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Guide to Computing: INK and Docubyte

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INK’s James Ball, aka Docubyte, discusses the thought process behind the G​uide to Computing photo series ... 

Guide to Computing

Guide to Computing represents the first release of a body of work documenting the beginning of our computing history.

Born through an affection for historical analogue aesthetic, these images are more than visual depictions of modern-day museum pieces.

It is often supposed that computing design – as in their physical aesthetic design – was of minimal consideration until the emergence of the modern Apple iMac. To look at these early computers in their purest form is to realise that this is not the case.

From the colourful randomness of Alan Turing’s Pilot Ace to the bug-eyed stare of the retro-futuristic Control Data 6600, early computer and mainframe designs are as beautiful as they are fascinating.

Bound by the technological limitations of the time, these huge mainframes were meant to be stood at, worked at, walked around and, with advancements, eventually sat at. The continual miniaturisation of computers has rendered these objects somehow charmingly naive and from a modern day perspective, essentially obsolete.

In seeking to explore and photograph the design of these fascinating machines, it seemed inexcusable to simply visually record the piece through the lens alone.

With skillful retouching and digital post production techniques, these ageing, clunky and quite battered historical objects could be restored to their commercial best. Here they are documented as they were originally intended; in a style inspired by the original marketing imagery of retro-chic rooms full of 60s mainframes.

A number of these objects predate modern colour photography, and as such represent a truth and a fiction together. The digital restoration has culminated in the creation of an image never seen before in this context.

James Ball aka ‘Docubyte’ – 2016
Retouching: INK
With special thanks to: Dr Stephen Flemming, The National Museum of Computers
Tilly Blythe, Curator of the Science Museum Information Age gallery

The Machines

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Harwell Dekatron
The Harwell Dekatron, also known as the Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from Harwell (WITCH), is an early British relay-based computer created in the 1950s. Weighing in at two-and-a-half tonnes, it is now working and on display at the National Museum of Computing. The Guinness Book of World Records recognised it as the world's oldest working digital computer for a second time in 2013.

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Pilot ACE
The Pilot ACE was one of the first computers built in the United Kingdom at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the early 1950s. It was also one of the earliest stored-program computers, joining other UK designs like the Manchester Mark 1 and EDSAC of the same era. The design is one of the earliest general computers designed by Alan Turing, although he left NPL before it was completed. The Pilot ACE consists of 800 vacuum tubes able to perform floating point arithmetic necessary for scientific calculations.

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EAI Pace (TR 48)
The EAI Pace is a "desktop computer" that was manufactured and produced in the early 1960’s. At four feet wide, two feet deep and just over two feet high, and weighing in at between 320 and 425 pounds (depending upon the configuration), this particular computer sits on a custom made desk which holds up to six patch boards. The TR-48 was the most complete desktop analog computer available of its time even finding its way into part of the Apollo moon program for simulation of test flight systems and featured in the The "Apollo Monthly Progress Report" dated August 31, 1962.

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HDR 75
The HDR75 is a small analog hybrid computer that was developed in the former DDR at the Technical University of Dresden (now known as The Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing).

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IBM 1401
The IBM 1401 is a variable word length decimal computer first produced in 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing tabulation machines equipment for processing data stored on punched cards. Over 12,000 units were produced, with some nations using them into the 1980s.

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IBM 729
The IBM 729 Magnetic Tape Unit was IBM's iconic tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Part of the IBM 7 track family of tape units, it used magnetic tape up to 2400 feet long wound on reels up to 10.5 inches.

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ICL 7500
The ICL 7500 series (7501, 7502, 7503, 7561, etc.) are a range of terminals and workstations that were developed by the now defunct UK computing company, ICL, during the 1970s. Similar in size to a desk side or tower PC, but mounted horizontally, the ICL 7500 machines were intended to function in an office environment, with steel-framed and wood-veneered cabinets available for the processor and peripheral units. By the 1980s, highly specialised versions of these machines had the ability to run the latest available games of the time, such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders.
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Control Data 6600
The CDC 6600 was the flagship mainframe supercomputer of the 6000 series of computers manufactured by Control Data Corporation. The CDC 6600 is generally considered to be the first successful supercomputer, with performance of up to three megaFLOPS. It held the title of the world's fastest computer from 1964 to 1969. Developed and created by legendary computing pioneer Seymour Cray, the 6600 prompted IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson to write a memo to his employees: "Last week, Control Data…announced the 6600 system. I understand that in the laboratory developing the system there are only 34 people including the janitor. Of these, 14 are engineers and 4 are programmers…Contrasting this modest effort with our vast development activities, I fail to understand why we have lost our industry leadership position by letting someone else offer the world's most powerful computer."

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Endim 2000
The ENDIM 2000 analog computer was a tube-based design developed and manufactured in the former German Democratic Republic. About 20 machines were produced. The surviving machine is now held at the the Technische Sammlungen Dresden.

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Meda 42TA
The Meda 42TA was one of the last analogue hybrid computers to be built in former Czechoslovakia. It dates from the early 1970s, and found widespread use in many countries behind the Iron Curtain.

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