[vcf-midatlantic] the GE 225 mainframe

[Jeffrey Jonas]

BoingBoing just noted how Steven Spielberg's father was a pioneer of
the GE 225 mainframe.

My dad mastered that machine in the early 60s, making it run
efficiently under COBOL at the Girl Scouts National Headquarters. He
still vividly remembers the details of the Analex printer and how
using it offline saved a lot of computer time. Even the card reader
had quirks. But back then, it wasn't hackers who focused on such
optimization, it was every programmer and operator's job to understand
such things.

Ft Monmouth had some too. They were available for training courses my
dad took. I hope some of those Ft. Monmouth folks are on this list.


the main article:
    http://www.gereports.com/jurassic-hardware-steven-spielbergs-father-was-a-computing-pioneer/

the short article:
Arnold Spielberg (Steven's dad) developed the first computer to run
BASIC in 1964

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/gPNulCvMi_U/arnold-spielberg-stevens-d.html
http://boingboing.net/?p=502025

Arnold Spielberg (Steven's father) developed the computer that first
ran the BASIC programming language on May 1, 1964. Here's an interview
with 99-year-old Arnold on the exciting early days of computers.

    Long before GE started connecting machines to the Industrial
Internet, one Arnold Spielberg helped revolutionize computing when he
designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s. The machine
allowed a team of Dartmouth University students and researchers to
develop the BASIC programming language, an easy-to-use coding tool
that quickly spread and ushered in the era of personal computers. Bill
Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs all used the language
when they started building their digital empires. Arnold Spielberg
will be 100 years old in February 2017.