196705

196705 196705

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May, 1967
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Kentuc~y, Children Communicate with Computer in California

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Just what the doctor ordered
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ren

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NAY lOf,?
-and he ordered it yester
an American Hospital Sup
ration warehouse 300 m
He gets same-day service I
different supply items, bel
System Data-Phone* ser
his hospital to the wareh
regular telephone lines. Pr
cards containing order in
are fed into card readers I
to Data-Phone sets whicl
the information from the

For more information, call your
Bell Telephone Business Office and
ask for a talk with one of our Communications Consultants. And don't
hesitate to call us early-because
that way we can serve you best.
When you work with data communications, work with the Bell System.

@AI~I

*Service mark

ader

n
icc

tal

S A r~ JOSS
PUBLIC L.IBRAR~l

Hey,
you dropped
something!

And we know where it is to an accuracy of a thousandth of a degree in
azimuth and elevation, on this frame,
and the next, and the next - as long
as the theodolite follows it.
The positional information is on the
film, in those dials at the upper corners. But getting the information off
of the film into useable form - automatically - is a task so formidable'
that only our Programmable Film
Reader -3 does it. (Some other pretty
big outfits are still trying.)
Think for a moment what is involved.
First the computer-controlled scanning system has to locate the dials
(they're not always in the same position on the film). Then it has to find

and recognize two sets of arabic
numbers. Then it has to determine
where a tiny marker is on the linear
scale and convert this into a number
of three place accuracy. The last step
is to find the parachute and correct
for theodolite aiming error.
Sophistication fit for a human, but
our Programmable Film Reader -3 is
faster, more accurate and more
reliable.
This kind of capability - to find,
recognize, analyze, and convert visual
information - can be applied to any
problem, because the Programmable
Film Reader -3 is'just that: programmable. And the ultra-precise CRT in
the optical system can record on film,

Designate No. lOon Reader Service Card

too, with the same sophistication.
Other exciting new ideas in visual
information processing are taking
form at Information International. If
you want to drop something yourself,
how about in for an honest to goodness demonstration?

Information International Inc.
545 Technology Square, Cambridge,
Massachusetts 02139 (617)868-9810
11161 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90064
(213)478-2571

CCC

III

Neither can our programmers and
They'd talk shop, work out ideas,
analysts who have them. Because
24 hours a day, if they could. And
their idea of a good time means an
they sometimes do. That's why they're
inside discussion of compilers, of
the best in the business. That's why
multi-programming, of real time and they run the company, with and for
the world, of time-sharing and such. other programmers and analysts.
A way out discussion of third
And run it with ability, not
generation conversion, maybe.
authoritarian decree. It's this kind of
environment that turns our people on,
and clock-watching off all over the
world. In all of our offices anyway,
from Honolulu clear through Europe.
How about you? Are you interested
in hearing more about breaking out

of the time clock rut? Just contact
us ... anytime.
656 North Sepulveda Boulevard,
El Segundo, California 90245. (213)
678-0592 - Attention Harry Laur

Computer
Sciences
Corporation
An Equal Opportunity Employer

Designate No. 7 on Reader Service Card

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

c;~5~J [j=LtU C~ l1;;~r~;~ O~~~

aUild a~'G;oulila~ol!:lrn

The front cover shows a second-grade student
in Kentucky answering a problem presented by
a computer in California while her classmates
watch. For more information} see page 52.

MAY, 1967 Vol. 16, No.5

c&a problem corner
by Walter Penney, C.D.P.

c&a course announcements

across the editors desk
Computing and Data Processing Newsletter

Special Feature:
Data Communications
16

DATA COMMUNICATIONS, by Robert E. Wallace
A survey of the system design, applications, costs and facilities of the new technology called
data communications.

PRODUCTION AND INVENTORY CONTROL BY COMPUTER - A UNIVERSAL MODEL, by Karl E.
Korn and James H. Lamb
A large manufacturing complex with a system of manufacturing shops and intermediate storerooms implements production control by a universal model, which is incorporated into a sys_
tem of computer programs.

SYSTEMS AND DATA PROCESSING DEPARTMENTS NEED LONG-RANGE PLANNING, by Richard
C. Young
An answer to the question of why systems and data processing departments need long-range
planning; and a rebuttal to the standard excuses opposing such planning.

THE QUEST AND THE COVENANT, by Dr. Harold Wooster
An "inside" story on how to obtain Federal support for research ideas in the field of com_
puters and data processing.

calendar of coming events

64 books and other publications

advertising index

new patents
by Raymond R. Skolnick

editor and publisher
Edmund C. Berkeley

editorial,

by Edmund C. Berkeley

Computers and Scientific Models

assistant editors
Moses M. Berlin, Charlene J. Hofer, Linda
Ladd Lovett, Neil D. MacDonald

capital report,

contributing editors
John Bennett, Andrew D. Booth, Dick H.
Brandon, John W. Carr, III, Ned Chapin,
Alston S. Householder, Peter Kugel, Rod E.
Packer

advisory

~ommittee

T. E. Cheatham, Jr., James J. Cryan, Richard
W. Hamming, Alston S. Householder, Victor
Paschkis

by Ted Schoeters

multi-access forum
A National Data Center and Personal Privacy - Resolution Proposed, by Peter Warburton
A draft proposal sponsored by the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Association for Computing
Machinery.

Copyright Revision Bill S.597 Provisions that Severely Cripple Teaching and Computer research, by Dr. Anthony G. Oettinger
An analysis that views Copyright Revision Bill S.597 as a grim practical joke on every taxpayer.

A Third-Generation Data Recorder?, by H. Edward White
A recording system that offers faster recording and computer input speeds, eliminates supply
costs, and lowers equipment costs.

Computers Will Aid Visitors to EXPO 67 - and May Help Save an Extra $Million.
Computer complex will reserve rooms, control crowds, locate lost persons, aid in emergencies,
maintain security, and provide instant financial and management analysis.

fulfilment manager

advertising representatives

CHICAGO 60611, Cole, Mason and Deming,
737 N. Michigan Ave., 312-SU 7-6558

Great Britain,

Ray W. Hass

NEW YORK 10018, Bernard Lane,
37 West 39 St., 212·BRyant 9-7281

world report -

Automation and interconnection plans expand as British banks face competition from the Post
Office GIRO.

art director

William J. McMillan, 815 Washington St.,
Newtonville, Mass. 02160, 617 DE 2-5453

by Senter Stuart

Effect of computer prediction on elections to be investigated; National Bureau of Standards
seeks head for the Center for Computer Sciences and Technology; U.S. economy simulated by
computer.

Copying the Table of Contents of "Computers and Automation"

Computer-Composed Music -

Competition for 1968

A "Regular" Ex-Subscriber Continues to Read C&A

Snobol Bulletin Established -

NOVATO, CALIF. 94947, Richard C. Alcorn
P.O. Box 734, 415-897-1620

Annual Computer Art Contest

A New Career in Computer Programming

elSEWHERE, The Publisher,
815 Washington St., 617-DEcatur 2-5453
Newtonville, Mass. 02160

Correction

Apology to Our Readers

LOS ANGELES 90005, Wentworth F. Green,
300 S. Kenmore Ave., 213·DUnkirk 7-8135

'~A"'-'"

Papers Sought

*D ON YOUR ADDRESS IMPRINT MEANS
THAT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES
THE COMPUTER DIRECTORY. *N MEANS
THAT YOUR PRESENT SUBSCRIPTION DOES
NOT INCLUDE THE COMPUTER DIRECTORY.

COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 815 WASHINGTON ST., NEWTONVILLE, MASS. 02160, BY BERKELEY ENTERPRISES. INC. PRINTED IN U.S.A. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: UNITED

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POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND ALL FORMS 3579 TO BERKELEY ENTERPRISES, INC., 815 WASHINGTON ST., NEWTONVILLE, MASS. 02160. © COPYRIGHT, 1967, BY BERKELEY ENTERPRISES, INC. CHANGE
OF ADDRESS: IF YOUR ADDRESS CHANGES, PLEASE SEND US BOTH YOUR NEW ADDRESS AND YOUR OLD ADDRESS (AS IT APPEARS ON THE MAGAZINE ADDRESS IMPRINT), AND ALLOW THREE WEEKS
FOR THE CHANGE TO BE MADE.

COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION, FOR MAY, 1967

BASIC
BUSINESS
SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS
A five-day introductory course that makes the transition from programmer to
analyst simpler, faster, and more effective.
If you are faced with the problem of expanding your systems analysis staff, it is logical
to consider upgrading an experienced programmer. But while training in systems fundamentals is needed, that training is hard
to provide either internally, or through manufacturers or other sources.

Basic Business Systems Analysis now gives
you a way to train your novice analyst in
the fundamentals of the systems task. The
objective of this intensive, five-day course is
limited to sound coverage of fundamentals.
It covers the systems survey; data gathering

BASIC BUSINESS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Registration, including
course materials and
luncheons: $290

July 17-21

This course will not solve all your systems
staffing problems. No five~day course could.
What it will do is cover the essentials of
business systems analysis, and do it quickly,
completely, and at a competent, professional
level. We think that is a good reason why
you should give this training your serious
consideration.

BRANDON SYSTEMS INSTITUTE
1130 17th St., N.W., Washington, D. C. 20036

CLASS SCHEDULE

Washington, D. C.

and data analysis; data base organization
and design; organization and design of systems processes and procedures; systems testing and conversion; systems maintenance,
and documentation.

New York, N. Y.

Enroll me for:

Washington, D. C.

New York, N. Y.

Send registration information to:

July 24-28

NAM E: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _
FIRM: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _
STREET:
BRANDON APPLIED SYSTEMS, INC.

CITY: ____________________________________________________ STATE: _________________________ _
Designate No. 14 on Reader Service Card

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION f9r May, 1967

c&a
EDITORIAL

Computers and Scientific Models
An interesting and significant article appeared in "The
Nation" for March 13, 1967, entitled "The Cybernetics of
Blunder." It was written by Mordecai Roshwald, who teaches
at the University of Minnesota, and is the author of "Level
7," a novel about one kind of future. He says, among other
things (in substance) :
Contrary to popular belief, science is simpler, less
complex, less sophisticated, than reality. It is true, of
course, that scientific formulas may prove quite intricate:
this, however, does not mean that the things they try
to formulate, including situations produced by laymen,
are less complex. The attempt to generalize makes for
the intricacy of science, yet its intricacy is no guarantee
of reliability: the particular, the unique, may well escape
the net of the formula, however finely knotted it may
seem. In the realm of political affairs, the net has had
singularly big holes, while the situations retain an unusual degree of individuality. In other words: the generalizations are too broad to net the phenomena. No
wonder that some peculiar situations slip through the net.
Modern social scientists - in their attempt to be
scientific, to grasp reality in general formulas - incline
to think in models. When you ask a social scientist today
why Nation A wages war on, or makes peace with, Nation B, do not expect an answer "because of economic
interests," or "because of traditional hostility," or "because of man's insanity." Such answers are regarded as
fit for a journalist or a philosopher. The scientist will
tell you it is all bound up with the decision-making
process. Only very few people seem to realize that this
phrase means no more than that decisions in politics
are made, and that there are agents who make them.
Most laymen - and not a few nonlaymen - seem to
believe that the answer is one of substance and that a
formula exists which really explains how decisions are
made. And if one finds it difficult to understand how a
single formula can encompass decision making in such
diverse countries as . . . , there is always the consolation that what is difficult for men is a mere child's game
for electronic computers.
It is hard to know to what extent computers have participated in making decisions in various decision-making
situations concerning war ... but it is a fair guess that
the computer mentality has had a considerable impact.
This mentality implies that one can rely on science and
ignore common sense, that one should trust theory and
forget about reality, that there are objective answers
which dwarf the significance of subjective experiences.
The domino theory, the game theory, the escalation
model, are all expressions of this sophisticated credulity.
And more besides. In fact, disregarding the sarcasm here
and there, the whole article is interesting and worth attention
and reflection from computer people. But the main questions
we want to discuss here are:
• Is it true that science is simpler and less sophisticated
than reality?
• Do scientific concepts and models (including computer
models) distort reality and make it harder to understand?
COMPUTERS. and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

• Is there a "computer mentality" - an attitude of reliance on scientific models that give objective answers
- when in truth common sense and subjective experience applied to reality would cause these answers to
be thoroughly questioned?

It is probably demonstrable that science is simpler and less
sophisticated than reality. Scientific models (and computer
models) are essentially doQuble-edged swords: they seem to
enable some problems to be solved, at the expense of making
other problems harder to solve. Models always have a
tendency to distort reality, because they leave out some aspects in order toQ deal with others. For example, no measurement of a distance in the real world on Earth can be more
accurate than 15 significant figures. Yet much of mathematics
makes an "important" distinction between what are called
"rational" numbers (numbers that can be expressed as the
quotient of two whole numbers, like 3/7) and "irrational"
numbers (numbers that cannot be so expressed, like the
square root of two); yet in the real world of actual measurements, no such distinction can be observed.
Also, science cannot be "true" because it is continually
changing, as the history of science shows. Good scientists
studying the real world are continually modifying their
theories, and issuing new ones. If new theory B contradicts
old theory A, both cannot be true. For example, consider
fashions in the science of medicine. In the real world, there
are great individual variations in human beings; and nowadays many more doctors than a decade agoQ try a miracle
drug much more carefully on a new patient, to see if it
actually helps him, instead of harming him.
It is probably not true that scientific concepts and models
make reality harder to understand. But with a fairly good
theory we certainly tend to pay less attention to reality than
we ought to.
Finally, it seems to me that the mentality or attitude
that science, and what scientists say, is to be trusted with
hardly any questioning is extremely dangerous. We notice
the conspicuous evidence of successful predictions in fields
like atomic physics, space ships, integrated circuits, modern
computers, etc.; and we tend to accept this as evidence that
what scientists may say in other fields, such as the domino
theory, the game theory, and the escalation model, is also
the basis of good predictions. We tend to forget that analogy
is a poor argument. To believe what "the scientists say" is
perhaps not quite as dangerous as to believe what "the computers say." But in any field the standard for believing
"science" must be int,imately tied to the record of successful
predictions in that field. Predictions that don't come true
are evidence of failure. Predictions that cannot be objectively
proved or disproved are evidence of nonsense. The real
world is more important, complicated, and sophisticated than
most of our theories assume it to be.

Editor

c&a

MULTI-ACCESS FORUM

A NATIONAL DATA CENTER AND PERSONAL PRIVACY - RESOLUTION PROPOSED
Peter Warburton
Association for Computing Machinery
Washington Chapter
Washington, D.C.
The proposed National Data Center has inherent in it
two areas of responsibility for people in the computer field:
technical responsibilities, and social responsibilities. Unfortunately, the two cannot be measured in the same way. The
economic benefits of a National Data Center can be measured
tangibly in terms of. dollars and hours and accessibility' of
information; the effects of such a system on the individual
and the potential capacity for the infringement upon the
privacy of the individual can only be measured intangibly.
Yet the right of the individual must take precedence over
any possible economic benefits. Consequently, safeguards and
laws to protC'ct the rights of the individual and to give him
recourse against invasion of privacy resulting from such a
system must be a part of any proposal for a National Data
Center.
The Washington, D.C., Chapter of the Association for
Computin~ Machinery has proposed a "Resolution on the
National Data Center and Personal Privacy." Following is
that resolution.

Recent proposals to consolidate the data actIVItIes of
government agencies into a single national data center have
generated both public and private investigations into the
. potential invasion of individual rights posed by such consolidation. The existence and operation of other public and
private data centers pose the same hazard to individual
citizens.
As members of the computing profession, we are concerned not only with technological progress, but also with
the larger question of the role of the computer and the computing profession in the American society. Our professional
duty requires that we point out the benefits of purely technological innovation and, with the same high level of competence and objectivity, call attention to actual or potential
consequences of technological change which may be incompatible with the democratic society.
The question of a national data center is particularly
difficult to adjudicate .because while the chief potential benefits which motivated the proposal - economies in time and

money - can be objectively assessed, the disadvantages that
are potentially the most critical can be assessed only subjectively. These disadvantages include the invasion of privacy,
the denial of constitutional protection against self-incrimination, and the adverse economic and social consequences of
misuse of personal data which could result from the storage,
manipulation, and transfer of personal dossiers. The real
issue then is whether a possible loss of individual rights, however small, is justified in providing a probable gain, however
large, in government efficiency and economy.
In putting the question this way, the conclusion is inescapable that in a democratic society individual rights take
precedence and determine a practical upper bound on the
efficiency attainable in government. Loss of individual rights
can be justified only when a "greater good" for the people
as a whole is provided. At this juncture, there does not
appear to be a "greater good" derivable from a national data
center or other public or private data centers that would
justify the hazard to individual liberties posed by placing
personal dossiers of a great number of Americans in the hands
of a relatively few private or public employees.
Technical safeguards against intentional or inadvertent misuse of personal data by users, data center supervisors, programmers, operators, and maintenance men must provide
for absolute accountability in the handling of personal data
and must effectively restrict access and use to that which
is consistent with constitutional rights. But technical safeguards are not sufficient. Strong laws must be passed and
vigorously enforced to provide both an effective legal basis
for accountability in the handling of personal data and procedures for redressing and compensating individual injury.
We urge that the need for such safeguards and laws be
studied also in relation to the diverse agencies now dealing
in personal data. In no case must promises and good intentions be substituted for technical safeguards and effective laws.
The burden of proof therefore rests with the proposers of
a national data center to show that such a system is still
economically attractive under the legal and technical constraints necessary to protect individual liberties in the American society.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

PROVISIONS THAT SEVERELY CRIPPLE TEACHING

I. J. D. Madden
Executive Secretary
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, N.Y. 10017
On April 4 in Washington, Dr. Anthony G. Oettinger,
President of the Association for Computing Machinery, testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights. Among other remarks, he stated:

"The proposed bill ... threatens to cripple severely the very
research and the very teaching necessary in order that the 'information storage and retrieval system or any similar device,
mac~ne, or process' materialize fully, be understood, and
be controllable;" His prepared statement follows in full.

II. Dr. Anthony G. Oettinger
Professor of Applied linguistics and Applied
Mathematics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass. 02138
Mr. Chairman, may I first thank YOl! for the invitation to
appear before your Subcommittee and for the opportunity
to express my views on a matter which is of deep concern
to me not only as a college teacher, as President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and as a member
of the Board of Governors of the American Federation of
Information Processing Societies (AFIPS), but also as a
scientist and engineer directly involved in research on information processing and more specifically on technological
aids to creative thought and on the impact of technology on
education both in the school and in professional life. Like
many of my colleagues, I am also an author drawing revenues
from copyrighted works.
The Association for Computing Machinery is the professional society for individuals who apply, develop, design, and
theorize about computers and computer programs; it currently numbers 20,000 members, the majority of whom are
in the United States. Although I. am speaking today as an
individual, I have discussed my testimony with the other
members of the ACM Executive Committee, Dr. Bernard
Galler, Professor of Mathematics and Communication Science, University of Michigan, and Mr. Donn Parker, Staff
Specialist, Control Data Corporation, Palo Alto. They are
in substantial agreement with what I have to say.
My academic title reflects a traditional labeling of disciplines bU,t I prefer to describe myself as a computer scientist and engineer concerned with both the theory and the
practice of information processing by all the various means
afforded to us by ancient and modern technology. The variance between my labels and my self-image reflects the one
basic truth about the computing and information processing
field today: it is growing and changing at a tremendous
rate. This can scarcely be news to this committee since
the report of the House Judiciary Committee1 clearly pointed
out that "recognizing the profound import that information
storage and retrieval systems seem destined to have on
authorship, communications, and human life itself, the committee is also aware of the dangers of legislating prematurely
in this area of exploding technology."
Some of those who have preceded me have pointed out
with great force and clarity the legal implications of the
Copyright Revision Bill S 597 as .presently drafted. I wish
particularly to express my whole-hearted agreement with
1

Report No. 2237 89th Congress, 2nd Session, October 12,
1966.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

the perceptive analysis of the problem pmvided in the statement submitted by the Interuniversity Communications Council (EDUCOM). I do not wish to repeat arguments that
have already been well made by others, particularly since I
am not a lawyer. I should rather like to paint for you a
picture of what the pertinent sections of this bill look like
to someone who, like myself, would be directly affected by
the consequences.

