTER MEMORIES, Chapter 55

COMPUTERS AND VIDEO TAPE, YEARS AGO
I have a photo of myself (somewhere, if I find it I will post it), in a then secret laboratory at Control Data in the early 1960’s, sitting in front of a TV that is displaying data presented by what I remember was the CDC 3800 computer. Video tape in those days was about 2-1/2 inches wide, and the computer could read or write black and white video data for only 10 to 15 seconds at a time, before it had to stop and read or write a magnetic tape.

At that time, many computer users had huge printed reports (inches thick), that had to be printed and reprinted every week, or even more often. The report was bound, then clerks had to leaf through the huge report, looking for needed information.

I don’t remember what CDC intended to do with this video tape system, but it was my stated request and hope (and the only reason I was permitted in that room) that a video tape system could be developed so that the report data could be written to video tape, then data on the tape could be scanned by a TV. That is, the operator would hold down a button and watch the data stream past, stopping when the needed data was found. Perhaps a table of contents showing “tape inches” could be printed, so that the operator could “fast forward” to near the needed data.

At that time, even I did not expect that the operator could enter a number, then a computer would operate the tape, scanning the data, and stop when there was a match. Just a little too advanced for the time, and I have never heard that anyone did this in the years since. Obviously, the development of on-line terminals eliminated the need for such a thing, but what did I know was coming in the next few years.

I never heard anything else about this project at Control Data, so have no idea what then had in mind, or what happened next.