[vcf-midatlantic] replying and elaborating to Herb Johnson's postings re: 4004 Based Microcomputer

[Dean Notarnicola]

You forgot the 0th law:  A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction,
allow humanity to come to harm.
And with the advent of AI we may need to add Dilov's 5th law:  A robot must
establish its identity as a robot in all cases.

On Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 1:47 PM Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

> This touches upon several of my pet peeves,
> so please pardon the way my reply drones on and on and on
> until I start foaming at the mouth and falling over backwards ... Oh!
> https://youtu.be/DO7VkEFZ7B8 [Monty Python skit]
>
>
> Herb touches upon how our expectations of "computers" have evolved.
> To folks outside the engineering profession,
> "embedded processors", "industrial controllers" and other special-purpose
> machines
> don't look-and-feel like that's now accepted as a "computer".
> Yet the Arduino has made such embedded processing more accessible than ever
> to the hobbyist, experimenter, artist, etc.
>
> Perhaps that applies here: what were once called "computers"
> are now considered embedded processors,
> IoT (Internet of Things) or Internet appliances.
>
> I was about to say how cellphones are more of an appliance than a computer
> by the way most folks just download apps.
> They're not self-hosting, requiring a host system to compile the code.
> But then again, even I am using my home PC as an appliance.
> I rarely program or even customize it.
> I'm running the web browser, text editor, moving files, etc.
>
>
> Having salvaged lotsa vintage electronics, I've seen the insides of lotsa
> equipment.
> I've subscribed to Circuit Cellar from the beginning.
> They were an early advocate of single chip microcontrollers.
> These chips come to mind when thinking of embedded processors
> (in chronological order)
>
>
> 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_4004
> 1971: the Intel 4004.
> I encountered one deep inside a Calcomp DS12 hard drive controller.
> See page 55 http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/19710801.pdf
>
> [AND FOR THE RECORD:
> the 4004 was the first _commercially_available_ microprocessor.
> The military was first with the MP944 chip set for the
> US Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighter's CADC: completed June 1970.
>
> https://firstmicroprocessor.com/
>
> https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip/
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-14_CADC
>
> https://www.wired.com/story/secret-history-of-the-first-microprocessor-f-14/
> ]
>
>
> 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_MCS-48
> This family of single chip microcontrollers was released in 1976.
> The IBM PC used them as the keyboard controller
> (allowing a thin coiled cord and serial link instead of ribbon cable and
> parallel interface).
>
>
> 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z8
> 1979: the Zilog Z8.
> Very popular with hobbyists for the piggyback ROM socket.
> Circuit Cellar / Micromint made many Z8 systems such as FORTH in ROM.
> http://cini.classiccmp.org/pdf/MicroMint/Micromint_Z8_Forth.pdf
>
>
> 4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIC_microcontrollers
> 1976: General Instruments' PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller)
> evolved from ROM only to flash memory, so they're easily reprogrammed and
> re-purposed.
> PIC, like PDP, is a name to avoid saying "computer" or "microprocessor".
>
>
> 5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVR_microcontrollers
> 1996: Atmel AVR series of single chip microcontrollers.
> Similar to the PIC, popularized by the Arduino.
>
> The Arduino ecosystem is no longer just for experimenters and hobbyists.
> It's now used for Industrial automation and machine controllers,
> replacing embedded processors such as the Z80 and STD bus.
> See:  https://www.automationdirect.com/open-source/home
>
> What scares me is NOT the tool but how you use it.
> Just as everything looks like a nail if you have only a hammer,
> and screwdrivers have been abused as pry bars, wedges, paint-can-openers,
> etc.
> The Arduino is just a tool.
> My fear is the lack of disciplined programming, proper safety engineering
> practices
> and peer review of mission critical devices that risk injury or death.
> I remember the horror of the Therac-25. Do you?
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25
>
> Even Google knows to throw me relevant ads:
> https://www.onlogic.com/
> "Ideal for IoT, Edge and AI Inferencing applications"
> Just like the movie Westworld, what could possibly go wrong ... go wrong
> ... go wrong
>      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(film)
>      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(TV_series)
>
> That's what happens when robots/androids violate Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws
> of Robotics"
>
> 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human
> being to come to harm.
> 2) A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such
> orders would conflict with the First Law.
> 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does
> not conflict with the First or Second Law.
>
>
> and that's the way it is.
>
> -- jeff jonas
>