Experiments with Terminals 3000 Miles Apart
For a couple of years now, with the support of the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of
Defense, I have been experimenting with the classroom use
of terminals linked up via 3,000 miles of New England
Telephone, Western Union, and Pacific Telephone lines to
a computer system devised by my friend and colleague, Professor Glen Culler, at the University of California at Santa
Barbara. Students in several Harvard courses have used this
terminal to solve problems in mathematics and statistics as
well as to experiment on the design of the system itself
with an eye toward producing a more advanced system.
Several facts immediately stand out: transmission is clearly
over more than 100 miles! The time and content of the
transmission very ·clearly and necessarily "depend on a choice
by individual recipients in activating transmission." I have
therefore already run afoul of two of the conditions by which
exemption is limited under Section 110 (2) of the proposed
bill. It would, moreover, be very difficult for me to know
whether or not the system my colleague operates 3,000 miles
away had or had not incorporated in it programs that were
themselves copyrighted or data that were copyrighted and
which, under the spirit of the bill, had in the first place been
.
illegally introduced into the computer.
I am now planning additional experiments over the next
three years in which I expect to combine our new computer
system with a variety of films, vfdeotapes, audiotapes and
other technical devices as well as the more conventional devices such as chalk and blackboard, books, technical journals,
etc. In the course of these experiments I expect to peruse,
display, copy, and enter into computers or other files a great
variety of materials in various media. I have as yet no idea
how much of what I buy, rent, borrow or produce myself I,
will eventually keep and either use in my classroom, publish
conventionally or disseminate by less conventional means now
still in the experimental stage.

Delays, Frustrations, and Chaos
Under the provisions of the bill as now conceived, I would
have not only to acquire and evaluate materials but, in
each instance, before experimenting with them, seek out the
owner of a copyright, if any, make formal requests for permission to use the material, pay royalties if any are due, etc.
All this before any material could actually be used and, in
fact, before I could find out whether or not the material
was useful! The delays, the frustrations and the chaos inherent in such a process now seem so formidable that if the
bill were passed in its present form I would be tempted to
return to the safer occupation of copying out manuscripts
with a goose quill pen.

Labor-Saving Assistance of a Computer
I am interested in the free development of the science and
the engineering of bath computer hardware and computer
software but, as an author, I am not unmindful of the protection afforded by copyright. Yet, the logic of permitting
someone to cut up his legally purchased copy of a book I
have written, paste pieces on file cards and sort these by hand
while precluding him from doing the same job by machine
escapes me. I am concerned if he makes illegal use of the
end-product, but surely I have as little right to tell him
not to use the labor-saving assistance of a computer as I have
to forbid him to delegate work to a research assistant or
a secretary.
The foregoing was all stated in the first person and with
very specific reference to my own interests. Nevertheless I
am familiar enough with the work of my colleagues in
computing, libraries, and information retrieval to believe that
I could quite safely have said "we", substituted innumerable
variations on the general theme of educational technology or
switched altogether to the broader problem of library modernization. What I have said would still remain true.

Infringement from Choice in Transmission
Beyond my immediate personal concerns, I can see other
curious and perhaps earlier unforeseen consequences of the
limitations of Section 110 (2). One could argue, for example, that programmed instruction of the linear kind where
each student is presented with precisely the same sequence
of questions as every ather, could legitimately take place if
'time and content of transmissions were controlled by the
transmitting organization. However, the use of branching
instructional programs where the future course of instruction, the nature of questions and so on, depends on prior
responses by the student might well constitute "a choice by
individual recipients in activating transmission" and therefore
an itlfringement! There is still considerable controversy among
investigators of these mode~ of programmed instruction as
to which is more effective and in what circumstances. It
would be a rather curious precedent in our society and I
need hardly sayan unfortunate one, to have scientific questions decided a priori by legislation. However unintentional,
this would surely be a return to the Dark Ages.
A look slightly ahead of us may further help in seeing the
relevant provisions of the bill in some perspective. There
now exist machines that can scan printed material of limited
type fonts, and convert it into machine readable form. There
also exist experimental means for takIng words stored in a
computer and converting these into the sounds that would
be heard if a person were to pronounce the words. If such
processes were perfected and extended even in limited form,
one could visualize a prosthetic device which would enable
a blind man to turn any book into a talking book without
the delays and difficulties attendant on conversion into Braille
or on recording by a volunteer reader.

A Blind Man Producing a Talking Book for His
Own Use
We would then face the anomaly that a normal man who
has purchased a book in a bookstore or borrowed it from a
library would be within his full rights in reading this book
anytime and anywhere he pleased; but, if I read the provisions of the bill correctly, that a blind man using his
prosthetic machine might well be infringing a copyright:
a) by causing his prosthetic machine to translate print
into machine readable form, whether or not transmission
to a remote computer is required. If transmission was
necessary, as is much more likely initially, then there
might be further infringement;
b) by his exceeding the capricious 1~O-mile limit (Section 110 (2) B), which would be probable since the
necessary computers most likely could be provided economically only at a limited number of regional centers.
c) through his exercising his choice as an individual recipient "in activating transmission from an information
storage and retrieval system" or, as the bill goes on, "any
similar device, machine, or process" (Section 110 (2) D
- my underline).

Solutions to Great Information-Handling Problems
The problems which my colleagues and I are trying to
solve range in their interest and applicability from the purest
of theoretical investigations to the most immediately applicable design and engineering work. In nearly every case there
is strong interest on the part of various branches of the federal government and of the public at large in the solution
of the problems we are attacking.
The Library of Congress has studied various approaches to
automation. The Department of Health, Education and
Welfare is sponsoring, through its Office of Education, numerous studies of computer-aided teaching and other technological aids to instruction. The Congress itself, the Bureau
of the Budget, the Vice-President of the United States, both
now and as senator, the Committee on Scientific and Technical Information (COSATI) of the Federal Council on
Science and Technology, various branches of the Department of Defense, and numerous other bodies have expressed
deep concern over the information-handling problems of the
federal government in every sphere of its activities, and they
are seeking solutions through major programs now at varying
stages from the operational through the experimental to the
projected. I am sure that the computing profession and the
computing industry share with the publishing industry a
deep concern for the fruition of these efforts.

Serious Limitations of Existing Exemptions
In a sense, however, we are the victims of our own rosy
predictions. The proposed bill drastically limits traditional
exemptions although there is no clear and present danger of
infringements, which are possible now only on the most
limited and commercially uninteresting scale; in so doing,
it threatens to cripple severely the very research and the very
teaching necessary in order that the "information storage,
and retrieval system or any similar device, machine, or
process" materialize fully, be understood, and be controllable.

Deliberate Introduction of Quantities of M,inor
Variations
In closing, may I address one remark to the question of
copyright of programs, to cover a point which I think has
been ignored in previous testimony. The statement by the
Interuniversity Communications Council (EDUCOM), with
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

which I am in agreement, objects to "the argument . . . in
'support of . . . copyright for computer programs covering
the processes, that infringement could be avoided simply by
changing in some degree the sequence of steps . . . of the
program" and also rejects the corollary that "On this view,
the presence of a copyright would merely compel an outsider to do some slight work of his own in order to stay out
of trouble." The rejection of these views should include
taking notice of the disastrous consequences that encour,aging

minor variations to "stay out of trouble" would have on
standardization in electronic data processing, which is a subject of major interest to many members of both the Legislative and the Executive branches. Moreover, whatever one's
views of the merits of standardization may be, the deliberate
introduction of hosts of minor. variations into a profession
struggling to keep its head barely above a swarm of program
"bugs" (or accidental and unwanted minor variations!) can
only be viewed as a very grim practical joke on every taxpayer.

A THIRD-GENERATION DATA RECORDER?
H. Edward White
Data Processing Consultant
Chicago, III. 60610
Data recording and communications appears to be a growing field, yet one in which relatively few innovations have
been presented recently. However, I attended a showing not
long ago of a pair of "third generation" data recording
machines designed by Wyoming Electrodata Corporation of
Riverton, Wyoming, which could have a significant impact
on the techniques used for entering data into computers.
These machines (the Model 353 Data Recorder and the
Model 355 Data Recorder-Playback) enable the operator to
enter alphanumeric data on a conventional typewriter keyboard. Data is recorded on Yt" magnetic tape in a cartridge
suitable for wire transmission or on-line entry into a computer.
This may not seem particularly startling or even totally
new. Many data recording devices are being brought to
market regularly in the rapidfy growing data processing industry. Data recording from a typewriter keyboard is far
from a new concept. However, the visitor to the first public
display couldn't help noticing the similarity of the console
to that of a computer. While it was much smaller, with
fewer lights and buttons, it takes advantage of modem displays to guide the operator through the routine of accurate
data recording. The consoles are of micro-circuit design the modern electronics which differentiates third generation
computers.
There are other features which make these recorders unique.
Among these features is the recording medium. Data is recorded on Y4" magnetic tape. Other recording devices make
me of this technique, but this one makes use of cartridge-type
tape insertion and removal. (If you have seen the Stereo
systems in the new cars, the cartridges are of similar design,
and insertion and removal of tapes is just as simple!) Each
cartridge holds 400 feet of tape. That's about 40 minutes of
music in your automobile or over 150,000 characters of data
for your computer. If the same data were recorded on 80
column cards or paper tape the supplies cost for non-reusable
cards and paper would be about $2.00. Tape cartridges cost
less than $10.00 each and are reusable countless times. In
effect, the supply costs of data recording are eliminated.
Imagine the potential savings over the years!
How do we get data recorded on Yt" tape into the computer? Wyoming Electrodata has successfully built and installed a tape cartridge on-line reader which can be interfaced
to any second or third generation computer. One of these has
been installed and has been in regular use by a service bureau
in Denver, Colorado, for over two years. Input speeds are
about twice those of 80 column cards or paper tape. The
reader cost is less than most card or paper tape readers.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

How about data communication? If you want to use the
old-fashioned United States Mail route (it is still often dif-I
ficult to justify the cost of wire communication for many
applications), the tape cartridge can be sent by Air Mail
for 48 cents (six ounces). The equivalent in punched cards
would weigh about 11 pounds ($14.00 by first class air mail,
but these are usually sent by somewhat slower air freight).
The equivalent in paper tape would cost $2.00 to send by
air mail.
Data can also be transmitted by telephone lines. A low-co sf
communications device is available for any of these data
recorders. (The designer raised the console on the standard
machine to allow room for a telephone on the desk top
without interfering with working area.) It can transmit
100 or more characters per second over conventional telephone lines using the Dataphone. Similar speeds can only
be achieved with paper tape or punched cards with equipment costing from two to five times as much. The lowest
cost card transmission equipment, which is only about 20%
as fast, is more costly than the Yt" magnetic tape transmission
equipment. The lowest cost paper tape equipment, while
similar in cost, is only about one-half as fast. Speeds are
very important when the cost of line time is considered.
The presentation of the new equipment brought to mind
an experience of some fifteen years ago. At that time the
metals industry was looking for a way to transmit order data
from sales offices to plants. Teletype was the only transmission means then available, but a better means of recording
data onto teletype tape was needed. A small, struggling
equipment manufacturer in Rochester, New York, built an
electric typewriter that would punch teletype tape and provide a "playback" before transmission by wire. Companies
in the metals industry were among the first to use "Flexowriters" for writing orders and preparing paper tape for
teletype transmission and data processing. The Flexowriter
is still sold as a popular means of source document writing
and data recording; the original users received a return on
their investment in equipment which was undoubtedly many
'times that which is normally achieved.
Wyoming Electrodata Corporation has designed and packaged a data recording machine using "third generation"
(micro-circuit) electronics which employs computer console
control techniques. Furthermore, the data recording system
offers faster recording and computer input speeds, elimination of supplies cost, and lower equipment costs than conventional data input techniques.
Is this product heralding a new generation in data recording?

COMPUTERS WILL AID VISITORS TO EXPO 67 $MILLION

AND MAY HELP SAVE AN EXTRA

(Based on reports in the March-April edition of Management Services, published by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants, and the Globe and
Mail, published at 140 King St. W., Toronto 1, Ontario,
Canada)
If things work out as planned, one of the largest computer
complexes ever assembled in Canada wiII help visitors considerably when attending Montreal's Exposition 67.
With the aid of computers, the Expo 67 management expects to find rooms for all visitors who need them - at the
rates desired, in the specified neighborhood and with any
needed particular services. It plans to do this through an
elaborate reservation system, roughly analogous to the seatreservation system used by most major airlines.
All transient lodging areas in an around Montreal have
been charted and coded, with top rates frozen by the local
governing authority. This information, along with additional
data pertaining to rates, types of locations and special services available, has been stored in a new G.E. 225 computer.
Computer files are supplemented by 40 telephone operators
who serve in the same way that airline-reservation clerks do.
A prospective visitor will call the accommodations control
center, state his preference in prices, location and other services,. and wait while the operator feeds the requirements
into the computer and comes up with ~ match. As reserved,
these accommodations are removed from the availability list.
Snack bars and regular restaurants on the fair grounds wiII
have prices predetermined by officials and the result will be
economical prices for all types of meals with particulars
clearly marked at all restaurants and snack places. Roving
government inspectors wiII see that establishments adhere to
fixed prices and not raise them for tourists.
Data processing machines will even be used to control one
of the major headaches of a world's fair: excessive crowds
and waits at more popular exhibits. Two systems will be
used in an attempt to avoid confusion and delays suffered at
New York's fair - they are preticketing, and Electronic Information Display (EID).
The first system will help people avoid long lines at displays. Space available at free shows will be logged into
computers and flashed to the touring crowds at 11 well-

located information displays. People then can reserve seats
that day for a performance; groups visiting the fair can book
bloc seating in advance. The computer will automatically
keep track of the scats remaining open at each performance
and update its files as requested by an information booth.
D·ata on crowd density at various sites on the fair grounds
wiII appear on electronic display boards, controlled by computers supplied with up-to-the-minute information by walkietalkie teams. Alternate routes to displays and exhibits which
are not jammed ~ill be indicated for smoother traffic flow.
These display boards wiII also keep visitors posted on such
items as the news, the weather, lost children, lost parents,
and emergencies. They will be operating 12 hours a day
throughout Expo - with 20% of their operating time devotcd to advertisements.
Computers will help maintain security. Pass control will
be administerf'd by computers, and personnel files on the thousands of workers at Expo 67 will be maintained. Financial
records and managf'ment information wiII also be computerized.
Estimates have been made that if the New York World's
Fair had had this type of control, its officials could have
easily made an extra $1 million in revenue. But fair managements in the past have had to wait for monthly reports
in order to make decisions. With the computer, management
data will be furnished immediately and quick action can be
taken if abnormalities develop.
The $3-miIlion computer system is being supplied by Canadian General Electric Co. Ltd. free for the duration of'
the fair. The system has been installed in Expo's 15,000square-foot control center on St. Helen's Island. The equipment can store 800,000 p:e~es of information in its. memory
and its printer can provide incormation at the rate of 160,000
characters a minute. It is, staffed by 80 persons, including
operation controllers, programmers, and engineers. Both the
computer equipment and the television monitoring devices
used will be on public display during the exhibition.

COPYING THE TABLE OF CONTENTS OF IICOMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION

I. From Mrs. L. Vilentchuk
Deputy Dir~ctor
Center of Scientific and Technical Information
Tel-Aviv, Israel
We have been publishing, on a trial basis, a monthly publication of contents pages of magazines in electronics and electricity. The publication consists of contents pages of the more
important periodicals in these fields, which are available in
the country.
'Our trial publication has been wholeheartedly accepted by
both industry and large organizations in Israel, specializing in
these subjects, and has become a valuable guide to them.
We have found that this kind of publication ensures that

II.

From the Editor

We are glad to give permission to you· and to any technical
or scientific magazine or revie~ to reprint our table of contents.

the manager, scientist and engineer -is kept abreast of new
developments in his field of interest.
May we please have your co-operation in the following:
• Your permission to reproduce the contents page of your
journal?
• Could you please arrange for us to receive the contents
page by airmail, so that our publication may appear
concurrently with the journal which is received by surface mail?

We can in some cases arrange for sending by airmail our
table of contents, and we will gladly do so in your case.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

COMPUTER-COMPOSED MUSIC - COMPETITION FOR 1968

International Federation for Information Processing
IFIP Congress Office
23 Dorset Square
London, N.W. 1, England
The International Federation for' Information Processing
(IFIP) has organised a computer-composed music competition in connection with IFIP Congress 68. Entries submitted
for the competition must be produced entirely by the agency
of a computer and fonn an artistic whole. Entries will be
judged on musical merit, and medals will be awarded for the
best three pieces of music composed by computer. It is hoped
that the prizewinning entries will be performed during IFIP
Congress 68. The Congress is to be held in Edinburgh from
August: 5th to 10th, 1968.
Rules
1. Entries may be submitted either by individuals or jointly,
by groups of people. Each entry must be accompanied by a
statement signed by every member of the group (or by the
individual) certifying that to their (his) knowledge all the
computer programming - excluding general service routines - was executed by the group (or by the individual).
2. The performing time for an entry should be not less than
three minutes and not more than 15 minutes.
3. Entries may be submitted in any of the following forms:
a) a score for a string quartet.
b) a recording accompanied by a score (where other instruments are involved)
c) a recording without a score (if the sound is produced
by machine, with no legible score inv<;>lved)
If a recording is submitted, it should be in a commonly accepted form (i.e. magnetic tape -or gramophone (phonograph) record) and must be of a high quality, suitable for

reproduction, in a concert hall.
4. The music ~ay be based upon a theme· or themes explicitly
presented to the computer, and dynamic markings by hand
may be added to the composition produced by the computer. Apart from these two exceptions, the music composition must be determined entirely by the action of the
computer. The computer program may, or may not, restrict the time signature and the overall structure of the
work.
5. Each entry must be accompanied by a copy of the program
(or. programs) used, with a reference to the programming
language in which it is written. The program should be
well annotated so that it can be readily understood by
a skilled programmer. A separate statement explaining
briefly the principles on which the program is based must
also be supplied. If the notes and statement are not written in English, an English translation should be attached.
The input data and any printed computer output must also
be supplied. Any further information about the program
that may be requested by the judges must also be given.
6. Entries will be judged by a panel of expert musicians and
computer programmers appointed by the President of IFIP,
who will be the sole arbiter in any dispute that may arise.
7. IFIP reserves the right to withhold any of the prizes if the
standard of entries is not sufficiently high.
8. The closing date for the submission of entries is 31st January, 1968. It is hoped to announce the results of the competition and the winning entries by 31st May, 1968.
9.. Entries should be sent to the Administrative Secretary at
the above address.

A IIREGULARII EX-SUBSCRIBER CONTINUES TO READ C&A
I. From C. R. Fox
Tax Consultant and Accountant
Long Beach, Calif. 90802
This letter is written to possibly help you in your market
research. I subscribed to Computers and Automation to see
if it could be helpful to my understanding of the computer
revolution. But alas, I fear it is too technical to serve my
purposes. I have passed several copies on to people who are
in the data processing field locally. Perhaps they will become
subscribers.

Since I am just starting my practice, I must limit my subscriptions to those which will have the greatest immediate
'value to me. However, I plan to continue to read your magazine in public libraries, hoping that, along with my other
studies, the day will come when the light will dawn, and I
will have a better understanding of the computer field.
Please send me the name of a public library in this area
which subscribes to Computers and Automation.

II.

We are sending /you a copy of our "Glossary of Terms in
Computers and Data Processing" in the hope that it will be
helpful to you in your study.
Good luck to you in starting your practice as a tax consultant and accountant.

From the Editor

Thank you for your letter. We are glad to inform you that
the Long Beach Public Library, Ocean and Pacific Aves.,
Long Beach, Calif., receives two copies of Computers and
Automation each month.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

SNOBOL BULLETIN ESTABLISHED-

A NEW CAREER IN COMPUTER

PAPERS SOUGHT

PROGRAMMING

Professor W. M. Waite
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado 80302
The Special Interest Committee on Programming Languages of the Association for Computing Machinery will
begin publication of an information bulletin on the string
manipulation language SNOBOL. The bulletin will be distributed as a supplement to SICPLAN Notices, the Committee's informal monthly newsletter.
As editor of the bulletin, I invite contributions concerning
SNOBOL which may be of interest to users and implementers
of the language as well as to the computing community in
general. Suggested topics include:
• Announcements of SNOBOL implementations for particular machines, outlining their relationship to the
published descriptions of SNOBOL.
• Improvements or alterations in basic SNOBOL operations such as scanning, storage allocation and function
calling.
• Interesting applications.
The bulletin wiII also be used as a forum for the discussion
of problems associated with the language, and we would like
to hear from anyone who is presently using or implementing
SNOBOL.
Please address all comments and contributions to me at the
above address.

