More IBM-tans III: The One With Actually More IBM-tans

[stewartsage]

If only she'll give him a chance (and the 7090 girls don't sabotage him?)

[Bella]

Plot twist: the ordnance computers and 7090s try to set them up instead.

[stewartsage]

This is why I had to explain the plot of The Pajama Game to you, leading right to this very moment 

[Bella]

This is why I had to explain the plot of The Pajama Game to you, leading right to this very moment 

Diabolical. I need to draw EDVAC-tan and 728-kun like this immediately:


Additionally (I leave you to figure out who's who):

[Bella]

ACTUAL IBM-TAN ALERT!!!

Pic here

Harvard Mark I-tan a.k.a. Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) a.k.a. "Bessy, the Bessel Engine"
- Slow overall, especially in speech
    - 3 hertz clock speed
- Old fashioned even for a computer of her era
    - Debuted shortly before the rise of electronic computers
- Fondness for the Victorian era
    - Modern continuation of ideas first explored in the Difference & Analytical Engines.
- Likes textile crafts
    - See above, Jacquard Loom heritage.
- Could be said to "not fit in", but thinks of herself as standing out.
    - Aiken confident about mechanical computers, not much hand-wringing about not competing with electronic machines.
- "Clockwork"-style automaton operated by crank
    - Electro-mechanical, powered by a driveshaft.
- Fussy about appearance
    - IBM insisted upon an aesthetic case for the machine.
- Owing her New York/Bostonian/"Victorian English" heritage, has a pronounced transatlantic accent.
    - Combined with her cadence she definitely "talks oddly"
- Divorced from her IBM heritage, does not like to talk about it
    - IBM - Aiken falling out.
- Trained in astronomy, but never used her skills
    - Word length chosen for astronomical calculations, never used.
- Trouble making decisions, got better with it over time
    - No branching logic, originally.
- Meticulous with detail and planning
    - Programs had to be painstakingly prepared and checked before execution.
- Expert penmanship
    - Extremely good printing capabilities.
- Helped on the A-bomb.
    - Ran calculations for Los Alamos.

Status: ... prooooobably dead? (Has been broken into multiple pieces, though large portions of it remain remarkably intact.)

Relationships:
- Eldest of her sisters.
- Gets along well with Harvard Marks II & III
    - Mks. II & III based on Mk. I
- Largely ignores her youngest sister, Mk. IV.
    - Lone electronic computer in the lineup.
- Estranged cousin to SSEC-tan
    - Built by IBM after the falling out with Aiken.
- Maintains a friendship with Whirlwind-tan despite their differences.
    - Contemporaries as the first computers in Cambridge.
- Charmed by the smaller and simpler mechanical computer GENIAC-chan.
- Has something to say about the Bell Labs Relay Calculators, but they haven't been personified (...yet!)

Appearance & Personality:
- Average height, red-brown hair tied into two buns at the sides of her face a la Ada Lovelace, pale skin, light green eyes. Exposed metal (silver/bronze) frame on her lower legs and arms. Chest encased in glass revealing clockwork mechanisms inside.
- Has a windup-key. (Head or back, undecided.)
- Dresses in 1940s era clothing refashioned in the shape of Victorian-era garb, colorways tending toward light green, cream and bronze. Pearl necklace with one sapphire bead. Paper tape headbands and florettes, and wide paper tape ribbon on her bustle.
- Antiquated in an elevated, almost regal way. Demanding of her servants, smug about her way of doing things. Indecisiveness combined with her other quirks makes her come off as a bit spacey, in reality extremely detail-oriented and obsessive. Moves at her own pace, unbothered. Doesn't seem to care much about electronic computers, very secure in herself, no sense of inferiority even if she's not as fast or powerful as some of her contemporaries.
- Not contemplative (or ruminative) like ENIAC-sama about the nature of computers, her place in the world or legacy. Just happy to be here doing what she does best!

[stewartsage]

Hooray, Mark I!  Long overdue I think, the whole Harvard line.  Probably because they were ultimately kind of a dead end, but a very impressive one.

Her clothing in the other thread really fits the ideas you laid out.

I'm glad GENIAC-chan has another, much closer, big mechanical sister to look up to!  And another friend for Whirlwind!  The era's really starting to get crowded.

Did any institution keep a good relationship with a manufacturer long-term?

I didn't know her printer was that good, or she was originally intended for astronomical use.

[Bella]

Hooray, Mark I!  Long overdue I think, the whole Harvard line.  Probably because they were ultimately kind of a dead end, but a very impressive one.

Unfortunately I think the characterizations are going to get exponentially hard with Mks. II - IV. The documentation really falls off a cliff (unsurprising, knowing what I've learned about the isolation of Harvard's early CS program).

I'm glad GENIAC-chan has another, much closer, big mechanical sister to look up to!  And another friend for Whirlwind!  The era's really starting to get crowded.

