On 12/22/2022 12:45 PM, Herbert Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Jeff Jonas discussed the IBM 1130 front panel. He noted well-labeled controls and computer operations to the single instruction or cycle or clock. It's good information. But Jeff ends with this:
All that was lost with the microprocessor :-( All the data busses and registers are internal with no pins, thus relying on a monitor to view/alter registers. That's the glory of REAL font panels: they're all HARDWARE, they can't lie :-)
So, front panels were not "lost with the microprocessor". They simply fell out of favor, by the late 1970's. Briefly: as microcomputers became more powerful and hardware stabilized, software debugging was cheaper and preferable to hardware debugging. Computers designed for the office and home, were styled like office equipment. I lived through the era, it's hard to prove why something stopped happening.
Stating the obvious, but this is true in every new technology. I don't know how many have attempted to drive a Model T vehicle, but the sequence of actions to start and drive that vehicle (even the post 1921 ones with electric start) is strikingly different to even the effort required of a 1960's manual transmission vehicle, much less a 2022 model automobile. In addition to manual spark advancement the strange transmission engagement, all of the manual settings one must consider and alter to actually drive the vehicle are absolutely analogous to the front panel of mainframes and early micros (as you note, Herb). While adding those items to current vehicles might offer benefit in some situations, I think we all agree automating and/or eliminating the need for many of those items served us well. I do find it interesting when "progress" steps back. It's not scientific, but I remember home and auto stereos eschewing the "old" volume knob starting in the '80s, for UI elements that were less useful (up/down buttons). I've not opaid as much attention to devices lately, but I do remember the volume knob making a return appearance in the 2000s or maybe a bit before. It seemed something was lost in the transition, and customers complained. So, within reason, there are times when such UI elements leave and then return. Jim