ANNUAL COMPUTER ART CONTEST
As in previous years, the front cover of the
August issue of "Computers and Automation" will
present the first prize in our annual computer art
contest.
Any interesting and artistic drawing, design,
or sketch made by a computer, analog or digital, is
eligible. It shouid be provided if possible on white
paper in black ink, so as to make a good reproduction; but this is not mandatory. The way in which
-the drawing was
made by a computer sho uld be explained. There
are no formal entry requirements:
any kind of letter
submitting the design is acceptable.
The deadline
for receipt of
entries to be considered in the
contest is Friday,
June 30, 1967.
Computer Art First Prize, August 1966

I. From B. G. Stickle
East Lansing, Mich.
Your editorial on "Computer-Assisted Explanation in Programming" in the February issue of Computers and Automation interested me.
Most of my business experience has been in industrial marketing. However, for the past few years I have considered
changing to some field that would be more enjoyable and
would bring more personal satisfaction to me. My attention
has recently been drawn to computer programming as a
career that I would find challenging and for which I have
strong aptitude.
Frankly, I know very little about the subject. I have a
limited background in mathematics and science, but have
been told that my aptitude for these areas, my intelligence,
and my wide range of interests are of equal importance.
I would like to ask for your advice. Do you think that a
man of 50 with qualifications such as mine and no immediate
need for income from a job should consider a career in programming? If so, are there any directories of schools, or are
trainee programs available? Is aptitude testing advisable?

II.

From the Editor

Thank you for your inquiry. You may also be interested in
an editorial which appeared in the September, 1966, issue of
Computers and Automation entitled "Bootstrapping a Career
in the Computer Field," which I enclose.
You undoubtedly could easily become a good programmer.
I suggest you talk to the director of a nearby computer center,
and get his suggestions about local assistance, and nearby
possibilities for instruction and training.

CORRECTION
In the article "Language Engineering", in the April
1967 issue of "Computers and Automation", on page 36
the last ten lines at the bottom of the second column
should have been at the top of the column. Please mark
this correction in your copy.

APOLOGY TO OUR READERS
After the printing of all 15, 000 copies of the April issue,
we found we had misinterpreted permission to publish the
information which was printed on page 15, and did not have
permission.
So for the first time in 15 years of publication of this
magazine, it was necessary to cover up a page.
We regret the misunderstanding that occurred, and we
apologize for the distressing appearance of the pasted-over
page 15 in the April issue.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

c&a
PROBLEM CORNER
Walter Penney, C.D.P.
Problem Editor,
Computers and Automation
Readers are invited to submit problems (and their solutions) for this column to: Problem Editor, Computers and
Automation, 815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass. 02160.

Problem 675: Functions for a Checkerboard
When John Lawthorne entered the classroom there was
only one student, and he was sci absorbed in the sheet of
paper 'On his desk that he didn't stop to look up. His class
in Fortran had been dismissed for fifteen minutes, but this
eager beaver was still plugging away. John peered over his
shoulder and saw that he was putting l's and O's in the
squares of what looked like a checkerboard, except that he
noted it had only seven squares in each direction.
The student became aware of someone behind him and
turned around. "This was part 'Of today's assignment," he
said, pointing to the square, "and I can't seem to get to first
base with it. We're supposed to construct a function that
will put O's in all the cells of this square except for a cross
of 1's in the center."
"How many 1's are there supposed tQ be?" John was beginning to get interested.

"Well, there's a line of O's around all four sides so that
the cross will consist of nine 1's, five horizontal and five vertical, with the center one doing double duty."
"Suppose you imagine two variables I and J, each taking
on the values 1 to 7 inclusive, with the 49 results the contents of the corresponding cells."
The student looked a little skeptical. "That's the way I've
tried to go about it, but for every function I've tried, if
F (4,2) is 1, then F (3,3) turns out to be 1 also, and I
don't want that."
What is F (I,J) that will put 1's and O's in the proper cells?

Solution to last month's problem
The program represented by the Flow Chart would calculate

1/72

1/9 2

1/112

+ ....

i.e., the sum of the squares of the reciprocals of odd numbers
(except 3 and 5) to ten decimal places. The sum of the
squares of the reciprocals of the odd numbers is 7t 2 /8, so that
Z would be 7t 2 /8 - 1/9 - 1/25, or 1.0825894390.

Help stamp out
dropouts
Clean
tape heads
with

MS-200*

Oxide dust on tape heads is a frequent
source of dropouts. Some computer
operators still clean heads with swabs, but
many have found a better way: MS-200
Magnetic Tape Head Cleaner. MS-200
sprays away dust and dirt in seconds. You
can save even more time by applying
it while tape is running. Finally, computer
users report more than twice as many
passes of tape between cleanings with
MS-200 as with swabs. Recommended by
leading computer and tape manufacturers.
Write on letterhead for literature
and prices.
Designate No, 13 on Reader Service Card

~ miller-stephenson
~ ch.emical co., inc.
ROUTE 7, DANBURY, CONNECTICUT
·U.S. and foreign patents pending

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

DATA COMMUNICATION:S
Robert E. Wallace
Auerbach Corporation
Philadelphia~ Pa. 19107

((The early chapters of data communications are still being written, and
succeeding chapters will bring devices and' uses that can only be guessed
at today. The data communications story will be a long one, and lively."

Norbert Wiener once said that the most fruitful areas of
endeavor are often found in the "crack" between two fields.
The discovery of this crack between communications and data
processing has created a new and exciting area of application
to which the manufacturers, the common carriers and the consultants are all giving considerable attention. This area has
become a new technology called data commu.nications, a
technology dealing with data transmission between computers
and the control of data transmission by computer.

and because of this, it became necessary to consider together
both the data transmission and data processing systems in the
design of the total data communication system. Thus, it was
that the computer manufacturers turned their attention to the
development and marketing of the total system in conjunction
with their computer business to participate in what was to
become a rapidly increasing market.

Beginnings

From a user's point of view the computer-based data communication system consists of links to transmit the data, computer processing centers for the data transmission and/or
applications processing, and terminals for the input and/or
output of data. In relation to the overall system design, what
is imp'ortant for the user to consider for the links is the selection of an appropriate service from a common carrier. The
principal design factors are the transmission rate, the availability (private wire, dial-up, party line), and the kind of link
(one way at a time, two ways at once). In conjunction with
these the quality of the service (error rate) and the interface
requirements must be considered. Cost is an important criterion but it must be considered in respect to the overall
system design rather than to any single portion of it. The
terminals generally contain relatively simple equipment which
directly serves the user such as card or tape readers and
punches, document readers, printers and perhaps displays and
magnetic tape storage. However, the user in his overall design
considerations must also plan for some kind of communications control equipment and other equipment to interface with
the transmission links.
The control equipment performs such functions as multiplexing, error detection, code conversions of various kinds,
and signaling to other stations. What is actually needed depends on the design of the overall network and the way in
which the processing centers communicate with the station.
Equipment to match terminals to communications lines is generally a part of the service ,Provided by the common carrier;
it may be a standard item, or it may require modification to
match the requirements of the terminal equipment.

The development of the data -communication system in
modern technology began in the mid 1950's when it was
recognized that the paper tape used by teletype machines
could also be used as an input medium for the digital computer. Thus, the teletype circuits and machines which had
been used exclusively for transmitting messages became useful
to transmit data to computers. In early applications the data
was received at the computer installation on teletype tape
which could be used directly as input into the computer.
However, it took little time for manufacturers to replace the
tape by electronic buffers between the computer and the teletype wire so that the data could be inserted "on-line" into the
computer. Already the need to study the economic advantages of such systems had become evident. Teletype tape
could be sent via mail, thus saving the cost of teletype wire,
and trade-offs such as cost vs. speed of service had to be
carefully examined.
Nevertheless, new developments in data transmission systems rapidly evolved. Telephone circuits turned out to be
convenient media for the transmission of data, and transceivers
providing access to these circuits via punched card became
quite common in large computing installations. These systems were enhanced still further by the introduction of the
dataphone, which replaced the transceiver as a buffer and
provided direct dialing to connect the data source to the data
destination. Switching to enable the routing of data was accomplished with the already available circuit-switching equipments in the telephone system.
While these systems were all publicly available and obtainable on a rate-per-hour basis or by rental, the need for leased
wire systems in multi-divisioned corporate networks also developed rapidly and with this came the requirement for
private data switching systems. It turned out that digital
computers could be used effectively to control the switching,

The User's Viewpoint

Classes of Application
Current applications of data communications systems vary
widely in their functions, their scope, and their equipment and
programming requirements. New applications are being deCOMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

veloped every day, and it would clearly be impossible to
describe, or even list, all of the specific applications in which
data communications equipment is being used. A more rational approach is to divide the total spectrum of data communications applications into a few fundamental application
classes, each performing a certain general function and involving a certain type of data flow pattern .. Most specific applications will then fall neatly into one application class or
combine the functions of two or more classes.
Although coarser or tiner breakdowns could be justified, it
seems reasonable to consider six fundamental application
classes. The function and data flow pattern of each of these
classes are described in the paragraphs that follow.

Data Collection
The function of this class of applications is the collection
and transmission to a central processing point of information concerning the operations of geographically separated
manufacturing plants, warehouses, branch and regional
sales offices, and other outlying facilities. The basic data
flow pattern is unidirectional, from multiple remote (and/
or local) terminals to the central processing facility. This
type of system can: (1) provide the complete, timely
information about a firm's overall operations that is required for accurate cost control and informed management decisions, and (2) reduce the number of times and
places at which data must be manually handled and transcribed, thereby cutting clerical cos~s and error rates.
Data Distribution
In this class of applications, the principal function is the
distribution of data generated and/or processed at a
central facility to one or more outlying locations. Again
the basic data flow pattern is unidirectional, from the
central facility to the remote (and/or local) terminals.
This function, of course, is the complement of the data
collection function described in the preceding paragraph,
and many data communications systems combine the collection and distributiori functions.
To appreciate the potential value of a data distribution
system, it is necessary to realize that data has no real
value until if has reached the actual point of application
in a useful form. Significant financial benefits can frequently be realized through cutting down the elapsed
time and improving the accuracy of the data dissemination process.
Inquiry Processing
To meet the competitive demands of modern business,
many firms are finding it desirable (and in some cases
essential) to "go on-line" by establishing central data files
that can be randomly accessed to provide prompt responses to inquiries from outlying locations. In this class
of applications, the basic flow pattern is bidirectional;
inquiry messages are transmitted from a network of remote
terminals to the central processing facility, and appropriate response messages are generated and transmitted back
to the inquiring terminals.
The inquiry processing function is frequently combined
with real-time file updating; the appropriate entries in the
central data files are modified each time a transaction
occurs so that the central files always reflect the true current status of the business. Although inquiry processing
and real-time file updating systems promise great benefits
for nearly every type of business organization, their advantages in terms of faster response and centralized control
should be carefully weighed against their costs to ensure
that the higher direct cost of a real-time system, as compared with that of a more conventional batch-type processing system, is worthwhile. Real-time inquiry systems
are especially beneficial for organizations such as banks,

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

brokerage firms, airlines, and hotels, where prompt servicing of customer inquiries is of critical importance.
4.

Computer Load-Balancing
Organizations that have two or more computers in geo·
graphically separated locations may find it advantageous
to connect them by means of communications links. This
permits more effective utilization of each of the interconnected computers because the slack time in one computer's
schedule can be used to help smooth out the peaks in
another's. Reliability is greatly enhanced because the
communications links make it easy for one or more computers to take over another computer's workload when a
breakdown occurs. The data flow pattern in this class
of application is bidirectional; input data and results are
transmitted between each pair of interconnected computers, and the volume of data flow depends upon their
relative workloads at any given time.

Computer Time-Sharing
In an effort to make the facilities of a computer system
conveniently available to multiple users, extensive devel':
opment work is in progress on "time-sharing" systems. The
design objective of a time-sharing system is to furnish
continuous computing service to many users simultaneously, while providing each user with virtually instantaneous responses. Multiple consoles, each equipped with
appropriate input and output facilities, are employed, and
each console is connected to the central computer facility
by a communications link. (Some or all of the consoles
are likely to be close enough to the central facility so that
direct cable connections can be used.)
The basic data flow pattern in a time-sharing system is
bidirectional and similar to the pattern for the inquiry
processing class of applications; input data and operating
instructions are transmitted from the consoles to the central computer facility, and the results of computations are
transmitted back to the appropriate consoles. The widelydiscussed "public utility" computer concept, in which
multiple subscribers would share the facilities of a giant
centralized computer complex on a toll basis, is a logical extension of the computer time-sharing class of applications.

Message Switching
The activities of a modern corporation tend to be spread
out over a large number of widely separated locations,
and an efficient system for handling communications
among all these locations is vital. Where communications
traffic is high, a computer-controlled message switching
system is likely to be the best overall choice. In this type
of application the data flow pattern involves two-way message traffic between a number of terminals and a central
switching center. The sending terminal transmits each
message to the center, which stores it temporarily, performs any processing or code conversion functions that
may be required, and then transmits the message to one
or more designated receiving terminals. Large networks
may utilize two or more switching centers which are interconnected by high-speed communications links.
System Design

Designing a data communication system from the point of
view of methodology is in some respects similar to designing
a data processing system. However, there are many problem
areas which are significantly different because they embrace
both communications and data processing technology. Furthermore, a large number of the design parameters are interrelated, and compromises and trade-offs are necessary.
First, a number of basic factors must be determined. These
can generally be described as the information flow requirements and include the following:

1. The kind of information - to be transmitted through
the network, alld the types of messages.

2. The number of data sources and points of distribution
to be encompassed by the network, and their locations.
3. The volume of information (in terms of messages and
lengths of messages) which must flow between the
various locations.
4. How soon the information must arrive to be useful.
At what intervals is the information to be transmitted,
and when. How much delay is permissible and what
is the penalty for delay.

5. The reliability requirements in respect to the accuracy
of the transmitted data, or system failure. What is the
penalty for failure.
In addition, there are management policies to be determined, with respect to the use of existing equipment, security of
messages, economic guidelines, and centralization of facilities.
The overall design depends on this information. It involves
many problem areas. Some of these are:
1. Estimating the volume of information which may develop and the associated traffic statistics. (This may be
quite different than the stated requirements.)

2. Providing for traffic overloads.
3. Distributing the storage and computer capabilities at
the various processing centers to best fulfill the processing requirements, and balancing these capabilities with
the capacities and speeds of the transmission links to
minimize the cost.
4. Locating the processing centers, switching centers, and
line concentrators to minimize network costs, and of
course, selecting the appropriate network.
5. Optimizing the system configuration in fulfilling reliability and backup requirements and in m'lintaining
continuous and efficient operation.
6. Selecting economical error detection and correction
techniques.

7. Establishing the programming requirements in each
of the processing centers and specifying the necessary
storage and computer capabilities.
A design problem of slightly different character but deserving considerable emphasis is the development of a system
which is "open-ended." That is, it must be capable of expansion to provide for new plants, higher volumes of traffic,
new applications, and other developments. The design and
implementation of a data communication system is a major
investment. Proper planning at design time to provide for
future growth will safeguard this investment.
These problems cannot be treated separately; they are interlocked through the various system parameters which are determined by their solutions. Trade-offs become necessary between the equipment, the programming systems, the services,
and the operating requirements. Thus, the design techniques
embrace both communication and data processing, and the
system team having responsibility for the development of a
data communication system must be knowledgeabl~ in both.

Data Communications Devices
The earliest data communications devices were generalpurpose machines. In the same way that a telephone is not
concerned with the content of the telephone message, a teletype machine transmits a wide range of alphanumeric characters, paying no attention to the content of the message.

The devices which are gaining prominence today, however,
are much more specialized, according to the requirements of
the job they are to perform. Excluding military systems, the
earliest of these was probably the specialized agent set used
to communicate information concerning requests for and confirmation of the sale of airline seats; more recently, specialpurpose devices have come into use in the factory in the
form of labor- and work-status reporting systems, in stock
brokers' offices, and as specialized teller machines in savings
banks.
These specialized devices, in addition to helping speed up
the flow of information, have several other important characteristics. They usually force the operator to format the
information properly or they refuse to transmit. They simplify
transmission of certain information by allowing a single key
depression to represent words or phrases; they frequently store
information and transmit over wire lines at a rate higher than
the operator could transmit from a keyboard - in certain
applications this provides a great saving in wire costs by
allowing connection of such devices on a "party-line"; they
frequently reduce the amount of information that must be
transmitted to achieve a particular level of accuracy, because
they contain built-in error-detection and correction means.

Helping the Operator
Sometimes, the incorporation of operator checks in these
devices is referred to as "idiot-proofing." This is in no sense
a derogatory term. It is used by designers to keep reminding
themselves that the operators of these devices are usually not
highly skilled in the operation of the device, as was the
telegrapher or teletype operator of ~n earlier day. Basically,
they are machine operators in a factory, stock brokers, ticket
agents, or bank tellers. The operation of the data communications device is not their principal task. Their principal task
is operating a machine, selling stocks, selling airline seats, or
handling money and answering depositor queries.
The importance of the ease with which a data communications device can be accurately and efficiently operated by a
person not specializing in its operation is hard to overrate.
In selecting such a device, every opportunity to test the way
the people who must use it wilI react to it should be carefully
explored before making any final decisions. On the other
hand, initial reactions must be evaluated carefully to determine whether problems uncovered are fundamental or merely
transient emotional ones. In some cases, professional psychologists have had to be used to determine the answer to this
question.
The Many Uses of Data Communications Devices
A wide variety of applications for both general- and
special-purpose devices have been found. These applications
utilize general-purpose equipment which transmits punched
cards at 5-120 characters/second, paper tape at 10-300 characters/second, magnetic tape, and direct communication between computers at speeds of 200 to many thousands of
characters/second.
There are now coming into being applications for more
specialized devices. Savings-bank window machines provide
tellers with automatic communication to a central computer.
Access to file information about an account is made through
these special-purpose devices, and the files are automatically
posted at the time of transaction. Specialized cash-register
devices permit automatic take off of data from retail transactions. Thousands of aircraft plant workers report time worked
and job number through specialized input devices. The costs
of these devices vary widely, from less than $100 per month
to several hundreds, depending upon specific requirements.

CRT Display Terminals
Cathode ray tube ( CRT) display terminals are now being
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

widely used as "electronic blackboards" to provide rapid, easy
access to data stored' in computer systems and to their computational facilities.
An alphanumeric CRT display terminal is typically a
compact unit that looks - and actually is - much like a
small television set equipped with a keyboard. Data entered
from the keyboard or received from a computer is displayed
on the face of the cathode ray tube. Displayed data can include alphabetic letters, numeric digits, punctuation marks,
and specialized symbols. Some units can display only a subset of this character set, such as numeric digits. In this
article, any display symbol is referred to as a character.
The distinguishing features of CRT display units are: the
actual size of the display area, the display arrangement (i.e.,
the number of characters per line and the number of lines
per display), the total number of characters per display, the
number of different characters or symbols that can be displayed, and the technique for character generation. Readability of the display is influenced by character size and by
the colors and relative brightness of the characters and the
display background.
The three common techniques for generating the characters
to be displayed are: dot matrix, stroke, and monoscope.
With the dot matrix technique, points within a specified
point matrix (usually 5 points wide by 7 points high) are
intensified to form the displayed symbol. The characters so
formed are actually composed of small, overlapping circles.
The stroke system is used to form symbols by drawing short
straight lines between specified points. Different display units
may use different combinations of lines, which lead to differ_ences in the appearance of the symbols on the screen.
The monos~ope technique utilizes a separate scanning tube
which contains a plate with all of the displayable characters
etched into it. The scan generates signals that control the
movement of the electron beam in the display tube. Any
symbol shape or type can be generated with this technique.
Most commercially available alphanumeric display terminals can either be connected directly to a computer input/
output channel or connected remotely, via a communications
line and appropriate controller or adapter at the computer
site.

Display Terminal Applications
Two broad types of applications for which alphanumeric
display terminals are well suited are:
• Obtaining quick responses to inquiries about a particular account or subject, such as credit, bank balance,
inventory, and airline seating availability. Data files
maintained at the central computer site serve as the
source of information. These files can be updated
immediately to reflect each event or transaction.
• Providing convenient man-machine "conversations"
which permit users at remote display stations to base
their inquiries upon prior results calculated by a computer and displayed on the screen. This type of application allows programmers, engineers, and designers
to create and execute programs in step-by-step fashion
while being informed of programming errors and intermediate results at each step.
These applications can be - and have been - implemel1te.d
with communication's terminals other than dispJay, units. The
principal advantages of the display terminals are their speed,
ease, and convenience of operation.

