To the Editor:
A little perspective on your banner quote of Ken Olsen, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.”
I went to work for Digital Equipment Corp (DEC), of which Ken was president, at about the same time he made that statement. Prior to joining DEC, I had developed and installed systems on IBM, Burroughs, NCR, Univac and DEC computers. With the exception of the system on the DEC computer, these were all non-interactive systems. Transactions were entered through cards or, in the case of banking systems, a check sorter reader and results were presented on report printouts.
At DEC in 1977, most all systems were interactive through “dumb” terminals; ones which did not have computational or file storage capabilities. Mail and technical information systems existed for all employees to use. User software and files existed on the main computers.
The computers were all linked so that a person, with the proper username and password, could access systems and files in another location. We even could access the original internet which was completely different in content and use from the present day internet.
Ken probably saw that the same type of linked computer utilities could be developed for everyone to use through a terminal. Today’s network servers would provide shared user software and the capabilities to a home terminal which currently exist in our home computers. There would be no need to have a computer in your home to access the internet system or to hold games or other user software.
Businesses today are moving to the “dumb terminal” architecture to reduce costs, improve productivity, and eliminate the problem of individuals using software for which the business does not have a license. Some software, for which a small business buys a license, exists in part on the users’ computer but other parts are kept at the vendors’ location.
Ken’s statement, like so many other statements people have made, when taken out of context does not make sense. But, when viewed with the perspective of his experience, makes a lot of sense.
Bill Hill, Nobleboro