A 1972 Télémécanique T1600 computer with a 32 KB central memory and two 512 KB disk drives. More than 50 years of progress in computer science -hardware and software- [Un ordinateur Télémécanique T1600 datant de 1972, avec 32 Ko de mémoire centrale et deux disques de 512 Ko. Plus de 50 ans de progrès en informatique -matériels et logiciels-].

Before computers:

1972-2022, 50 years of computing:

		Weight [Poids]:	Processor number [Nombre de processeurs]:	Clock frequency [Fréquence d'horloge]:	Core Memory [Mémoire centrale]:	Disk Memory [Espace disque]:
1972	Télémécanique T1600	1000 Kg	1	1 MHz	32 Ko	512+512 Ko
2022	Dell Precision 3551	1 Kg	8 (16 with hyper-threading)	1-5 GHz = 1000-5000 MHz	32 Go = 32.000.000 Ko	512+1024 Go = 512.000.000+1024.000.000 Ko
	Ratio [Rapport]:	10-3			10+6	1.5 10+6

More informations about this 1972 T1600 computer (and about its successor, the Solar 16.65):

• See the T1600 full configuration (1972-1980).



• The T1600 central processor unit (with a one micro-second cycle time) and the input-output controllers.



• The T1600 central memory: 32 KB (no, it's neither a joke nor an error!).



• See the contents and the dynamics of the T1600 central memory by means of a 256x256 black and white home made digital video system.



• The two T1600 disk units: 2x512 KB (!) to be compared with the size of the following JPEG picture -505.369 bytes- .




• The T1600 main man-machine interface (!).



And all this inside a 4-cubic meter volume cabinet! An air-conditioned room was mandatory!



• Six T4010 Tektronix display terminals were connected to the T1600.


• A picture on a T4010/T4014 Tektronix display terminals.




• The T1600 computer room.







• See the Solar 16.65 (the T1600 successor) full configuration (1980-1986).







• A punched paper tape -input medium-.
• Some punched cards -input medium-.
• Some listings -output medium-.

Here are most of the programs written for the T1600 and Solar 16.65 computers:

• The CMS5 operating system.
• The CMS5 operating system generator.
• Some of the basic tools.
• Some of the SMC (Système multimédia Conversationnel) programs.

More information about what was done on the T1600 computer:

my first color video pictures

complex printed documents

• IFIP congress and exhibition in Marseille (09/1975): the first "laptop" computer (a truck was needed in order to move it)?



• The 1975 SICOB (La Défense, Paris): use of a 1 Kbps (Kbps and not KBps...) "high speed" link!



• Read a related article in the 05/1976 issue of PHOTO-REVUE -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 10/1977 issue of zéro.un.informatique -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 05-06/1979 issue of MICRO SYSTEMES -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 06/1979 issue of TELECOM -Revue de l'association amicale des ingénieurs de l'ENST- -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 11-12/1979 issue of MICRO SYSTEMES -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 01/1980 issue of L'ECHO DES RECHERCHES -CNET- -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 03/1981 issue of L'Ordinateur Individuel -en français/in french-].
• Read a related article in the 06/1981 issue of Terminal -en français/in french-].

Some more pictures taken during the eighties and later:

• Part of the computer room during the eighties: Tektronix display terminals, digital and analog video devices, Nikon camera,....



• The CCVR-LACTAMME booth, first international exhibition on supercomputers, Santa-Clara, USA (05/1987). The CRAY 2 supercomputer was a four processor machine (4.1 ns cycle time) with a 2 Go memory.



• Part of the computer room -1997- and analog video devices,....



• The photographic and cinematographic recording devices -chronological order-.