Editing Facilities
The editing facilities provided for the operator's use govern
the ease and flexibility of entering data and modifying or correcting previously displayed data. All current commercial
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

display units use a visible cursor or entry marker to indicate
to the operator the position where the next character will be
displayed when entered. Control keys are usually included
within the keyboard layout to allow the operator to position
the cursor for data entry at specified locations on the screen.
Editing facilities that are provided in some display units include the following:
• Horizontal tabulation - allows the operator to set
specified "stops" within a display and later skip to
these stops in the same manner as on a typewriter.
• Line erase - allows the operator to erase a whole line
or selected portion of a line with a single key depression.
• Line insertion - allows the operator to insert data
within a line, with the previously displayed data being
automatically shifted to the right.
• Transmission of partial display - allows transmission
of a selected portion of the total display, in contrast
to having to transmit the full display each time.
• Split screen - allows retention of previously displayed
data while new data is being entered or received. In
practice, this may take the form of filling in a displayed format or of displaying a series of operator
inquiries and computer responses. With some units
the operator can be prevented from modifying the
previous data.

Control Units
Depending on the particular equipment, multiple display
units may be connected to a central controller, or each display unit may be independent and contain its own control
logic. In the former configuration, the individual display
units can usually be located up to 1000 to 2000 feet from the
controller.
The types of phosphors used in current alphanumeric display terminals are of relatively low persistence. To present a
display that is suitable for viewing and free from annoying
flickering, the display must be continually regenerated. Buffer
storage is provided within the central controller or within each
display unit to store data entered locally or received from
the remote computer. Logic circuitry within the controller
or display unit utilizes the buffer storage to regenerate the
display, usually 30 to 40 times per second.
The amount of buffer storage determines the maximum
amount of data that can be displayed at anyone time. The
capacity of the buffer is of concern primarily in multi-unit
display systems where the buffer storage is contained in a
central controller. The total buffer size is one factor that
limits the number of display units that can be accommodated
and the maximum amount of data that can be displayed by
each unit.
In some cases more than one display controller can be connected to a single communications line. This "multidrop"
capability requires that control logic be provided for controller
address recognition to enable selective transmission to individual display units. This capability can be used to expand
the number of display units at a single location or to permit
units located at geographically separate locations to share the
same line. The object of either arrangement is to reduce line
costs. Careful analysis must be made to ensure that a single
line will provide adequate transmission capacity.

Equipment Costs
The total equipment costs of individual display systems will
vary widely depending on the number and type of display
units in the system, the number of special features incorporated, and the Humber and type of auxiliary units.

Monthly rentals for each display unit connected to a central
controller range from about $40 to $135. The rental for the
corresponding central controller can range from about $200
to more than $1,000. The costs of the controller generally increases with the number of display units connected to it
because of the need for increased buffer storage and control
logic.
Independent display units that contain integral control logic
range from under $100 to almost $400 in monthly rentals.

through the use of Dataphone subsets supplied by the telephone company. Frequently, this ability permits considerable
savings by combining telephone and data needs.
Having these devices and facilities available, the principal
questions for the user, of course, are:

Facilities

Will They Improve Operations?

While microwave and other radio facilities are doing an
excellent job in many special applications, wire is still by far
the most important electrical communication medium.
Except for strictly local connections within a building or
location, the bulk of available wire is supplied by the communications common-carriers, the telephone companies, and
the Western Union Telegraph Company.
The wire circuits they supply are of essentially two types.
Those originally designed for transmission of teletype signals
handle speeds up to about 10 characters per second. Speeds
up to about 300 characters per second are carried over telephone-grade circuits; speeds above this are usually carried
over several telephone-grade channels leased as a group.
The cost of these facilities ranges from about $.75 per
month per mile of circuit for the lowest-grade teletype circuits
to $3 per month per mile of circuit for telephone-grade circuits. The resultant cost per character of information transmitted varies over a very wide range, depending upon the
geographic area covered by the system, its location, the volumes of data to be transmitted, speed and frequency of transmission, and the accuracy and reliability required. The basic
principle which underlies the economics of wire transmission
is simply to utilize the facility as completely as possible during
the period you have paid to use it.
Equipment referred to as MODEMS, communications subsets and buffers have been developed to adapt the modern
data communications devices to wire transmission over long
distances. These are usually furnished by the communication
carrier and, except for paying for them, are not a concern
of the user.

This, of course, is largely a matter of money -- money saved
through a reduction in operating expense or money made
through attracting income sources and utilizing assets more
efficiently. The answer is that data communications, particularly as an adjunct to a modern, on-line real-time computer
system, can achieve operational improvements in all these
ways. It cannot do so in every case, but only a careful
analysis will show the facts of your particular situation. It is
a fact, however, that many millions of dollars of increased
income are being produced yearly by the users of data communications equipment integrated into modern informationprocessing systems.

The Names for Wire Types
Some of the ways in which wire is made available to users
have strange names with which users should become familiar.
Leased lines are teletype or telephone lines made available
to the user, usually on a full-time basis, between specific
points.
T ELP AK is the name given to the service in which several
telephone-grade lines are leased as a group between two
points. The rates for service are substantially lower than those
for an equivalent number of single telephone channels.
Toll services are those which allow a subscriber to call
many points and to pay for service only when it is actually
being used. The telephone in your home is an example of
telephone toll service.
TWX and TELEX are the names applied tq the toll teletypewriter services of the Bell System and Western Union,
respectively.
WATS (for Wide-Area-Telephone Service) is the name
given to a telephone-grade service in which an unlimited
number of calls may be made for a fiat monthly charge from
a single point to any other subscriber within a very large
area - the entire United States if desired.
Most of these strange names, then, refer to different methods of pricing the availability of wire, rather than to basically
different facilities.
In most cases, the telephone-grade services can be employed
for the transmission of voice, of data, or both, alternately,

• Will they improve operations?
• What do I need to know to design a system and use
these techniques?

What Do I Need to Know to Design a System and to
Use the Techniques?
Although no unusual skill requirements are ordinarily imposed on operating personnel by the introduction of a data
communications system, it is well to remember that the new
system will always require modifications in procedures and
retraining of some personnel. The over-looking of this fundamental point has inserted needless delays in the implementation of many of the early modern integrated data communications computer systems.
The system design job presents larger problems. A data
communications system is utilized because it is an extremely
rapid means of transmitting data accurately. While it is
usually designed to correct its own mistakes, it will rapidly
and accurately transmit erroneous data generated elsewhere in
the system; and it will usually transmit this error directly to
some machine whieh may have difficulty in coping with it.
In addition, a greater-than-usual .amount of attention must be
paid to overall systems design and testing to guard against
the possibility that the system does not properly respond to
abnormal demands. In the case of one early major data
communications system in the $100-million class it took nearly
four times as long to thoroughly debug responses to these
abnormal demands as it did to ensure reliable handling of
normal demands. These days, however, utilization of some
of the more advanced system design techniques of operations
research, including simulation and the application of queuing
theory, will reduce the impact of this problem, allowing a
smooth transition to the new system.

A Final Note
Factual accounts, such as this one, tend to lack commentary
on the dramatic possibilities that lie ahead in data communications. As with other areas of EDP, it is hazardous for any
of us to make predictions, not because the future may expose
our exaggerations, but because it may instead reveal our
over-cautiousness and shallow imaginations.
It is enough, at this point, to say that the early chapters
of data communications are still being written, and that succeeding pages will bring devices and uses (mostly beneficent
ones, we hope) that can only be guessed at today. The data
communications story will be a long one, and lively.
For a reprint of this article, please designate No. 20 on the
Reader Service Card.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

The IBM detective.
Sherlock Holmes never found clues this fast.
Mr. Holmes had only Dr. Watson and the Baker Street
Irregulars to help him track down trouble.
An IBM Customer Engineer has a lot more help. He
has the resources of the entire IBM Field Engineering
Division to help him swiftly track down and correct
malfunctions in systems and programs.
For example, the Field Engineering Division provides
a special diagnostic aid called the IBM 1050 Terminal
Tester. With it, a Customer Engineer can monitor and
detect most circuit malfunctions in remote terminals
without tying up the computer or the phone lines. Thus,
troubles are usually found fast and corrected quickly
while the system goes right on working.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

And if a real tricky problem gives him trouble, an
IBM Customer Engineer can pick up the phone and call
an IBM technical information center where experienced specialists stand ready to counsel and advisearmed with circuit diagrams, service manuals and program documentation.
But chances are the Customer Engineer won't have
to make that call.
He's an experienced trouble-shooter himself who
can handle most situations single-handedly. That's the
way he's been trained.
If Sherlock Holmes had had resources like this to
help him, Moriarity wouldn't have had a chance.

c&a
CAPITAL REPORT
Effect of Computer Prediction on Elections
To Be Studied
Senator Vance Hartke (D-Ind.) has pushed back his planned
hearings on the effect of computer-based projections on elections. He recently voiced the opinion that the use of computer
projection models and the televising of predictions based on
early vote counts may have serious effect on our whole democratic election process. As a member of the Subcommittee on
Communications of the Commerce Committee, he had hoped
to spearhead the investigation of the effect of computer prediction on both national and local elections.
Senator John O. Pastore (D-R.I.), Chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, has had to put the hearings on the
reservation of educational TV and radio channels first and
Hartke now hopes to look into election predictions la{er in
this session. No specific date~ have yet been set for the
hearings.
Gerald A. Waindel, Special Assistant to Senator Hartke
told Computers and Automation that the Senator's position
has not changed. He feels that there may be a serious effect
on the action of voters who sit in front of their sets and see
either a local or national election going in a certain direction.
The prediction that one candidate may have a lead which
the models say is unbeatable could cause the lethargic voter
to simply sit there and refrain from voting. "It's all over now,
anyway ... the computers say that Candidate X is going to
be elected. What's the use of voting now.... " Such an attitude could cause voter apathy, and possibly lead to serious
lag of op'position when, in fact, the models might be wrong
if all of the possible voters went to the polls and expressed
their opinions with the ballot.
The crux of the matter is that the country is divided up
into time zones. Polls close in one zone, the computers spin
out a prediction, and the polls have not closed in another part
of the country. If voters do decide to stay home and give up
when they think the results are already decided, the effect on
local, elections could be great. Local races are often decided
by slim margins and the stay-home voter swayed by his TV
se't, might be the crucial slim edge which a candidate needed
to win in a local race at the county or city level.
Waindel admits that the dangers are still hypothetical, and
that no one has been able to prove effect as yet. But a critical
look at the possibilities is sorely needed. The backbone of
local government races determines representation in Congress,
and the subtle effect of national TV predictions is probably
more significant than is currently realized.
South Dakota, for example, is cut by a time zone. A state
law is on the books which makes it unlawful to announce the
probable results in one part of the state while the other, in a
different zone, is still voting. The possibility of preventing. a
national TV network from broadcasting projections is rather
remote, however, in spite of the fact that it might be violating
state law.
Federal Computer Utilization
The National Bureau of Standards CNBS) is still looking
for someone to head the Center for Computer Sciences and
Technology, according to John Eberhard, acting Director of
the Center. Eberhard, Director of the NBS Institute for

Applied Technology, has been filling in since Norman Ream
left sometime ag~, and is heading the hunt for Ream's replacement. By the time this appears, a selection may have
been made from among the industry and government candidates under consideration. Eberhard indicated that some of
the delay in picking the new Director has been caused by
the fact that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) must pass
on the qualifications of the individual selected, and this may
take somewhat longer than expected. The panel is leaning
toward a possible selection from industry, and esc must be
sure that all candidates are fairly considered.
A change in the Bureau's philosophy in the government
ADP field is also indicated. Eberhard told Computers and
Automation that the Bureau would like the NBS facility to
"become an experimental facility within the government. We
would like to explore the use of remote consoles time-sharing
.
"
and mteragency
use of the new remote time-sharing
technology now in ex~stence. Our position as a standard, time-selling
~omputer servIce center has now ended, and we hope to get
mdep:ndent funding directly from Congress to carryon new
expenmental work." NBS has signed with Univac for an
1108 to be installed in June, and they hope to use this as the
base for experimental work. Published reports that the 1108
was obtained to replace the NBS Pilot System were erroneous
according to Eberhard. The 1108 will replace an IBM 7094'
a CDC 3100, and a Honeywell 1200 now at the Center. Mos~
of the replaced hardware will not go out the door, he indicates. The 7094, for example, is now under the Harry Diamond Laboratories who will have full control of it when the
1108 is installed. "We will simply get off their hardware"
said Eberhard.
'
.NBS also planned to be a prime witness at hearings early
thIS month on Management of ADP in the Federal Governm~nt. C~ngressman Jack Brooks (D-Tex.) is spearheading
thIS look mto Federal computer utilization.
Effects on U.S. Economy Simulated by Computer
The Brookings Institution in Washington is continuing to
refine and improve its Econometric Model of the United
States, which it runs on a 32K IBM 7040 in its capital headquarters. The model is believed to be the largest in the world,
and simulates interactive forces of the US economy with approximately 180 nonlinear coupled partial difference equations.
George Sadowsky, Director of the Computer Center at
Brookings, described the model as one which, for the first
time, can dis aggregate many of the lumped economic factors
used in previous economic models. The large number of
equations, some of which are distinct identities, allow more
a.ccurate predictions of economic effect than previously posSIble. Subsectors of the economy are input at levels formerly
infeasible. The rediscount tate, prime lending rate for banks
time deposit savings and loan rates, government bill and' bond
rates, and the level of unborrowed reserves, are only a few
discrete elements used in the monetary subsector. The industrial subsector of eight groups will shortly be expanded to
thirty-three to give an even more accurate picture of industrial interrelationships.

(Please turn to page 45 )
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

PRODUCTION AND INVENTORY CONTROL BY
COMPUTER - A UNIVERSAL MODEL
Karl E. Korn and James H. Lamb
Western Electric Company, Inc195 Broadway
New York, N.Y. 10007

"I!lcluding. problem deftnition, system design, file information, programmzng, codzng, debuggzng, and cutover, the total exp'ended technical
effort since 1964 has been about twenty man years."

T?e productio~-control function of a 175-man part shop
makmg metal pIeces, at the Kansas City Works of the
Western Electric Company has been fully computerized. The
system of computer programs corresponds precisely to a
shop together with its finished-parts storeroom. The system
controls the inventory of finished goods through automatic
generation of replenishment orders. Determination of stockon-hand status is not included in the model, but rather is
independently provided by a workswide stock-status system.
O~ a weekly basis, the computerized model of production
and mventory control issues the following information:
1. The start date and size of each new lot to be produced
and assembled.
2. All paperwork necessary to initiate movement of raw
material and components to the proper shop area in
order to start a lot.
3. A forecast by time periods of raw material quantities
required.
On a daily basis, the system issues a work list for each of
the five shop sections. Operations to be performed on the
lots are listed in priority sequence.
T?e production control system is a product of the Engineermg Research Center and is currently operated and
maintained by personnel at a pilot installation in the Kansas
City Works. The computer configuration is an IBM 1410
with an SO,OOO-character memory, six magnetic tape-drives
and a disk file.

Environment
The Works is divided into a hierarchy of assembly shops
and associated storerooms, as shown in Figure 1. The levels
are arranged so that the demand on any module (shop and
storeroom combined) must come from a higher level. Generally speaking, demand flows in a direction opposite to the
flow of product.
Demand on each module is determined on a plant-wide
basis in a level-by-level explosion. Note that the demand
on any storeroom in a module can come from all higher
levels. The arrows in Figure 1 show the path of demand
explosion through the plant hierarchy.

Karl E. Korn received a B.S. degree in mechanical
engineering from the Cooper Union School of Engineering in 1943. His background is in design, development and research projects. He became active in
computer applications in 1957 and in 1959 served as
a consultant in that field. He joined the Western
Electric Engineering Research Center in 1961, where
he is presently a Senior Research Engineer.
James H. Lamb received a B.S. degree in industrial
engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in
1957. _He then joined Western Electric. In 1962,
after a year of study at New York University's Courant
Institute, he rejoined Western Electric at their Engineering Research Center to help d~velop the computerized production control system described in this
article.

Based on an article in The Western Electric Engineer for July, 1966.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May; 1967

EXTERNAL DEMAND
ON PLANT

PRODUCT OUT

As shown in Figure 3, the system realizes feedback on
two levels - daily and weekly.

Approxi mations

FLOW
OF
DEMAND

APPARATUS
SHOP

GLASS PARTS
STOREROOM
GLASS PARTS
SHOP

METAL PARTS SHOP

RAW MATERIAL STOREROOM

Every week the system produces a twenty-week schedule
for the shop by disregarding machine-capacity limitations
and calculating a start and due date for each operation of
each lot.
This first approximation schedule is improved by the
machine-loading function of the system. Although at this
time machine loading is not used at the Kansas City Works,
the model is designed to adjust the schedule to meet manpower and machine capacity constraints. Each operation
for each lot is loaded into a matrix of machine-time periods,
as shown in Figure 4. If insufficient manpower or machine
time is encountered, earlier dates are specified for the operation, the schedule of the lot is expanded, and an earlier lot
start date is established.
Since the scheduling is repeated once a week, only those
lots 1 which have a start date within a specified short-range
limit (normally two weeks) are released to the shop. The
remaining lots are used for predicting future raw-material
demand and estimating future shop and storeroom inventories. Many of these lots will never really exist, since the
work will be scheduled again the following week.

MATERIAL IN
Figure I. The plant is divided into a hierarchy of assembly shops and
associated storerooms. Demand on a shop-storeroom module can come
from external demand on the plant or from any higher-level module.

Requirements File
Demand for the entire works is stored on a single magnetic tape file, called the requirements file. Requirements
consist of weekly quantities, varying from twenty weeks into
the future for piece-parts and up' to forty weeks into the
future for wired equipment and raw material. For shops
producing non-stocked items, requirements constitute demand on the shop; for shops producing stocked items,
requirements constitute demand on the storeroom.
There is an important reason why each storeroom is
grouped with the shop which feeds it. Such a grouping
permits fast response to unexpected demand. In this model,
demand for any finished item is considered inviolable. Thus,
each such module has the responsibility of satisfying all requirements for its finished products, and also has the responsibility of providing its suppliers (at lower levels within the
hierarchy) with a stable demand.
A module, which has various internal assembly levels,
receives external demand for its finished goods at all internal
assembly levels. These levels are identified by a numerica1
"lowest-level code." Demand from within the shop, internal
demand, is distinct from external demand and must be calculated separately by the system model. Internal demand is
the demand for lower internal assembly-level items which
are manufactured in, and re-enter the same shop for use in
higher-level assemblies. A typical shop module is shown in
Figure 2.

Adiusting Shop Status Record
The daily feedback occurs through shop-generated messages which indicate the progress of each lot during its
manufacturing operations. Special telephone dialers for
message input are conveniently located within the shop
premises. The input messages are punched into a paper tape
that becomes the input to the daily portion of the system.

DEMAND
FOR
PRODUCT

PRODUCT
OUT

STORE ROOM

,t.-C-----,
I

INSPECTION

SUBASSEMBLIES

L---l-~

REWORK
SHOP

Scheduling By Feedback
Considering the constant changes in demand for product,
any detailed production schedule deteriorates as time passes.
A schedule made to a lesser degree of detail but remade at
relatively frequent intervals can be adjusted to the variations
and thus can be more realistic. The degree of detail for a
schedule may be selected as a function of the time range,
the frequency at which the schedule will be remade, and
the expected variation between predicted and actual operation times. The more detailed schedules generally have
shorter horizons and a higher frequency of rescheduling.

DEMAND
FOR
MATERIAL

MATERIAL
IN

Figure 2. A typical shop-storeroom module.