GENIAC-chan deserves all the friends. Moreso when it's a big doll girl to look up to. I think Mk. I-tan would be a good role model and GENIAC-chan would help remind Mk. I-tan to have fun.

Is there much IRL reason for Mk. I & Whirlwind to be friends? Not really (besides MITs computer program being the only one Harvard paid much attention to, allegedly), but I'm charmed by the idea of them being fascinated with each other as reflections of who they could have been. Whirlwind-tan, if she'd lived up to her original design as a mechanical computer, and Mk. 1-tan, if fate has aligned in a way where her creator has pursued electronics instead. I do think both are grateful that the didn't turn out like the other, but feel a connection in that sense.

Also, they were two of the only local computers for awhile (with Mk. II & III moving away quite young.)

I didn't know her printer was that good, or she was originally intended for astronomical use.

Had to look up the quote myself because I couldn't remember -

The reason for the 23-decimal-digit precision is not generally known. I once queried Aiken on this point, and he replied that it had been planned to utilize the calculator to recompute the orbits of all the major planets in the solar system, and that a precision of 23 digits was judged to be necessary for this task. As it turned out, however, the machine was never used for this purpose.

[stewartsage]

Unfortunately I think the characterizations are going to get exponentially hard with Mks. II - IV. The documentation really falls off a cliff (unsurprising, knowing what I've learned about the isolation of Harvard's early CS program).

Well, I appreciate you making the effort for the rest of the Harvards anyway down the way.

GENIAC-chan deserves all the friends. Moreso when it's a big doll girl to look up to. I think Mk. I-tan would be a good role model and GENIAC-chan would help remind Mk. I-tan to have fun.

Is there much IRL reason for Mk. I & Whirlwind to be friends? Not really (besides MITs computer program being the only one Harvard paid much attention to, allegedly), but I'm charmed by the idea of them being fascinated with each other as reflections of who they could have been. Whirlwind-tan, if she'd lived up to her original design as a mechanical computer, and Mk. 1-tan, if fate has aligned in a way where her creator has pursued electronics instead. I do think both are grateful that the didn't turn out like the other, but feel a connection in that sense.

Big Doll!  Very important to have a role model that's so totally confident like Mk. I.  As for Whirlwind, if she's going to interact with GENIAC-tan, I figure it makes story sense for them to also be friends.

[Bella]

Big Doll!  Very important to have a role model that's so totally confident like Mk. I.  As for Whirlwind, if she's going to interact with GENIAC-tan, I figure it makes story sense for them to also be friends.

It has occurred to me re-reading your SAGE-tan writings how much SAGE & GENIAC-chan parallel Whirlwind and Harvard Mark I-tan. Which is to say, now I'm considering Harvard Mark 1-tan and SAGE-chan interactions.

On a different note, after I finish up the early "EDVAC family" computer-tans, I would like to rework / polish / finish up the PDP-tans. PDP-1, -8 and -11 are pretty good as-is, but PDP-7, -10 and -12 need work.

I may also take a shot at -tanning the predecessors/follow-ups to better known models. PDP-4, -9 and -15 in the PDP-1 family, PDP-5 in the LINC/PDP-8 family, and PDP-6 as PDP-10-tan's older sister ... I'm still on the fence about splitting off DECSYSTEM-20 into its own personification, or rolling it into PDP-10's.

There's also the matter of the industrial controller PDPs (-14 and -16), which don't have a lot of flavor but I would like to tackle for the sake of completionism...

Stew, didn't you say you would design a VAX-tan?

[Bella]

UK computer double-feature! Wrapping up the rest of the EDVAC/IAS cohort.

Art here!

Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC)-tan

(Represents the first and second EDSAC computers)

- Visually similar to ENIAC-tan and EDVAC-tan, but a living girl
    - Fully realized ideas laid out in the First Draft Report on EDVAC.
- Good hearing
    - Mercury delay line memory based on sound waves.
- Talks through problems while working
    - Speaker allowed programmers to listen to the progress of their program.
- Night owl.
- Prone to electrical discharge.
    - User stories about electrocutions.
- Jack-of-all-trades scientist with interest in radio, chemistry, biology and oceanography
    - Various uses.
- Macabre sense of humor & interests.
    - Built in the old dissection room of the anatomical lab.
- To that end, carries around a casket
    - Mercury delay lines held in "coffins".
- Avid reader, owns many books & reference manuals
    - Early software subroutine library.
- Good at communicating ideas
    - Early implementation of assemblers & symbolic programming.
- Loves working with people and discussing computers
    - University system with wide impact on subsequent generations.
- Avoids family drama
    - Less of a lightning rod than ENIAC, EDVAC, IAS or MADM.
- Did odd jobs on the side.
    - Used for commercial services.
   
Status: Died in the mid-60s, received a full funeral. She got better and is now alive & thriving. (Full scale working replica.)

