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DTSS Upgraded
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Kiewit Machine Room GE-635
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General Electric (GE) renamed DTSS as the Mark-I and used it to
build the largest commercial time-sharing system. Based on the success of this
work, GE and Dartmouth College embarked on a project to put DTSS on the newer
and larger GE-635 computer capable of handling 200 simultaneous users.
Kemeny and Kurtz and a half-dozen student
programmers did some of the early programming for the $2.5 million GE-635 at
the Griffis Air Force Base in Rome, New York, in the summer of 1966.
Cancer Registry Digitized
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New Honeywell arriving; Thomas E. Kurtz and others
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In the Radiotherapy Department of Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital,
Dr. Edward S. Sternick and Dr. Frank Lane
worked with undergraduates to computerize the volumes of "static repositories
of unused data" within the cancer registry. The new computerized format allowed
physicians to use DTSS to quickly search through thousands of different
treatment plans before making a final selection of an acceptable treatment
program.
Library Automation Job Created
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Kiewit Machine Room
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The Systems Development Corporation (SDC) was called in to consult on the
proposed automation of the Thayer School libraries. After reading a report on
"Mechanized Records Systems at Dartmouth College Library" by Ralph Parker,
University of Missouri, the Dartmouth Trustees recommended the creation of a
director of library automation in the libraries.
Nature Article
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John G. Kemeny
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Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 29, 1966 - Under this dateline,
a Special Correspondent of Nature, London, England, reported
the following:
- "The newest status symbol in this isolated university town, best known for
the success or at least the roughness of its football team, is the possession
of a personal computer console – something on which to work in the evenings and
something on which the children can do their homework." (Nature, London,
10/8/66)
Kiewit Center Dedicated
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Peter E. Kiewit, Evelyn Kiewit at Kiewit Computation Center dedication
ceremony
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December 2: The Kiewit Computation Center was dedicated as part of a
conference on the subject of The Future Impact of Computers. The
building was constructed by Trumbull-Nelson Company at a cost of $650,000,
using funds donated by Peter Kiewit '22 and his wife
Evelyn. "The building included six administrative offices, six
graduate student offices, a seminar room, conference room, reference library,
student assistants work room, public teletype area, a lounge, and a card
equipment room. The basement housed the communications equipment, air
conditioning equipment, and provided 5,700 square feet of area for future
expansion."
GE-635 Facts
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GE-635
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The "high-powered, solid-state GE-635 system had thirty pieces of equipment
including the central processor and peripheral devices, comprising 1.5 million
parts. It had a memory capacity of more than 180 million characters - ten times
the capacity of the GE-265 medium-range computer. The entire unit contained
more than 65 miles of wire, and the memory section alone had seven miles of
wire finer than a human hair." The new system had the following
configuration:
- Central processing speed of 300,000 additions per second.
- Core memory of 65,538 36-bit words, each capable of being accessed 500,000
times a second.
- Six magnetic tape drives.
- High-speed printer (1,200 lpm).
- Thirty-two million characters of online disk storage.
- Magnetic drum (for swapping) with 3,000,000 characters, with an access time
of .05 seconds.
- Card Reader (1,000 cpm).
- Card Punch (1,000 cpm).
- Mass Storage Unit with 340 million characters, with access time of 0.5
seconds.
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