There are three categories of lots: planned lots, lots to be started this
week, and lots in the shop. The planned lots are completely recalculated
each week based on the new demand pattern, the existing shop lots and
the existing stock position. A planned lot becomes an actual lot when it is
released to the shop.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

""""""""""""'"""'""""""'"""""""""""""'""""'''""""""1

CuSOF.§-"-

~IRAW
MATERIAL
STOREROOM

PUNCHED
PAPER TAPE
MONDAY'S SHOP
.\ TRANSACTIONS

illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll1111 1111 II 1111 III III II iii

FRO
FRIDAY

NDAY

SHOP ON THURSDAY

SHOP ON TUESDAY

SHOP ON WEDNESDAY

PUNCHED
PAPER TAPE
TUESDAY's SHOP
TRANSACTIONS

PUNCHED
PAPER TAPE
WEDNESDAY'S
.
SHOP
TRANSACTIONS

TUESDAY'S
PRIORITY LIST
FOR LOADING
ON MACHINES

WEDNESDAY'S
PRIORITY LIST
FOR LOADI NG
ON MACHINES

STATUS OF
SHOP LOTS

.-:0

STATUS OF
SHOP LOTS

W4I--IQ

Figure 3. Feedback to
system occurs on a we"'e=k=ly=a=n=d=a=d=aily basis. Once each week, a new schedule is determined from current demand and storeroom data, and the lot-status tape is updated. Each day, the shop transactions for the previous day are used to update the lot-status tape, and a new priority loading list is generated.
Once a clay, the daily portion of the system, using the
punched paper tape, adjusts the record of shop status. An
updated priority list for the next day is then prepared and
printed. A lot increases its priorities whenever an operation
falls behind its scheduled date.
As shown in Figure 5, the transaction messages to the
system are of three types: information pertaining to operations, information pertaining to lots, and inspection information. A priority loading list, showing the dispatching priority for each lot, is calculated from the computer-scheduled
date for the next unfinished operation. For flexibility, shortinterval (rush) orders may be introduced daily, if desired.
The Shop Status File Tape contains the status of all lots
and is used and updated by both the daily and weekly portions of the system and thus forms the link between them.

System Design Policies
Major policies that affected the design of the system and
thus produced significant system characteristics are as follows:
1. The model must be universal (repetitively applicable
to all stocked shops in a manufacturing complex.)
2. Finished goods storeroom demand must be satisfied.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

3. Uncompleted parts may not leave shop control, i.e.,
any part which has not been completed may not be
stocked.
4. Investment in labor and raw material is to be made
as late as possible.
5. Outside supplier lot~ (on parts which are also made
in house) must be ordered by the model.
6. The use of historical data is avoided. The decisions
made during the current computer run are maximally
independent of last week's computer run: The latest
status information is used in calculating the current
week's decisions. Demand on the storeroom is considered
deterministically dependent upon a high-level forecast.
7. The arrival of raw material to the shop floor is determined by the model. Initiating a lot is not a manual
decision.
8. The size of the lot on the shop floor may only decrease. Messages describing increases in lot sizes from
the shop floor (through a data collection device) are
not accepted.
9. Rush jobs may be introduced manually.
10. Shop made subassembly (lower-generation) parts
must be considered as and stored as finished goods.

~LOT A

MACHINE
NUMBER

Housekeeping

LOT B

106

The first program formats the disk file tracks. The second
establishes the date of the computer run and accepts values
of significant system constants.

95
Constructing the Master File

29
50

--...

I I II I I]

2345678
WEEK NUMBER
FIRST·APPROXIMATION SCHEDULE

MACHINE
NUMBER

106
95

Netting the Demand

29
50

~ll

IIIIIII

2345678
WEEK NUMBER
RESCHEDULED
(LOADING TO MACHINE CAPACITY)

Figure 4. After all lots have been scheduled, each operation is loaded into a
machine-week matrix, and conflicting
lots are rescheduled. In this example, lot
A is rescheduled a week earlier to avoid
the canHict on machine 50 in week 5.

The Computerized Model
The production control model consists of six major functions:
1. Netting the demand.
2. Forming economic size lots.
3. Scheduling machine operations (calculating start and
due dates.)
4. Calculating lower generation demand.
5. Rescheduling to capacity constraints.
6. Producing outputs for accounting, storeroom and
shop.

The structure of the system is such that each major function is a separate program. In this way program maintenance
is simpler, and new or improved functions can be easily
added to the system. A general flow diagram of the weekly
portion of the system is given in Figure 6. A description of
each section follows.

The primary purpose of this loader program is to bring
together, each week, current information on an individual
part number, for the convenience of subsequent computer
programs in the weekly system. Data for one part usually
occupies a single disk track of 2,800 characters. Only those
parts which are subject to manufacture in the piece-part
shop and which may be required by subsequent programs,
are loaded onto the disk file. (Manufactured parts which
are exclusively purchased are handled the same as raw material.) The loader program also performs certain miscellaneous functions. It data-protects the system by examining
critical values for reasonableness. It issues a discrepancy report of missing records and certain unreasonable data values
and counts the quantity of different part numbers actually
loaded, the corresponding number of disk tracks utilized, the
number of unfinished lots in the shop, the monetary value
of completed lots, and the like.

The primary purpose of the netting program is the conversion of estimated demand (by part, by week), called
"gross requirements on storeroom," into the corresponding
estimated net demand on the shop facilities. This conversion takes into account the gross storeroom demand values
for twenty weeks into the future, the total quantity already
committed (but not withdrawn), the amount on hand, the
predetermined safety stock, and lots in the shop which have
not yet been received into the storeroom. A numerical example illustrating a simplified netting algorithm is given in
Figure 7.
A refinement to the estimate, called soft netting, permits
the use of planned safety stock to meet sudden short-range

MESSAGES FROM
THE SHOP FLOOR

Operation Information
1. Setup started
2. Setup completed
3. Run started
4. Run completed
5. Work stopped
6. Work resumed
7. Rework started
8. Rework completed
Lot Information
1. Renumber the lot
2. Split the lot quantity
3. Merge two lots
4. Change lot quantity
Inspection Information
1. Accept the completed lot
2. Voided (previously accepted) completed lot message
Figure 5. Transaction messages
inform the system of the daily
progress of production lots.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

increases in the demand on the shop. This refinement, not
shown in the example, reduces the number of new lots that
would otherwise be released on a rush basis.

HOUSEKEEPING AND MASTER FILE
CONSTRUCTION

DETERMINE NET REQUIREMENTS FOR
EACH PART NUMBER IN THIS GENERATION

1
ACCUMULATE THE NET REQUIREMENTS FOR
EACH PARr NUMBER IN THIS GENERATION
INTO ECONOMIC SIZE LOTS, EACH
WITH DELIVERY DATE TO STOREROOM.

!
SUBDIVIDE EACH LOT IN THIS GENERATION
INTO ITS MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS.
DETERMINE START AND FINISH DATE
FOR EACH OPERATION.

ARE ALL
ASSEMBLIES
EXPLODED?

YES

All parts in the reference files have a numerical code
corresponding to the lowest subassembly level in which the
parts appear. It is important to note that the gross
requirements for a multiple-use subassembly cannot be considered complete as long as any lots of the higher-level assemblies (in the list of parts) have yet to be scheduled and
exploded. Therefore, netting, forming lots, and scheduling
are delayed until the gross requirements for the sub-items
are complete. The computer program utilizes the random
access feature of the disk file while processing lower-generation parts, in preference to passing the entire file of parts
sequentially.

Deciding the Lot Size
The Wagner and Whitin 2 dynamic programming model is
one of the two methods utilized to determine the lot sizes
and their delivery dates into the storeroom. With the policy
that the storeroom demand on the shop must be satisfied,
the shop may deliver the net requirements earlier, but not
later, than the times specified. Consequently, some of the
net requirements are combined into one lot, provided the
saving in setup cost exceeds the penalty of the earlier investment. When the relative setup cost is sufficiently high,
a single lot is produced to cover an economical time period
exceeding the twenty-week horizon of demand, but limited
to a year's supply as a maximum.

Scheduling Machine Operations

NO
EXPLODE ALL ASSEMBLIES IN THIS
GENERATION TO OBTAIN DEMAND FOR
LOWER GENERATION PARTS. RETURN TO
PROCESS THE NEXT GENERATION.

~
SORT AND PRINT EXCEPTION COMMENTS.
ACCUMULATE THE UNFINISHED MANHOURS IN THE SHOP. DETERMINE AND
STORE LOT NUMBERS ALREADY ASSIGNED.

RESCHEDULE LOTS TO MANPOWER
AND MACHINE CAPACITIES (OPTIONAL)

!
EXPLODE ALL LOTS, BASED ON START
DATES, TO OBTAIN RAW MATERIAL
DEMAND. DETERMINE LOTS TO BE
RELEASED FOR MANUFACTURE.
DETERMINE STOREROOM SELECTS.
ASSIGN LOT NUMBERS TO NEW LOTS.

SORT AND MERGE STOREROOM SELECTS
AND RAW MATERIAL DEMAND.
EXTRACT AND SORT NEW SHOP LOTS.
TOTALIZE ALL ORDERS.

J
PRINT WEEKLY REPORTS

Figure 6. A simplified flow diagram
of the weekly portion of the system.
Each block represents one or more
programs and contains a brief
description of the major functions
of that section of the system.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

After a lot quantity and its delivery date into the storeroom have been specified, the individual operations required
for manufacturing this lot are assigned due dates and start
dates (calendar day numbers). This is done by using the
required delivery date into the storeroom and providing sufficient time for the last operation, previous operation, etc.,
until the start date for the first operation is calculated. For
each manufacturing operation, the queue time and setup
time are added to the calculated make time to produce the
total scheduled time for the operation. (Inspection is treated
in a manner similar to a manufacturing operation.) This
produces a first approximation schedule for the manufacturing operations and also results in a tentative lot start-date.
Holidays, weekends, and vacation shut-downs are avoided.

Calculating Lower-Generation Demand
The primary purpose of the lower-generation explosion
program is to produce the total demand (quantities by
weeks, twenty weeks into the future) on all lower-generation
parts. These total requirements represent the total expected
stores withdrawals resulting from external demand by other
users and internal demand by the make shop itself for use
in higher-level assemblies.
In the fIrst pass through the list of parts, the demand for
the second-generation parts is produced. The complete demand for these parts is not known until the pass is completed. The demand for th~ third (and subsequent) generation parts is unavailable because the second-generation lots
have not yet been established at this point, their gross demand having just become available. After the first pass
through this program, the total demand for all secondgeneration parts is known and has been up-dated on the disk
file.
The computer then returns to the netting program, which
converts gross demand on the storeroom into demand on the
shop for the second-generation parts. For each such generation, lots are then formed, operations scheduled and, except
2

Wagner and Whitin, "Dynamic Version of the Economic Lot Size ModeL"
Management Science (October, 1958).

FORECAST DEMAND
ON STOREROOM 1r--3-00--r---15-0---r---'---3-20-r--2-00-'--3-0-0-'-3-0-0

--J(

WEEK NUMBER

CALCULATED DEMAND r---=-....:......~---=--r----.-:;.--.---...:.--.--~-r----.----J
ON SHOP

Figure 7. For this example of netting, 1,000 units are on hand in the storeroom, a safety
stock of 450 units is required, and 125 units are committed but not yet withdrawn from
the storeroom. A lot of 450 units is in shop and due in the storeroom on Friday, week 4
for the lowest generation, demand for the next lower-generation components is determined.
To automatically maintain the lowest-level code assignments, the system issues a correction card to the reference
files in the event that an error in the lowest-level code assignment is detected.
Reporting Inventory Exceptions
This program prepares and prints reports of abnormal
inventory or scheduling situations, for exampl~ those parts
that have an excessive quantity on hand in the storeroom
and in lots in the shop. Following this, the program totals
and lists the planned man-hours scheduled for the shop over
the twenty-week period. In addition, the program determines
reassignable lot numbers presently in use, permitting subsequent number assignments to the new lots by computer.
Rescheduling to Capacity Constraints
A linear programming solution provides a forecast of
smoothed manpower as an optional addition to the existing
system. Input consists of weekly man-hour requirements for
the planned lots and the unfinished portion of the shop lots.
Output consists of the total shop smoothed manpower, a
forecast by weeks, and the value of allowable overtime work.
The program cost constraints include such costs ·as hiring,
layoff, overtime, straight-time, and inventory. The machine
loading program loads to weekly manpower and machine
limitations and computes new operation dates when capacity for the week has been reached.
Producing Outputs
For each lot to be released (within a specified short range
limit), a lot number is assigned, and a storeroom materialselect list specifying delivery of sub-assemblies and raw
materials is produced. Also, the raw material demand information for all lot start dates outside the specified shortrange release limit (usually t\VO weeks) is provided as an
input to the plant-wide material ordering system. This demand is obtained by exploding shop lots to required lower
generation quantities, and planned lots to required lower
generation and raw material quantities. The raw material
forecast, storeroom select, and lots to be released are determined after arty possible change in lot start dates (caused,
for example, by insufficient man or machine power capacities) .

installation is operated and maintained by the Kansas City
Works operating personnel. The daily portion of the system,
in-::-luding the data collection hardware system, was installed
in October 1963. The weekly portion of the system was installed in September 1964. The weekly portion operates the
175-man shop with no manual inputs.
The net savings of the system have been calculated to be
$300,000 per year in the pilot installation obtained from
reductions in inventories and manpower requirements. The
scope of the pilot installation is indicated by the shop statistics given in Figure 8. Including problem definition, system
design, file formation, programming, coding, "debugging,"
and cutover, the total expended technical effort was about
20 man years.
The designers of the system have made a concerted effort
to maximize both the structural nature of the system and
the ease of revision. The bulk of the computer coding (in
Fortran II language) was done by the designers. Autocode
subroutines for character manipulation, tape records up to
2800 characters in length, and revisions to IBM software
providing forward-alpha characters within words were provided by Autocoder specialists. The daily portion of the
system was written in Autocoder.
Due to system complexity, multiple applications have not
yet been widespread. Although the system is large and complex, almost all revisions are additive in terms of both size
and complexity.
Future Work
Work is continuing on improvements to the system. The
Loading Preference Factor (LPF)3 for the machine-loading
scheme is being investigated. A method for applying it is
also under" study. The LPF work should improve scheduling
by determining priority equations for loading each lot into
the machine matrix.
As shown by the backlog syndrome,! the amount of backlog interacts with the productive efforts of an individual.
Specifically, the individual wGrks best when a backlog of
jobs exists, and he tends to create a backlog if one does not
exist. Such shop conditions need to be considered in future
im provements.
In addition, the system could be used to handle storeroom receipt of finished goods, eventually obviating the need
for reporting storeroom inputs through the plant-wide stock
status system.
Currently, revisions are made to the system by engineers

System Performance
With minor exceptions, the system functions as designed
and is trouble-free for extended periods. The system itself
is a product of the Engineering Research Center; the pilot
28

The LPF is a priority number assigned to each lot to denote its relative
sequence in the loading process.

Gomersall, E. R. "The Backlog Syndrome," Harvard Business Review.
(September-October 1964), pp. 105-115.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
at the Works and frequently include contact with the designers of the system. A formal revision procedure is being
considered for future usc.

SHOP STATISTICS

AUERBACH COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY
REFERENCE SERVICES

Number of Employees
175
Number of Machines
233
Number of Homogeneous
Machine Groups
100
Number of 8-Hour Shifts
3
Number of New Lots
Per Week
300
Average Number of
Operations Per Lot
6
Average Time Per Operation
(approx. hrs.)
4
Number of Lots in Shop
1,600
Number of Parts on File
1,800
Average Number of Active
Parts
1,200
Routing Through Shop
Random
Figure" 8. Shop statistics show the
scope of the pilot installation.

Conclusions
In summary, a large manufacturing complex contammg
a hierarchy of manufacturing shops and intermediate storerooms can be subdivided in such a manner as to allow production control by a universal model, which is incorporated
into a system of computer programs. The corresponding
physical module is a shop together with its stored finished
goods. It is dissociated from its raw material storeroom,
provided shop-made sub-assembly parts are considered as
finished goods. The boundaries of the system of computer
programs should be as described herein and limited to correspond to the boundaries of one shop and its storeroom, in
order that the system of programs remain repetitively applicable to each shop-storeroom combination.
Progress of the lots within the shop (down to the specific
machine operation on each lot) is continuously recorded on
paper tape and batched daily by computer in the pilot application described. However the system of computer programs which operates weekly and establishes the flow of
goods produced within the module can be designed omitting
per-operation control.
References
1. Demczynski, S. "Production Control and Machine Loading
in a Jobbing Shop," Control (October-December 1961), pp.

94-96, 109-110, 102-104.
2. Gomersall, E. R. "The Backlog Syndrome." Harvard Business Review, (September-October 1964), pp. 105-115.
3. Wagner and Whitin, "Dynamic Version of the Economic
Lot Size Model," Management Science, (October 1958).
4. Ackerman, S. S. "Even-Flow. A Scheduling Method for Reducing Lateness in Job Shops," Management Technology,
Vol. III, No.1, (May 1.963), pp. 20-32.
5. Stewart, W. A. and Crankavich. J. E., "Program Change Procedures," Datamation, Vol. X. No.6 (June 1964), pp. 51-54.
6. Korn, K. E., and Lamb, J. H., "Production Control by Computer," Control and Automation Progress, Vol. 10, No. 100,
October 1966.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

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SYSTEMS AND DATA PROCESSING DEPARTMENTS
NEED LONG-RANGE PLAN:NING
Richard C. Young
Systems Consultant
B. F. Goodrich Co.
Akron) Ohio 44318

"The typical system should be designed to operate effectively under the conditions that will exist five to ten years after the system is first proposed."

Data processing and systems departments need long-range
planning. Why?
Most of the departments of a corporation, both those performing relatively new functions and those that are well established, seldom engage in long-range planning for themselves.
The personnel department may make long-range forecasts of
personnel requirements for the company, but it places very
little emphasis on long-range plans for the personnel. department. Likewise, the accounting department may collect and
consolidate budgets from other departments of the company
that extend five or more years into the future, but the accounting department seldom has a formal process for planning its
own direction and development. Why then should a systems
department make long-range plans for itself? What makes
the systems departments different from most other corporate
depar'tments?
There are perhaps seven reasons that make long-range
planning particularly important to systems and data processing
departments:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Long lead time
Rapid technological changes
Spectacular growth
Large investment
Lack of clear authority and responsibility
Need to set a good example
Self protection

Let's consider each of these reasons in more detail.

Long Lead Time
The typical large systems project takes two to four years
from the first investigation and proposal until it is programmed and ready for implementation. If many people or
many different locations are involved, a year or two more
may be required for full implementation. It may then take

three to four years thereafter for the system to show an adequate return on the effort invested; that is, the pay-back period may be three to four years after full installation. Thus
the typical system should be designed to operate effectively
under the conditions that will exist five to ten years after the
system is first proposed. This means that forecasts of that
environment, of technological changes, and of changes in the
nature of the business, must be made five to ten years into
the future.
Long lead times also exist for acquiring or developing the
systems department's resources. Orders for some types of
computing equipment must be placed 18 months to two years
in advance. Three to five years may be required to train and
develop a head programmer or systems analyst.
A long lead time is also required to economically meet the
company's requirements for office space. Both the systems department personnel and its computing equipment require floor
space and special facilities. Of even greater impact is the
effect that systems improvements can have on the office space
required by other departments. Because buildings require
time to plan and construct, because it is difficult to expand the

Richard C. Young is a systems consultant to the Director of Information Systems of the B. F. Goodrich Co.,
and is Chairman of the long-range systems planning
committee at BFG. He is also an evening lecturer at.
Akron University where he teaches the course "Advanced Planning for Systems Departments." He is a
member of the Data Processing Management Association, and has worked in the systems field for sixteen
years. He has a B.S. in business administration from
Rutgers University, and is doing work on his master's
degree at Akron University.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

size of most buildings, and because the depreciation must be
spread over many years, floor space and facilities planning
usually requires a forecast over five to ten years.
Rapid Technological Change
Everyone in systems work knows how rapid technological
changes have been. Of course, the more extensive and profound the changes, the more effort is required to produce
accurate forecasts, and the more necessary these forecasts become. In other words, the planning process requires more
emphasis and care whenever it is more difficult to produce
reliable plans
which is the case in our rapidly changing
environment.
Spectacular Growth
The systems departments of ten to fifteen years ago, B.C.
(that's Before Computers), not only performed grossly different functions than now, but they were staffed by very few
people and no equipment. Now systems departments of fifty
or more people are commonplace, and the typical systems
department is growing at a rate of 10 to 20% per year. In
addition, there is a trend for systems departments to take
over functions once performed by independent departments.
First was equipment programming, which was originally done
by the tabulating departments. Then systems took over tabulating and computer operations. Then systems took over wire
communications. This rapid growth has created the widespread feeling that more formal plans are needed for adequate
evaluation and control.
The rapid growth and change in functions has also led to
a widespread lack of understanding about the functions, purposes and goals of the systems departments. Other department
managers and executives sometimes have a fear and distrust
of the systems department, while still others feel that automated systems are the answers to all of the company's problems. With these wide differences of opinion, it is necessary
for the Systems and Data Processing Department to clarify its
position and to justify and explain its purposes and plans,
much more frequently and thoroughly than is required of
other departments.
Rapid growth has also led to internal problems. The accumulation of personnel from other departments, and from
outside of the company, has created internal differences of
opinion, and conflicting viewpoints. One of the best ways to
indoctrinate these people, to integrate their different viewpoints so that everyone works toward the same goals, is
through a process of formal, explicit, participative, long-range
planning.

the implementation of systems changes. The controller, or a
financial committee, often controls the amount of money to
be invested in systems equipment and the total amount of
money to be spent on systems development. The operating
departments, however, can do much to speed up or delay
systems work in their areas. Who has the real authority for
the selection of systems projects to be implemented? or for
determining the priorities of resources to bc devoted to these
projects?
The chairman of the board, the president, or an cxecutiV<'
committee may have the final authority, but these top people
usually do not have the understanding, the interest, or the
time to either exercise their authority or to develop policies
to be used as guidelines. By default, these decisions are often
made at lower levels, first on one basis, then on another. When
the responsibility for implementation is not stated, who is to
be held accountable when the system is delayed? or when it
does not operate effectively? Because the authority and responsibility are actually spread over many executives, councils.
and departments, some method of clarifying and coordinating
these decisions and actions is required. One method of doing
this is for the systems department to create what it feels is an
acceptable long-range plan, and then to circulate this formal
plan to all interested and affected departments. Any substantial differences of opinion between the various authorities can
then be brought out for discussion and clarification by the top
executives of the company. The lack of clear authority and
responsibility for systems work, therefore, is a prime reason
why long-range planning is particularly important.
Need - to Set a Good E.xample
Systems departments usually try to offer advice to other
departments on management science techniques and modern
management methods. Usually this requires that they practice
what they preach! If systems departments want to help other
areas of the company in making long-range plans, they must
first show that they can apply these planning techniques to
their own departments. Setting a good example in order to
earn the confidence of other people, therefore, is another
reason why a systems department needs to make long-range
plans.
Self Protection

The fourth condition that distinguishes systems departments
from other staff departments is the large investments that are
required. The cost of the systems and data processing departments in some of the larger companies runs between five and
ten million dollars every year. Even in companies of moderate
size the total investment in the design and programming of
systems may run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. With
these large expenses, the cost of not knowing where one is
going (in terms of the costs of re-design. and re-programming)
can be very large. Even if long-range planning can effect only
a slight improvement, it would be worth many times its cost.