Relationships:
- Half-sister to EDVAC-tan (closest relation), as well as IAS-tan and MADM-tan.
- Wants to know ENIAC-tan.
- Likes IAS-tan and EDVAC-tan, reciprocated by IAS-tan.
    - "First Draft Report" directly influenced EDSAC.
- Doesn't go out of her way to associate, but is on good terms with MADM-tan.
- Studied abroad with MIT computers, especially CTSS & Whirlwind-tan
    - Wilkes spent time at the MIT computer laboratory.
- Regarded as a mysterious distant "aunt" by the DECs
    - See above, also the creator worked consultant for DEC.
- Founder of the LEO faction.

Appearance and Personality:
- Save for hair/eye color, is the spitting image of EDVAC-tan, only in a fully embodied form.
- Shoulder length curly hair a mix of red and silver.
- Olive/hazel eyes.
- Red plastic rimmed glasses.
- Multicolored, multi-strand yarn hair bows.
- Button up shirt in white, cable knit sweater typically in red or marled multicolor, and a gray plaid skirt, unraveling at edges
    - Have you seen the cable management on this thing?
- Wears a tweed blazer with elbow patches as the situation calls for it.

Has the poise and propriety of her mother(?) and half-sister, balanced by the humility and open-mindedness of a career academic. Patient and gracious. High degree of scientific knowledge, happiest when she has something to study or an experiment to run. Carries a joking reputation for being a mad scientist given her working location & interests, but no one really believes it. Extremely affable and approachable, gets along with most everyone. Proud of her impact on and well-regarded by later generations of computers.


Manchester Mark 1-tan (a.k.a. MADM; f.k.a. Small Scale Experimental Machine/SSEM, "Baby")

(Also represents Ferranti Mark I, at least the original Manchester installation...)

- Born as a laboratory experiment. Had (has?) a bit of an existential crisis over being (at least in her mind) an "accident".
    - Built to test Williams Tubes.
- Initially in poor physical condition due to continual "enhancements"
    - Poor reliability in initial years because of constant upgrades.
- Eyes reveal what she's thinking, hides them to maintain secrecy.
    - CRT memory inspected by viewing patterns on the tubes.
- Powers over TV sets / CRTs
    - See above.
- Thoughts scrambled by strong EMF. Manifests as clumped patterns on her eyes.
    - Couldn't be operated near radar or other strong EM sources.
- Trained mathematician, moved onto other things
    - Project originally headed by math dept.
- Thrifty
    - Built on a small budget.
- Fastidiously organized with a good recall of information
    - Debuted index registers.
- Not the best communicator at first, improved with time
    - Difficult to program before autocodes became available.
- Pariah for her unnerving appearance, powers, and claims made of her intellect
    - Scandal over news coverage of Mk. 1 being an "electronic brain"
- Cleaned up and re-debuted in the early 1950s
    - Commercialized as Ferranti Mark I.
- Well traveled with a number of professional skills.
    - Many Ferranti Mk. I installations around the world.
- Intense, absurdist sense of humor. Likes to sing, and free-associate love letters. "Married" a member of her team once...

Status: Died in the 1960s. Reborn as an earlier incarnation of herself. (Full-scale replica of the Manchester Baby.)

Relationships:
- Complicated family life growing up
    - Worked on by a large team, conflicting ideals and poor communication at times.
- Half-sister to IAS-tan (closest relation), and EDSAC & EDVAC-tan
    - Baby based on a simplified IAS design.
- Cultivates rumor that she's built from Colossus-tan's body parts as it adds to prestige and mystery.
    - Manchester acquired Colossi parts, only used frame pieces.
- Dismisses EDVAC-tan.
    - Creators attended Moore School Lectures, didn't think much of them.
- Casual acquaintances with EDSAC-tan.
- Spent time with IAS-tan in youth, but had a falling out.
- Doesn't get along with ACE-tan.
- Matriarch of the Ferranti line.

Appearance and Personality:
- Very pale skintone, scarred due to extensive reworking, disheveled silver-white hair prone to static buildup, black eyes with square dot pattern square irises.
- Resemblance to IAS-tan, but scrawnier (in her youth) / taller & more muscular (as an adult).
As "Baby":
- A bit of a runt, hair held in braids, school uniform and oversized labcoat.
Matured:
- Tall, muscular, somewhat top-heavy build. As MADM she wore disheveled clothing hidden under a labcoat, or a labcoat-like dress. As Ferranti Mk. I she favors contemporary businesswear in blue, usually wearing sunglasses.
- Matching hat with netting.
    - Installations needed screens to prevent EMF interference.

Proud, headstrong and self-reliant. She considers herself a self-made woman and acts accordingly, willing to listen to new ideas but ultimately guided by her own principles. Because of this, she's reluctant to discuss the influence of others' on her upbringing, and tends to dismiss familial connections. Despite starting off as a theoretician, she's hard-working and unafraid to get her hands dirty. Irreverent sense of humor. Never lost track of her humble beginnings, motivated her to do her best to rise above them.