For many different reasons, the systems departments are
particularly vulnerable to the hind-sight kind of criticism.
They must frequently answer the question: "Why did you
spend so much effort in that area?" or "Why was this done
that way?" Excuses can always be offered, but the best way
for the systems departments to answer these questions, and to
protect itself from irresponsible second guessing, is to obtain
prior approval and commitment to a recorded, widely published, long-range plan. These plans should not be looked
upon solely as alibi paper. An effective long-range planning
process helps to develop the important factors that must be
considered to create better plans and more useful results.
These seven reasons point out why long-range planning is
particularly important to a systems and data processing department. Many of these same reasons, of course, apply to
other corporate departments. The fact that these other departments do not make long-range plans does not mean that they
should not.

Lack of Clear Authority and Responsibility

Benefits

The systems and data processing departments have recently
been added to the organization charts of companies which
previously operated effectively for many years without them.
As a result of this newness, it is still not quite clear who is
responsible for what, or who has the real authority to order

Let's look at the need for long-range planning from another
viewpoint: at the benefits that could be gained by a systems
department if it did make long-range plans. These advantages
can be described as reducing management problems in the
following five ways:

Large Investment

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Recognizing future needs in time to meet them.
Promoting better current decisions.
Promoting better organizational structure.
Promoting better internal communication, teamwork,
and morale.
S. Saving management's time.

1.
2.
3.
4.

e. By pre-determining fast reactions. It does this by developing, be'orehand, alternate courses of action to be
followed in emergencies. Long-range planning thus
provides the ability to react quickly and in concert by
investigating and developing contingency plans that
might not otherwise be created.

Recognizing Future Needs

More Effective Organization

Long-range planning recognizes future needs, opportumtIes,
or problems in time to prepare for them, as, for example, by:

Long-range planning allows more effective organization.
After long-range planning has clearly defined the purpose of
the organization, uncovered its weaknesses, and developed its
long-range strategies, it becomes more obvious how the organization must be structured to carry out the strategies and to
obtain its purposes. Furthermore, the key men are more
likely to yield a 'part of their empire when they are doing it
to ach:eve defined and agreed-upon obj'ectives, or when they
can see clearly how they will fit into the future organization.

a. Detecting a future shortage of c'Omputer capacity in
time to bbtain, in an economical way, the delivery and
types of equipment required.
b. Detecting the need for trained personnel. Sometimes
this involves detecting the need for new kinds of computer capability, such as time sharing, message switching, direct access inquiry devices, etc. in time to train
programming pers'Onnel in the use of these techniques.
This category also includes recognizing new application areas before the managers of these areas see the
need, so that knowledgeable personnel can be acquired
or be trained.
c. Preventing costly changes in direction.

One example
would be centralizing all systems and data processing
operations on the basis of today's economics only to
learn that new techniques and future equipment developments make decentralized operations more practical. Another costly type of change in direction is
that caused by the changes of heart by a user. After
designing, programming, and testing a new system you
find out that it is not what the user really wants. Longrange planning, by pointing out the c'Osts and problems
beforehand, and by clearly communicating what is
planned to all of the people concerned, tends to reduce
the unnecessary changes.

Current Decisions of Better Quality
Long-range planning promotes higher quality current decisions:
a. By creating better forecasts on which t'O base these
decisions. An example would be making a current
computer lease-or-purchase decision on the basis of a
good forecast of our future needs for this type of
equipment, and with a better estimate of the final sale
or trade-in value that will apply at the end of the
lease or depreciation period.
b. By discovering inconsistencies through insuring more
comprehensive plans that are reviewed by more people.
An internal example would be discovering that the
data-processing-operations-department plans to do
away with the type of computer that someone in the
systems development area intends to use for a new
system.
c. By considering more alternatives. It does this by increasing the opportunity for more people, at all levels,
to contribute suggestions and criticisms to the plans,
and by bringing attention to the opportunities 'Offered
by technical advances. It also brings attention to those
areas that are outside the responsibility of anyone
existing department or division.
d. By de-emphasizing the immediate return through
stressing improvement over longer time-periods. It
does this by forcing plans to be made further and
further into the future.

Good Internal Communication
Long-range planning promotes good internal communication, teamwork, and morale.
Unless the direction of growth for the systems departments
has been clearly defined, different employees may be unknowingly working at cross purposes. The written plan provides an
important channel of communication upward, downward, and
cross-wise. This helps eliminate confusion, frustration, and
misunderstandings. The participative planning process promotes cooperation and coordination of plans. Agreed-upon
goals generate enthusiasm and inspire employees to work more
effectively.

Saving the Time of Management
Long-range planning saves management's time.
this by:

It does

a. Allowing MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION. Formal planning allows control through comparison, which
is impossible if the goals are not predetermined. It is
an old saying that no 'One can ascertain whether he is
on the correct path unless he has determined where
he wishes to go. Long-range forecasts identify problems that need managerial attention, and eliminate the
need to spend time on matters that are going as expected.
b. Allowing DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY. Subordinates are more able and more willing to take on
responsibility when they can rely on an accepted plan
or goa} as justification of their actions.
c. Providing STANDING ORDERS. Long-range planning develops strategies and policies that need not be
redeveloped for every application. This saves executive time by reducing the number of meetings, memos,
orders, etc., that would otherwise be required.

Higher Level of Systems Department Achievement
We have mentioned seven important reasons why systems
departments need long-range planning. We have also pointed
out five important benefits and advantages of l'Ong-range planning. There is one last reason why everyone in the systems
and computer departments should want long-range planning:
Long-range planning moves the department to a higher level
of worthwhile achievement. This means that individual goals
for growth, recognition, promotion, higher salaries, etc. are
more likely to be obtained, as is the personal satisfaction that
goes hand-in-hand with a high level of accomplishment.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Excuses
Most of the reasons and benefits that I have mentioned are
widely known. There is no secret about them, they have been
mentioned in many general articles and books about longrange planning. Why it is, then, that so many systems departments spend so little time on long-range plans? Could it be
that most systems managers enjoy handling current problems,
working with the here-and-now, and that they will cling to
almost any excuse to avoid dealing with the future? Let's look
at some of the excuses that have been offered, and at some
of the answers:
III Don1t Have Time To Planl l

This is probably the excuse that the professional planner
hears most frequently. Some of the common varieties are as
follows:
a. "Putting out fires, solving current problems, is more.
important now than planning."
b. "If you're about to be fired, you're not likely to have
much interest in long-range planning."
c. "I'm too new in this position. I'll he able to plan
better after I get the department running smoothly."
d. "We're going to start planning as soon as we get
through with this big project that's taking up all of
our time."
These excuses are all the result of poor planning. The
answer is to quit procrastinating; steal a little time every week;
organize your department now so that the work is properly
delegated and allocated, so that you do have time for longrange planning.
III Have Plans But J Can1t Tell Anyone About Them l l

•

This excuse overlooks the fact that there is more to planning than creating secret strategies. One can't organize effectively,. for instance, without at least telling the people who are
to make up that organization the functions they are expected
to perform. The details in one's mind that are not written
down are probably still a little hazy and perhaps even unsound! The advantages of participative planning are being
overlooked by the people who use this excuse. Some variations
of this excuse are as follows:
a. "If I write my plans down, someone may use the information against me." (But look at all your subordinates
who can use the information to help you!)
b. "I don't want to limit my flexibility." (Is flexibility
more valuable than achievement?)
c. "I don't want to commit myself to something I may
not be able to deliver." (But psychologists tell us that
one's lack of commitment will probably lower one's
achievement, and the lack of achievement may hurt
more than missing a few goals, especially if the longrange plans allow for some reasonable slippage.)
d. "Some of my people might be discouraged if they
knew the truth about what was in store for them."
(If there's bad news ahead, they probably already
know it. Besides, good planning recognizes everyone's
needs and goals and can often change a gloomy future
into a bright one.)
IIFor Me, Planning Would Be a Waste of Timell

This excuse is probably the most common among managers
who fecI they need a convincing reason for not planning.
It has many facets:
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

a. "Important events that affect my operations are too
unpredictable to make planning worthwhile. All that
is needed is a flexible organization that is quick on its
feet, so that it can adjust to the changes." (Systems
technology is not unpredictable. Agreed-upon plans
reduce the unpredictable behavior of the other people
in your company who can affect your operations. And
it is worth remembering we're talking about longrange plans that need not be changed to fit every
emergency or adjusted to show every change in the
operational plans.)
b. "Planning around here would be worthless bec.ause our
plans have to be coordinated with the plans of other
departments - and these other departments won't
make any plans or pay any attention to our plans."
(Have you pointed out the need for long-range planning and the benefits? How about suggesting some
changes in the corporate structure for planning? Have
you considered a top-level systems planning committee
that includes the executives to which these other departments report?)
c. "I don't see any problems, so why do I need any
plans?" (These are famous last words. Without longrange planning one probably can't see the changes and
problems that are in store.) A very similar, but different attitude can be expressed this way: "My plans
are to keep things the way they are - I don't want
any changes and therefore I don't need any plans."
(Does anyone with that attitude belong.in systems
work? But more directly, lack of planning usually
leads to someone else forcing changes upon you. You
can't avoid progress by ignoring it.)
d. "I won't be around here much longer (I'll be transferred, promoted, retired, die, etc.); so why should I
plan ahead?" (You may be judged by the quality of
your plans and by the condition in which you leave
the department. If you create plans, you can later get
the satisfaction of seeing how your plans have been
carried out, how they have benefited those you left
behind.)

IITop Management Doesn1t Want Me to Planll
a. "Planning must start at the top, but my management
doesn't tell me their plans or ask me to spend any
time on planning. (Planning can also start from the
bottom. By developing plans and getting your management to approve them, you will indirectly get them
to tell you those parts of their plans that affect you.)
b. "If I made plans, no one would look at them or approve them. I can't get anyone to commit themselves
around here." (Have you actually submitted a comprehensive, well thought out long-range plan? It may
not be practical for anyone to approve pieces of a
plan before seeing the whole picture. See 3b for
more suggestions.)
c. "I do what I'm told, and no one has told me to make
any plans." (Can't you do anything on your own?
This is just a variation of 4a.)
d. "The company has no formal plans - so how can I
plan?" (Another variation of 4a.)
e. "My boss doesn't allow me any time for planning."
(Another variation combined with la - "I don't have
time to plan").
IIWe1re Too Small to Planl l

(Not true! The planning job for a small department is

(Please turn to page 45 )

600 Grand Mercedes, courtesy Mercedes-Benz of North America.
Forquality reproductions of this photograph, write us at Memorex.

THE TWO GREAT TAPES,

I
N

B
h<
It

bE
to

LIKE THE TWO GREAT CARS, ARE NOT IDENTICAL.
J

No one would confuse the Merceaes with the Rolls.
In quality, the two great cars are pretty much alike.
But you'd have to drive both to know exactly
how each performs.
It's the !-)ame with the two great computer tapes:
ours and the one that's made by a computer company.
Both are the most durable in the industry. Both have
been !-)cientifically designed and fastidiously produced
to make pass after pass without a drop-out, long
after other tapes give up.

Even so, our great tape is not the same as the other
great tape. For one thing, some tape-users
insist that our tape out-performs the other.
For another, nobody calls us by our initials.
But don't take us for our word alone.
Try us. See exactly how much more we can do.
(Your first step: write us at 223 M emorex Park,
Santa Clara, California 95050.)

rv'I E rv'I Cl ~ E

c&a
WORLD REPORT - GREAT BRITAIN

,
I

An extremely interesting situation is developing in the
British banking world. Under the threat of sharp competition
from the Post Office GIRO - the poor man's bank - the
Big FIVE, who have some 5,000 branches all over the U.K.,
are formulating automation and interconnection plans which
are more far-reaching and ambitious than anything elsewhere,
including the United States.
The Midland Bank with its 1,500 I:v'anches all over Britain
was the first to disclose its plans. These provide for the
installation of three, possibly four, centres in Britain to which
groups of branches will be connected over Post Office lines.
The centres will themselves be interconnected, probably over
high capacity coaxial cables.
The aim is that by 1970-71, a bank customer shall be able
to transact business at any branch, however remote from
his home bank, without the need for extra documents or
special identification. Automated teller's sets linked directly
to the nearest computer center wiII ultimately supersede the
standard accounting equipment, reducing manual clerical
labor to almost vanishing.
For its central data units, Midland has specified $17 million
worth of Burroughs units, and the whole integrated system
may cost as much as $32 million. The bank terminals are
to be engineered by Olivetti of Great Britain (which has
been fiercely independent of General Electric since the latter
captured so many of the Olivetti family in Italy).
National Provincial Bank with some 1,200 branches was
the next to announce its plans. However, this bank already
has two IBM 360/30's, three 40's, a 50, and another 50 to
come. It claims - but there are many DP experts who
shrug off this claim - that it will be able to handle all its
branches from one centre in London with the IBM equipment
it already has, amounting to something over $15 million Worth.
The next to go 360 may be Westminster, which also has
well over 1000 branches and is already operating a very ambitious central computing unit based on 1410's and 1401's.
Other manufacturers have been trying hard to challenge
IBM, but only English Electric has the machine and the experience. IBM's performance to date on the Barclay credit
card scheme and at Lloyds - the other two banks in the
Big Five group - has been uninspiring, to say the least.
Indeed, the smaller Martin's Bank with its 700 branches
went so far as to throw out $1.6 m. worth of 360's last year
to which it was firmly committed and buy NCR 315's, including an RMC type, instead.
It is certain that had English Electric come on the scene
with System-4 six months or a year earlier, the banking story
would have been vastly different. And if the Westminster
Bank plans depend on the performance of the multi-access
software for the IBM 67, then the whole contract will be in
the lap of the gods for the next twelve months.
It is no laughing matter for the major banks. The Post
Office bank will mean a serious threat with its immediate cash
payment and withdrawal facilities in every village and

hamlet of the British Isles where there may be just one
branch of one of the majors. This means that before 1969,
when the Post Office bank will gear up to full operation,
the .banks will have to agree on some measure of cooperation
or lose valuable business.
The immediate and intriguing consideration is that of the
massive software problem facing whoever supplies the data
networks for the five big banks.
As far as is possible for any manufacturer with this size of
headache, English Electric is sitting pretty, for it is supplying
the machines (70's) and the software for Post Office GIRO
It has also concluded a contract on Britain's Project MAC
at Edinburgh University for joint development with the
government of the software for 200 simultaneous on-line terminals, again based on a 70, or an enhancement thereof.
These three tasks are mentioned here in reverse chronological
order. If everything goes smoothly it will be a miracle, and
the bank DP staff from all over the world will. break a trail
to English Electric's doorstep.
A rapid backwash from IBM's decision to kill the 90
series has come from English Electric which, with characteristic check from a company whose computer turnover is
a hundredth that of IBM, has announced a "tentative and
problematical" System 4-90 to cost $3 million per machine.
A computer venture about which very little is heard .is the
Digital Systems Department of the Ferranti Company at
Bracknell. They are responsible for a massive integrated
environmental control, attack and defense system costing
roughly $6 million and based on three Poseidon computers
installed on HMS Eagle, a medium-sized flat-top. The Department has an annual turnover around the $15 million
level, doubling every five years, and is military in flavour.
But it thinks increasingly of venturing into civil fields (such
as radar trainers and simulators) and anywhere the highest
reliability is essential, including air traffic control.
It is carrying out some very interesting R&D, particula°rly
in the area of interconnection on eight and more layer circuit boards. One idea is to suppress the tiny "washers"
which mark the interconnection points between layers and
nevertheless achieve continuity with the through-hole plating.

Ted Schoctcrs
Stanmore
Middlesex
England
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

THE QUEST AND THE COVENANT:
How to Translate Ideas into Government Research Contracts

Dr. Harold Wooster
Director of Information Sciences
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Department of the Air Force
Arlington, Va. 22209

"You are a brilliant, impractical, unworldly
scientist with a couple of ideas for nice bitesized research projects, neither trivial nor insoluble - how can you turn these personal 'noncontracts' into Federal contracts?"

According to "Federal Funds for Research, Development
and Other Scientific Activities"1:
• Federal obligations for basic research, applied research,
and development are expected to total $15.9 billion in
each of fiscal years 1966 and 1967;
• Obligations for basic research have risen to an estimated $2.1 billion in 1967;
• Applied research obligations have risen to just under
$3.5 billion; and
• Development obligations are expected to drop to a
mere $10.4 billion.
It has also been estimated:
• That in fiscal year 1966, computers and/or automatic
data processing in the Federal government alone used
63,000 man-years of personnel and cost $1.1 billion
for acquisition and operation 2 ;
• That the National Science Foundation alone spends
over $10 million per year in the support of computer
centers at universities;
• That over 12,000 military computers have been delivered; and
• That some 1,800 computers are used by contractors
on Federal contracts.

Changing "Noncontracts" into Contracts
This article is concerned with the problem of changing
"non contracts" into contracts - or in other words, how to
1

Sun'('Ys of Science Resources Series, National Science Foundation, NSF
66-25. Available from Superintendent of Documents, U,S. Governm~ent
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, for $1.25. (See especially Volullle XV, setting forth the funds spent or planned to be spent during
fiscal years, 1965, 1966 and 1967.)
See "Inventory of Automatic Data Processing Equipment in the Federal
GOVl'rnment 1965," published by the Bureau of the Budget.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

take that first big step towards getting Federal support for
research ideas in the field of computers and data processing
out of the foregoing budgeted activities. Although I emphasize "preparing" research proposals, it should be stressed that
this is almost the last step in a complicated process, not
the first.
A research proposal differs from most other forms of nonfiction (we hope) in that:
• The writer is assured that at least one person will read
what he has written;
• There is an operational test of effectiveness: the proposal is accepted or rejected.
If the proposal is accepted, the technical writer is entitled
to as much credit as he can steal. If it is rejected, the blame
can be shared equally between the scientists who gave them
lousy material to work with, and the inverse Micawberism
of those bureaucrats in Washington who keep waiting for
something to turn down.
In fairness to the reader, a writer should tell when he
knows what he is talking about, and when he is talking
through his hat. I know, reasonably well, the problems involved in preparing and submitting an unsolicited basic research proposal to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Specific' details may differ, but I think that my general
statements will apply equally well to unsolicited proposals
to the Office of Naval Research and the National Science
Foundation. To a lesser extent they should also apply to
unsolicited proposals submitted to the Army Research Office,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the
National Institutes of Health_

Unsolicited Proposals
The operational word in the preceding paragraph is
"solicited"; its antonym is "unsolicited." "Unsolicited" is a
term of the art, like "ethical" in relation to pha'rmaceutical

hOllses which I assume lack the antonym. An "ethical"
house, regardless of its scientific or business ethics, is one
that nominally advertises only to the medical profession.
An "unsolicited" proposal is, according to the Armed Services Procurement Regulations:
A research proposal which is made to the government
without prior formal or informal solicitation from a
purchasing activity.
An unsolicited proposal, at least in our Command, is
treated as proprietary. It is evaluated, accepted or rejected
on its own merits. To be sure, it is in competition for our
budget with all other proposals that we receive. We will
haggle on the price, but we will not take your idea and put
it out for competitive bidding.

Solicited Proposals
A solicited proposal, on the other hand, is one prepared
in response to direct solicitation. In an unsolicited proposal
you propose both the problem and its solution. In a solicited
proposal we propose the problem and you propose the solution. Your proposal will then be evaluated, usually by an
evaluation team, in direct comparison with your competitors.
As you might expect in this non-Aristotelian world, there
is a third category which might be called the "quasi-solicited"
proposal. Procurement shops live in a binary world of contracts or grants, sole source or competitive bidding, but there
are all sorts of grey areas before the proposal reaches procurement.
For example, there is the jJrocurement synopsis program.
'Ve are required by law to place our programs - not only
our contract and grant awards but also our research interests
(not, in our case, needs) - in the Commerce Daily, which
is published in Chicago by the Department of Commerce.
You have an opportunity there to review what we are doing
and, if you see an announcement of a proposed procurement
and if you think you can hack it, you are invited to contact
the Air Force laboratory which is conducting the program
and ask to be included in the competitive bid process. If
you demonstrate by your response an interest and technical

capability in the Air Force Program, you will have an opportunity to be placed on bidders' lists.

Biddersl Lists
It is particularly important, if you are interested in gettin~
RFP's (Requests for Proposals) from the Air Force that
your company's capabilities be entered in the Air Force
Systems Command Research and Development Capability
File. This file maintains a Random Access Source Selection
system, showing in the file the interests of contractors. Some
of the areas of interest to the readers of Computers and Automation are listed in Table 1.
A similar system, called QDRI, is run by the United
States Army. For the first step of this, the prospective bidder
fills out a Policy Agreement, in which he agrees not to disclose any classified information revealed to him and, more
or less in return, is allowed access to the services of the
Defense Documentation Center. The Army then sends him
various documents showing their research interests; if any of
them seem interesting he fills out a Field-of.Interest-Register.
This, in turn, does two things for him. It provides him with
the names of interested research managers in the Army and
puts him on bidders' lists to receive Requests for Proposals.
A brochure describing this program can be obtained, either
by writing to:
Commanding General
Army Materiel Command
Washington, D.C. 20315
ATTN: AMCRD-SS-P
Or, if more convenient, -getting in touch with one of the
various Army Commodity Commands. These are:
U.S. Army Electronics Command
Ft. Monmouth, N.]. 07703
U.S. Army Missile Command
Redstone Arsenal, Ala. 35809
U.S. Army Munitions Command
Dover, N.]. 07801

TABLE 1
A PARTIAL LISTING OF AREAS INCLUDED IN THE AIR FORCE SYSTEMS COMMAND RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT CAPABILITY FILE
Aircraft instruments
Combat information centers
Anti-jam techniques and equipment
Mathematical theory of communications
Crytography
Data links
Radar and radio
Image display and interpretation equipment
Electronics and electronic equipment
Electronic tube devices
Countermeasures
Modulation studies
Electronic theory
Electromagnetic compatibility
Guidance and control
Mathematics (pure and applied)

Bionics
Bioinstrumentation
Biomedical data processing
Cybernetics
Intelligence data handling and display
(storage and retrieval, presentation,
dissemination and reproduction, conversion, image interpretation)
Intelligence systems studies
Documentation
Technical writing
Computers (including analog, digital, data
reduction, data processing, theoretical
studies, information storage, data presentation, simulation and programming)
Documentation and library science

Further information on how to be entered into this file. and copies
of the Air Force Systems Command Form 220 needed may be obtained from:
Air Force Systems Command
Attn: SCKAE-2
Andrews Air Force Base
Washington, D.G. 20331

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

U.S. Army Weapons Command
Rock Island, Illinois 61201
U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Command
St. Louis, Mo. 63166
U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command
Warren, Michigan 48090
U.S. Army Aviation Materiel Command
St. Louis, Mo. 63166
In all cases, letters should be addressed "ATTN: QDRI."
As far as I have been able to find out, the Department
of thc Navy does not have a centralized bidders' list; various
individual lists however are maintained by the separate Navy
Bureaus, such as the Bureau of Naval Weapons and the
Burcall of Ships. The Office of Naval Research, which perhaps supports the greatest number of research efforts in the
computer field, deals almost entirely with unsolicited proposals, q.v.
The problems of the bidder seeking solicited proposals do
not cnd with putting his qualifications in a central file .. It
is cCJually important to scan Commerce Business Daily, for
notices of impending procurements, which are usually of
the form:
Office of Director, Defense Research and Engineering,
The Pentagon, Room 3EI12,\ Washington, D.C. 2030l.
Telephone 202-697-74789
A-RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SOURCES
SOUGHT
Firms having a capability to undertake a study to . . .
are invited to submit complete information to the activity listed above. Info furnished should include total
Humber of employees, qualification of professional personnel; a description of facilities, and an outline of previous and current projects. This is not a request for
proposal. Respondents will not be notified of the results
of evaluation of source info received. Responses to this
proposal should be received in this office no later than ...
Responses' to such requests can be almost boiler-plate; it is
probably worth the effort to keep answering them. The next
step would be a formal request to attend a bidders' conference in \vhich the impending procurement would be discussed
and then, if you think it worth the gamble, to prepare a research proposal.
Obtaining Funds for Unsolicited Proposals
Obtaining funds for unsolicited proposals presents a somewhat more difficult problem. Your company has on its payroll, or you are, a brilliant, impractical, unworldly scientist,
Thcoprastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, whom we will call
Dr. Paracelsus for short. Doc has all his union cards - PhD
frolll a respectable school, several sound articles in reasonably
respectable journals, a hi-fi set, a Volkswagen and a crew
cut. He has a couple of ideas for nice bite-sized research
projl'('ts, neither trivial nor insoluble. The only thing he
doesn't have is Federal Support.
The campaign falls into four stages:
Reconnaissance and target identification
Contact
Proposal writing
Patient waiting
Reconnaissance and Target Identification
This job is essentially a problem in technical intelligence;
much of it can be done without leaving your desk. The basic
ref(~J'(~llce is the "U.S. Government Organization Manual"
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

which you buy from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office (hereafter abbreviated, SupDoc) for
$1.75. This gives you the set of all Federal organizations;
your job is to find the sub-set which is interested in supporting
Dr. Paracelsus' research and then within those organizations
find the lowest level of administrator who can say "Yes"
with a reasonable probability of making it stick.
What Agencies Would Like to Support
There are two ways of finding out an agency's research
interests. One is to listen to what it says about what it wOHld
like to support; the other is to find out what it actually docs
support. Dr. P's proposed research is, of course and by definition, unique, but it isn't all that unique, and the odds are a
little better that it will find a home among similar efforts in
an on-going program than that it will break virgin territory
and open up a new research area for an agency.
Finding out what we say we'd like to support is not difficult. Five dollars worth of stamps will get you at least 100
agency brochures. Agencies love to put them out and get
rid of them so that they can print new ones to take care of
their latest reorganizations.
What Agencies Do Support
Finding out what research we are actually supporting is a
little more difficult. One outfit in New York spends something like $1 million a year, and makes a tidy profit on it,
in running an intelligence operation on DOD contract awards.
They'd be delighted to sell you their services.
The Public Health Service list of grants and awards is
available from SupDoc. In 1966 the National Science Foundation published their annual report in two parts. The second
part is a grant listing; you can buy it from SupDoc for $1.00.
Neither of these publications, I regret to say (with tongue
in cheek), has either a subject index or a list of abstracts
of their research efforts. The Air Force is the only one of
the three military services and, with the possible exception
of NASA whom we taught how to do it, the only Federal
Agency to publish a properly subject-indexed set of abstracts
describing all their basic research efforts. This is called Air
Force Research Resumes and can be purchased from the
Federal Clearinghouse for Scientific and Technical Information - the former office of Technical Services - for, I believe, $5.00.
Dr. Paracelsus can be a big help here. For our own
legitimate bibliographic reasons we do our damnedest to encourage journals to print credit lines as footnotes to their
articles - "The research reported herein was supported in
whole or in part by the Directorate of Information Sciences
of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research." I assume
that these credit lines can also be used for other, less legitimate purposes. Dr. P should certainly be encouraged to root
through the footnotes in his piles of reprints and come up
with clues for you.
Collect organization charts. The largest single bargain you
can find is the Department of Defense phone book. We got
so tired of having these swiped out of our offices that we
finally made them available through SupDoc for $1.25.
Trade magazines love to print organization charts - you'll
find them in everything from Aviation Week to Electronic
News - and usually more complete than the official ones.
I know of no easily obtainable compilation of agency research programs in the field of "computers and automation."
Some indications of agency interest in an overlapping field,
that of "scientific documentation" in the broadest sense, may
be obtained from the National Science Foundation publication, "Current R&D in Scientific Documentation." A current issue is number 14 (NSF -66-17) which you can buy from

SupDoc for $2.00. Table 2 was compiled from this publication.
As you can see, research likely to be of interest to the
readers of Computers and Automation is most likely to be
supported by some twelve agencies. Their addresses follow:

• Rome Air Force Development Center,
Electronic Systems Division, Griffiths AFB, N.Y. 13440
• Hq, Electronic Systems Division, L. G. Hanscom Ficld,
Bedford, Mass.
• Advanced Research Projects Agency,
Room 3D169, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301
• Division of Research Grants,
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda 14, Maryland
• Division of Research, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission,
''\'ashington, D.C. 20545
• Office of Advanced Research and Technology,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Washington, D.C. 20546

• National Science Foundation, 1800 K Street,
Washington, D.C. 20550
• Army Research Office, 3045 Columbia Pike, Arlington,
Virginia
• U.S. Army Electronics Laboratory, Fort Monmouth,
N.]. 07703
• Office of Naval Research, Main Navy Building,
''\'ashington, D.C. 20360
• Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory,
L. G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts
• Air Force Office of Scientific Research,
1400 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22209

There is a temptation to stop at this stage of the game say with your discovery that Dr. P's research might be of
interest to the National Institutes of Health, the' Atomic
Energy Commission and the Space Agency - write a simple

TABLE 2
FEDERAL SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROJECTS REPORTED IN "CURRENT R&D IN SCIENTIFIC
DOCUMENTATION" Cl4th Edi t ion)

Defense
Dept.
(Other)

Nat'l
Inst.of
Health

Nat'l Sci.
Foundation

Army

2. Document Creation,
Copying

3. Language Analysis

Area
1. Information Needs

Navy

Air
Force

Dept.of
Health,
Edu.&Welfare
(Other)

Atomic
Energy
Comm.

NASA

Total

& Uses

4. Translation

5. Abstracting,
Classification,etc.

6. Systems Design

7. Analysis and
Evaluation

8. Pattern Recognition
9. Adaptive Systems

4
80

2
22

5
30

14
108

1
12

5
43

57
33
42

31
333

1. Information Needs & Uses. Information needs of scientists and uses made of scientific literature. Coverage
of indexing and abstracting services; improved efficiency of library services.
2. Document Creation and Copying. Mechanized processes for document composition and conceptual studies on
document creation: photocomposition, mechanical methods of composing chemical structures and me~hanized
editing systems. Improvement of technical writing, graphic design and publication design.
3. Language Analysis. Pure and applicable linguistics; lexicography and related areas, automatic dictionaries
and thesauri; automatic abstracting, indexing, content analysis, information storage and retrieval, document
characterization, concept-oriented syntactic analysis, etc.
4. Translation. Application of computers to automatic translation and linguistic analysis.
5. Abstracting, Classification, Indexing and Coding. Theoretical and pragmatic studies on the intellectual
aspects of organizing documents for subsequent retrieval; vocabularies, thesaurus construction, classification systems; conventional and machine-aided indexing.
6. Systems Design. New information retrieval systems; library operations and library mechanization; real time
systems for library networks; information centers.
7. Analysis and Evaluations. Evaluation of indexing vocabularies, coding, abstracting, indexing methods;
relevance studies, surveys and content analyses; convertibility studies for vocabularies and indexes; comparisons of specific systems or methods.
8. Pattern Recognition. Use of computers in optical pattern recognition; character recognition, coding of
geometric configurations in patterns; pictorial image recognition and interpretation; graphs (medical and
biological data); speech analysis, recognition, synthesis.
9. Adaptive Systems. Related psychological studies pertaining to artificial intelligence; simulating complex
information processing activities involved in human cognition and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms;
self-organizing systems.
.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

jim-dandy general purpose proposal, load it into a blunderhuss and fire it off in" the general direction of a dozen difrerent agencies. Don't. Keep on working until you have the
specific names of individuals in these agencies at the lowest
level in the organization that can say "Yes" and make it stick.

Contact
The next step is to come out of the overcast and make
contact with us. There are two possible strategies, depending
upon whether you or Dr. P has more spare time - but someone has to find out whether we're interested.
Civil servants are easy to talk to, but they're hard to catch
in the office. Keep trying. Phone ahead to find out whether
we're interested. If not, we can usually suggest someone,
eitlwr in our own organization or elsewhere who might be.
This is not always a run-around, but even if it should be,
it's better to wear out Ma Bell's electrons than your shoeleather.
But suppose someone does nibble at your bait. I had over
100 formal office visitors last year, so it's not impossible.
From here on out, you can handle things by mail. If Paracelsus were teaching in a small college in Oregon it would be
ridiculous to suggest that he come to Washington to discuss
a $5,000 grant. Eventually though we are going to want to
meet the scientist who's going to do the work - if not in
our offices, in his lab or at a scientific meeting.
Some companies seem to like to use their Washington representatives or traveling vice-presidents to do the preliminary
screening; some send teams of three - the scientist, the
salesman, and someone who sits in the corner and says
nothing but silently weeps when we mention that the purpose
of an AFOSR contract is not to make money; a few are
actually brave enough to send the scientist down without
someone to hold his hand. Suit yourself, but if you're going
to have to write the proposal you might as well come along.

have only general knowledge. I have a standard defense "What do you mean by Bayesian statistics?" - but I'd rather
not be made to use it. This may be a chance for you to
justify your trip by playing Dr. Watson when my eyes start
to glaze.
On the other hand, you can't absolutely count upon my
being stupid. Make sure that Dr. P does his homework. He
is presumably in my office because he knows more about his
field than I do - and if I find out that he doesn't know
about what has already been done or about similar work
that is going on elsewhere I'm likely to take a dim view of
his competence.
Let's assume that you have found the right office. The
conversation is going famously, but you've been there for
almost an hour. Get out while you're ahead, but remember
to ask two questions before you go:
• Should (or may) I send in a proposal?
• When should I send it in?

Fiscal Cycle
The second question is actually the more delicate of the
two, since it involves the oestrus cycle of the agency. Some
come into heat twice a year; others are more or less in heat
all year round. The fundamental biological rhythm is that
of the Federal fiscal year, which starts officially on the first
of July. Congress does not usually get around to appropriating funds until some time in August, and we can't spend the
money until we get it.
Most agencies are under some pressure to have their funds
committed well before the start of the next Fiscal Year.
We, for instance, are usually told to have ail of our funds
initiated by the end of January e<).ch year. We also do not
like to keep proposals around for more than six months
(our General doesn't like it either, and that's important).

Prepare for Work, Not Play

When to Send Proposals

Make a definite appointment. Phone the day before to confirm it. Life in Washington is hectic, and even with the best
of intentions the executive flu, a Pentagon panic or even a
purely local head-shed flap or brush fire can leap upon us.
Come prepared. Not with your key to the Playboy Club -the nearest one is in Baltimore, and that's too far to go for
lunch - nor with credit cards in anticipation of a big night
on the town. Most of us belong to car pools and have wives,
homes and children in the suburbs we see all too rarely as
it is.
Don't prepare an elaborate formal briefing. We're reasonably good at that racket, and we're more likely to try to
pick up a few new techniques than pay attention to what
you're saying. I deliberately don't have an easel in my office;
flip charts look silly spread on the floor; 35 mm slides look
even sillier projected on my wall. Any charts needed should
be briefcase size - you're visiting a private office, not a
theater.
Do come prepared for about an hour's conversation. If
Dr. P is like most of my scientist visitors, he needs to be
turned off, not on. But remind him to bring along spare
copies of any relevant publications, and some sort of summary he can leave with us.

In practice then, although proposals can be sent in at any
time of the year, for us at least those sent in from February
through August tend to lie fallow. We will be busily writing
purchase requests from September through January. I suspect,
although I haven't bothered to keep the statistics, that the
best time to send in proposals to us is from Mayor June
through November. I suspect also that each agency has its own
peculiar rhythm. As far as I can tell from the notices in
Science the National Science Foundation has two deadlines
a year for submitting proposals, but find out!
Agencies differ in the way they answer the question, "Shall
I send in a proposal?" The proper, safe, dull, bureaucratic
procedure is to say, "Oh yes, by all means. I have to see it in
writing before I can possibly make a decision." This is fine as
far as it goes, but it can go too far. For gross improbables I
prefer to use the sword in my office rather than the Judas kiss
in absentia. It's work for us to log in, acknowledge, evaluate
and reject proposals; it's even more work for you folks to
write them. I prefer not to let people leave my office without
giving them some idea of the probability of our being able to
fund their proposal, although I am always careful to point out
that if they don't send in a proposal at all the probability is O.
Let's say that I have suggested - not asked or solicited,
mind you, but suggested - that you might want to send in
a proposal.

False Assumptions
One common mistake visitors make is to assume that I'm
smarter than I am. A large desk only conveys the appearance
of omniscience - I haven't yet been able to build Memex
into mine. Dr. P is all too likely to come in and start talking
immediately about the latest advances in a field of which I
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Writing the Proposal
There are two sorts of proposals - formal and informal.
The formal proposal is a legal document, bearing the sig~a
ture of a responsible officer of the would-be contractor. 1 he

informal proposal has no legal status. On the other hand, it
can bypass your administrative chain which, at the very least,
saves time. An informal pr'Oposal can be converted into a
formal proposal by the addition of a firmer cost estimate and
a legal signature. In practice we prefer, and most of the
people we do business with seem to prefer, to use informal
proposals as a first step. I gather that some agencies can deal
only with formal proposals.
Before you leave the office find out what the local ground
rules for pr'Oposals are. Find out also if there are any peculiar
pieces of paper to be used. We're perfectly happy with plain
white bond, although I will admit that paper SY2 inches wide
gives me a terrible feeling of margin envy (The General Services Administration saves vast sums of money, and gives me
a permanent inferiority complex, by standardizing on paper
8" x 1O~") but apparently some other agencies use Multilith
mats or fan folds with their own peculiar f'Orms. Make them
give you some. It serves them right.

What a Proposal Includes
Our own suggestions for preparing research proposals are
set forth below as an example. Other agencies may have different suggestions. Find out what they are. It would be a
shame to blow it when you're this close to home.
I will skim lightly over the more obvious points. You
should include:

1. The legal name and address of the organization requesting support, as well as the name of the individual
submitting the proposal.

the proposal should indicate the persons, with their titles,
who have signed the proposal.
Send in at least six copies of your proposal. Your office
copying machines don't cost any more than ours, and probably
work better.
So far, much of what I have discussed is biblia abiblia,
literature devoid of humanistic interest. There are other
things that the proposal must have:

• A title
• An abstract, in 200 words or less, set forth, on a separate page.
• A detailed description of the work to be undertaken,
the experimental and theoretical methods to be used,
the work objectives and their relation to the state of
knowledge in the field and to comparable work in
progress elsewhere.
A bibliography of pertinent literature citations should be
included. Since May of 1957 there has been an oft-repeated,
and amplified, bit of nonsense to the effect that if a proposed
piece of research costs less than $100,000 it is cheaper to do
the research than the literature search. We don't, needless to
say, agree with this. A scientist stands on the shoulders of
other scientists as, in part, revealed by the published literature 3 and his ability to search the literature, or have it done
for him for somewhat less than $100,000, is part of his professional competence. We don't mind, although we usually
don't support, people who feel that they must invent the
wheel; we have no immediate need for stoneboats, travois or
sled runners.

Importance of the Title

2. Desired starting period of 'the research, remembering
that it takes time to translate a proposal into a contract
- allow at least three months - and the time period
for which support is requested. This should probably
n'Ot be for less than a year. We can occasionally fund
for multiple years, but it's best to break the effort down
into year-sized chunks.

3. We assume that the principal investigator will be responsible for direct supervision of the work, and in
most instances will participate in the conduct of the
research regardless of whether or not he is to receive
any compensation from the contract funds. We need
his curriculum vita with a list of his principal publications (I, at least, deduct one point for every proposal
listed as a publication - and don't think that people
don't do it); we will need similar information for other
senior professional people who will be associated with
the project.

S'Ometimes I think that the title of the proposed research
is the most important part. It will be the first, and may be
the only contact others have with the research. It behooves
us to pick titles which are bland to the Bad Guys and informative to the Good Guys.
A Bad Guy, in this context, is one who reads a list of project titles, spots one on, say, "The Mating HalJits of the
South African Flea," and proceeds to sound off on the waste
of the taxpayers' money involved without bothering t'O find
out what it's all about. Bad Guys, by this definition, occur
in all walks of life, from newspaper columns to, I am told,
the halls of Congress; lists of project titles circulate almost
as freely. As I am also told, Virtue usually Triumphs, but it's
easier on all concerned not to give the Bad Guys a handle.
Things to avoid, if at all possible, are:
• Words or phrases' with possible sexual or scatological
connotations - single, double, and triple entendres.
• Familiar names of mammals, birds, fish and even,
insects.
• Words with a vulgar meaning at variance with the scientific meaning.

4. Cost estimates are important, but I could derive more
sheer lyric beauty from reading a page of the Philadelphia telephone directory to you. Besides, this is one
place where we don't want creative writing. Get the
local rules before you leave.

Submit Proposals to Several Agencies
Please feel free to submit the same proposal to several
different agencies, but tell us if you do. It makes our job
simpler. There is coordination among the different agencies,
but it's not foolproof. There have been times in the past
when we did not discover that another agency was planning
to fund the same proposal until it was almost too late to
straighten things out. It's a lot better for all concerned for
you to tell us, rather than have us find it out. This is one
of the things that makes civil servants uncivil.
If the proposal is to be treated as a formal proposal, one
copy must be signed by the principal investigator and by an
official authorized to sign for the organization. All copies of

A good title will contain the most important specific keywords needed to index a project, arranged into a phrase that
has rdore meaning than a random assortment of these selfsame
words. Two things are important, then: the selection of the
right words, and the ordering and connection of these into
a meaningful phrase.

Description of the Research
The description of the proposed research is, to the scientists wh'O will evaluate the proposal, the single most important
3

The reader interested in the history of this phrase is referred to the delightful exercise in scholarship, "On the Shoulders of Giants" by Robert
K. Merton, Collier-Macmillan, N.Y. 1966. Turns out Newton didn't coin
it at all; it can be and is traced back to the 12th century Bernard of
Chartres.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

part. Dr. Paracelsus must write at least the first draft of this
himself - if he isn't interested enough to write it we don't
want him for a principal investigator. There are things you
can do to help him, after he's got it down on paper.
Make sure that Paracelsus has answered, if at all possible,
the following questions:
W hat is he going to do?
Why does he want to do it? Professor Popper of the University of London suggests that every scientific investigation is
undertaken to yield an answer to a question. This question
should be statable before the research starts.
H ow is he going to do it? Is his approach theoretical, descriptive, analytical, experimental?
What new or old techniques or apparatus will be used or
improved?
Will, deo valente, the investigations hopefully yield new
techniques, new apparatus, new theories or hypotheses, new
interpretations, new evaluations, new understanding?
Neither you nor he should work too hard to:
• Justify the support of basic research by the Air Force.
• Write a high school textbook (undergraduate, maybe,
but not high school) on the state-of-the-art in this
research area.
• Provide detailed specific Air Force applications of the
possible results of the proposed research.
• Bias the Nobel Prize Awards Committee.
• Win the Westinghouse Award for Science writing.

Waiting
The proposal is typed, proof-read, assembled, bound, signed,
proof-read again. Six copies are mailed in. Your job is done,
Eventually, if all goes well, after various subterranean heavings and mutterings, you will get a letter of technical approval, which is not a ~ommitment of funds nor an authorization to start work, and, eventually, a contract or grant.
Relax, get lots of sleep, eat a light, nourishing diet. Because
someday you are going to have to start worrying about technical reports and journal articles, and how to fill out DD
Form 1473.
But that's a topic for another paper.

Acknowledgement
Anything of literary merit in the preceding section stems,
as does much of documentation today, from the advice of
Robert Arthur Fairthorne, Mentor of Arisia and sometimes
I fear, Boskone. (The reader who is not familiar with thi~
allusion is referred to the canonical ~ritings of the late
Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.)

IMMEDIA TE OPENINGS FOR
COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS AND SYSTEMS ANALYSTS
HQ AIR FORCE LOGISTICS COMMAND
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO

If you can:

• Be precise. Avoid vague and inexact usage. Avoid
idle words. Make every word pull its own weight.
• Spell things out. Avoid acronums and peculiar abbreviations. Say extreme low frequency," rather than ELF.
• Be clear. Consider the beauty and efficiency of the
simple declarative sentence and its siblings as a medium for communication.

Vocabulary
You have two tools for your job; words and the arrangement of these words into sentences. Choose your vocabulary
carefully before you begin to write. This isn't easy. A powerful English vocabulary comes only from much reading - as
little of it as possible in manuals on technical writing -writing, and dictionary using. The most effective stimulants
for Bad Guys and confusants for Good Guys are everyday
dictionary words used with specialist meanings without warning. Use a dictionary. Not as an authority - Dr. Paracelsus
has words in his vocabulary too new to be found in any dictionary - but to warn him what the word means to most
readers.
Particularly dangerous are everyday words that have been
compressed into specialist meanings, and then decompressed
again as the specialty widens. Thus the word ends by having
a vague specialist meaning, or meanings, quite different from
its vague everyday meaning, as well as having specific specialist meanings at variance with each other and with any
specific everyday meaning. Exempla horribilis - INFORMATION!!!
Good writing depends not only upon syntax and grammar,
but also upon vocabulary. In English, particularly, proper
choice of words can dominate and sometimes correct grammar
and syntax. The reader benefits if vocabulary, grammar and
syntax all pull the same way. If they pull in different directions, see to it that the vocabulary pulls in the right one.
Neither misleading nor diffuse words can do this, for the
latter either run in circles or don't pull at all. The sentence
becomes an algebraic expression with unknowns to be supplied
out of the reader's technical and social experience.
When choosing words, near enough is not good enough.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

OPPORTUNITY:
To work at a major command whose mission is to provide
world-wide logistics support to the entire Air Force. The
Air Force Logistics Command Data Center has the largest
single group in the United States engaged in data systems
design.
DUTIES:
COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS - Develop machine detail
charts, write program steps, and document machine procedures for specific assigned portions of planned data systems. Prepare run test data, test and develop runs, and
prepare multiple run test data to assure that assigned programs are complete and accurate.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYSTS - Perform analytic studies to determine feasibility of proposed new data systems
and/or modification of operational data systems. Perform
system process analysis, prepare system design specifications and terminal documentation, develop detail logic
charts, and write system operating procedures.
REQUIREMENTS:
COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS - 3 years administrative or
technical work experience plus 1 year of management analysis or technical, analytical, supervisory, or administrative experience in an appropriate subject matter field plus
1 to 2 years of programming experience.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYSTS - 3 years administrative or technical work experience plus 1 to 2 years of management analysis or technical, analytical, supervisory, or
administrative experience in an appropriate subject matter
field plus 1 year of computer systems analyst experience.
A college degree can be substituted for the 3 years administrative or technical experience.
COMPENSA TION:
$7696 - $10, 927 per year; advancement on merit. All Civil
Service benefits included.
Mail "Application for Federal Employment," SF-57 (available
at U. S. Post Offices) to Civilian Personnel Office, 2750th Air
Base Wing, Attn: EWACEH, Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio 45433. AREA CODE 513 - 257 -6872
An Equal Opportunity Employer

c&a
COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
With this issue "Computers and Automation" starts a new
department, "Course Announcements." Listings of courses
(subject to editing, and a reasonable maximum of number of
words) will be printed at a charge of $8 apiece, but the
first half dozen listings received in the mail in each calendar
month will be printed at no charge.

It seems to us that this may be a reasonable compromise
between not printing any listings for courses for which other
than nominal charges are made, and printing all those and
only those course announcements which are paid for.
However, to start off the department in this issue, all the
courses fot which we found information on hand in our file
were listed at no charge.

EDP Management
EDP / Brandon
St. Moritz Hotel,
Brandon Systems
D.C. / $?

Programming Concepts, Automata, and Adaptive Systems / The
Univ. of Mich. College of Engineering / June 19-30, 1967;
Univ. of Mich. Campus at Ann Arbor / $300

Seminar: Top Management Control of
Applied Systems, Inc. / May 11-12, 1967;
New York, N.Y. / Contact David F. Alison,
Institute, 1130 17th St. N.W., Washington,

EDP Management Seminar: Computer Operations Management
and Control; Project Control Systems for Data Processing;
Computer Systems Analysis Techniques / Brandon Applied
Systems, Inc. / May 15-19, 1967; Biltmore Hotel, New
York, N.Y. / Contact David F. Alison, Brandon Systems Institute, 1130 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. / $?
EDP Executive Seminar: Executives' Guide to Data Processing;
Measuring EDP Performance; Management Standards for
Data Processing; Brandon Applied Systems, Inc. / May 2226, 1967; Hotel Mayflower, Washington, D.C. / Contact
David F. Alison, Brandon Systems Institute, 1130 17th 8t.
N.W., Washington, D.C. / $?
The Role of Computer Assisted Instruction in Business, Industry, and Government / Computer Assisted Instruction, Inc. /
May 10, St. Louis, Mo.; May 16, San Francisco, Calif.; May
17, Los Angeles. Calif. / Contact, Dr. Robert C. Kyle, Computer Assisted Instruction, Inc., 111 West Monroe Street,
Chicago, Ill. 60603
The Heuristic Programming Approach to Artificial Intelligence / Univ. of Calif. Extension, Los Angeles /Dr. James
Slagle / June 19-23, 1967; Univ. of Calif. at Los Angeles
Campus / $225
A heuristic program is defined as a computer program that
uses "educated guessing" to discover solutions to intellectually
difficult problems. Covers principles underlying the heuristic
programming approach, with a view toward future applications.
Top Management Control of EDP / Automation Training Center / May 11-12, 1967; St. Moritz Hotel, New York, N.Y. /
Contact Director, Automation Training Center, Box 3085,
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85257 / $?
Data Processing Risk Management / Automation Training Center / May 5, 1967; Statler Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, Calif. /
Contact Director, Automation Training Center, Box 3085,
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85257 / $?
EDP Audit and Control/Automation Training Center / May
14-19, 1967; Jack Tar Hotel, San Francisco, Calif. / Contact Director, Automation Training Center, Box 3085, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85257 / $?
Computer Graphics for Designers / The Univ. of Mieh. College
of Engineering / June 5-16, 1967; Univ. of Mich. Campus,
Ann Arbor, Mich. / $300
An introduction for designers in engineering, architecture,
and related fields to elementary computer programming, principles of graphic manipulation and applications of computer
graphics as aids in improved design methods.

To acquaint practicing scientists, engineers and university
faculty with current results in the fields of formal and programming languages, adaptive systems, artificial intelligence, cellular and parallel computers, and the theory of automata and
computation.
Elements of Simulation / State University of New York at Buffalo / June 5-9, 1967; State University of New York at
Buffalo, N.Y. / $175
Covers: the role of simulation; an appreciation of when it
should not be used; constructing, executing, evaluating and experimenting with mathematical models.
Documentation in the Social Sciences / American University!
Mass. & Nebraska Aves. N.W., Washington, D.C. / Dr. Lowell H. Hattery / May 8-11, 1967, Marriott Motor Hotel,
Washington, D.C. / $?
Covers problems, needs, methodology, centers and networks,
international programs, user relations, and research and development in the social sciences.
Introduction to Digital Computer Engineering / Univ. of ~ich.
College of Engineering / June 19-30, 1967; Univ. of Mich.
Campus at Ann Arbor / $300
Introduction to the engineering aspects of digital computers,
fundamentals of computer organization and design.
Foundations of Information Systems Engineering / Univ. of
Mich. College of Engineering / June 19-30, 1967; Univ. of
Mich. Campus at Ann Arbor / $300
Covers: basic mathematical concepts in graph theory, algebra, and probability theory; development of information theory,
automata theory, queueing theory, decision theory, optimization theory, network flow analysis, and discrete time system
analysis.
Numerical Analysis / The Univ. of Mich. College of Engineering / June 19-30, 1967; Univ. of Mich. Campus at Ann
Arbor / $300
Covers important methods in contemporary numerical analysis.
Computer and Program Organization - Fundamentals / The
Univ. of, Mich. College of Engineering / June 19-30, 1967;
Univ. of Mich. Campus at Ann Arbor / $300
60mputer and Program Organization - Advanced Topics /
The Univ. of Mich. College of Engineering / June 19-30,
1967; Univ. of Mich. Campus at Ann Arbor / $300
Computer Languages and Their Philosophies / Univ. of Calif.
Extension, Los Angeles / Dr. Lionello A. Lombardi / July

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

31-Aug. 4, 1967; Univ. of Calif. at Los Angeles Campus /
$225
For managers, technical staff members, and others interested
in programming languages. Covers: fundamental concepts of
programming languages, their classifications and characteristics
- functional, technical, non-technical, and future potential.
Interactive Time-Sharing Systems: Hardware and Software /
Univ. of Calif. Extension, Los Angeles / Dr. Harry D.
Huskey / June 19-30, 1967; Univ. of Calif. at Los Angeles
Campus / $300
This course is intended for managers of time-sharing installations, system programmers, system users, and covers: Characteristics of time-sharing systems, hardware requirements, monitor
characteristics, subsystems.
Management Information Systems: A Critical Appraisal / Univ.
of Calif. Extension, Los Angeles / Drs. Lionello A. Lombardi
and James C. Emery I Aug. 21-25, 1967; Univ. of Calif. at
Los Angeles Campus / $225
For upper executive and staff level managers concerned with
application of information and technology to planning and control systems. Covers: computer-based information systems for
planning and control, judging system effectiveness, and exploitation of future technical advances.
Introduction to Symbolic Control/Ill. Institute of Tech. Research Institute / July 27-28, 1967; Oct. 19-20, 1967; liT
Research Institute, 10 West 35 St., Chicago, Ill. 60616 / $70
Covers basic elements of computer-aided, numerical control
manufacturing; computers, APT, ..post-processors, and APT research and development.
Basic Numerical Control/Ill. Institute of Tech. Research Institute / June 5-7, and Sept. 18-20, 1967; lIT Research
Institute, 10 West 35 St., Chicago, Ill. 60616 / $100
Covers the components in a typical numerically-controlled
machine tool installation; point-to-point and continuous path
equipment; tape formats; manual programming; computer-assisted programming systems; and postprocessors.
Basic APT Part Programming / Ill. Institute of Tech. Research
Institute / May 15-19, Aug. 28-Sept. 1, and Nov. 6-10, 1967;
liT Research Institute, 10 West 35 St., Chicago, Ill. 60616 /
$200
Covers fundamental techniques of APT part programming;
tool and workpiece geometry; process planning; two-dimensional
and point-to-point pattern programming applications.
Advanced APT Part Programming / Ill. Institute of Tech. Research Institute / July 10-21, and Oct. 16-27, 1967; liT
Research Institute, 10 West 35 St., Chicago, Ill. 60616 / $400
Workshop covers realistic experience in all phases of part
planning, programming, processing, and fabricating. Work may
be done on class problems or on parts brought in for economic
analysis or actual production. Computer and machine tool time
will be charged at standard rates.

SYSTEMS DEPARTMENTS -

Young

(Continued from page 33)
easier - many of the organization and communication problems are much simpler in a small organization. Often there
are fewer projects, less alternatives and less functions. When
a planning specialist or consultant can not be employed, the
systems manager should provide the planning know-how and
inspiration for planning).

are planning.). Here are two vanatIOns of this complaint:
a. "We don't have any historical data on which to base
a forecast, and how can you plan without a forecast?"
(Collecting data for forecasts is part of the planning
process - start now and get out of this vicious circle.
Perhaps data from other installations could be used
as a rough guide. Have you tried to exchange such
information? )
b. "I have not written any plans because 1 don't know
what a writt:>n plan should contain." (Why not sign
up for a systems planning course, or read some books
on the subject?)
The value of long-range planning, and the rewards that
come to those who do it and do it reasonably well, are great.
And systems departments, which now logically include data
processing, equipment programming, tabulating and computer operations, and wire communications, will include more
and more functions that are important, as they become masters of long-range planning.

CAPITAL REPORT
(Continued from page 22)
IBM has provided substantial support for the project; the
American Bankers Association has funded refinement of the
monetary subsector; and the National Science Foundation has
contributed heavily to improving the model. Gary Fromm
heads the model project at Brookings. James Duesenberry of
the Council of Economic Advisors, Ed Kuh of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lawrence Klein of the University of Pennsylvania, and Fromm have contributed most heavily to the several man-years of econometric analysis necessary
to get the model operative.
What Brookings hopes to have five or ten years from now
is a model accurate enough to predict the effect of fiscal and
monetary policy changes contemplated by the government.
In its present state, according to Sadowsky, the model is
still considered experimental, although runs made to predict
changes already announced by government officials have been
verified by actual effect on the economy.
Brookings also spurred the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
into taking a 100,000 record sample of United States tax returns in 1962. This sample is currently being used to predict
effect of tax law changes, and plans are drawn to make
added refinements in the way in which it analyzes the tax
structure and measures its effect during periods of economic
expansion and recession. Brookings' 1964 hypothetical prediction proved accurate with respect to the tax law's economic effect in sustaining United States economic growth.
Brookings is non-profit and staffed by economists and
econometricians who advise the United States government at
the highest level. Its head, Kermit Gordon, was formerly
Director of the Bureau of the Budget. Most of its top personnel are consultants to other government agencies, and have
close ties to IRS, the Department of the Treasury, the President's Council of Economic Advisors, and similar organizations.

"I Don't Know How to Plan"
(For some strange reason I very rarely get this as an excuse for not planning. I usually hear it only 'from people who

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Senter Stuart

ACROSS TH'E EDITOR'S DESK
Computing and Data Processing Newsletter

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Applications . . . .
46
New Contracts . .
49
New 'Installations .
50
Organization News • .
51
Business News.

Computing Centers.
Computer Related Services
New Products . . .
Research Frontier.

52
53

54
58

. • • • 59

APPLICATIONS

COMPUTER-CONTROLLED ANESTHESIOLOGY PATIENT SIMULATOR

A revolutionary application of
engineering technology to medical
education became known recently when
a manikin -- computer-controlled as
a patient-simulator for training
resident physicians in anesthesiology -- was shown and demonstrated
for the first time at a professional meeting by the University of
Southern California's Schooi of
Medicine. This most complex medical teaching tool, to be known as
Sim One, was developed by USC medical researchers in Los Angeles working with engineers of Aerojet-General Corporation's Von Karman Center in Azusa, Calif., under a grant
of $272,130 from the Co-operative
Research Project of the U. S. Office of Education. Co-directors of
the manikin project are USC's Dr.
J. S. Denson and Dr. Stephen
Abrahamson.
Sim One is sufficiently lifelike to be truly representative of
a human patient on an operating
table awaiting surgery. Skin-colored, skin-textured plastic covers
its frame. The manikin's jaw is
hinged to permit the mouth to open
and close in normal human-fashion.
Inside the mouth are all the structures found in the human patient;
the manikin even has bronchial
tubes. Sim One has a heartbeat,
carotid and temporal pulse beats,
blood pressure; movements of the
diaphragm and chest simulate the
action of breathing; the eyes open
and close and the pupils of the
eyes dilate and constrict. Computer programmed, electronic systems drive these mechanical actions

(./

of the manikin to simulate the
symptoms and physiological responses an anesthesiologist may
encounter during an actual operation.
Further, Sim One is programmed
to provide appropriate responses
to the injection of four different
drugs, administered in varying dosages, as well as to the administration of both nitrous-oxide and
oxygen. The manikin's human-like
reactions and responses were programmed by Aerojet-General Corporation into an Electronic Associates, Inc. hybrid 2400 computer,
composed of an EAI 231-R analog
and DDP-24 digital computer made
by Computer Control Company (now
a Honeywell di vision). The manikin
itself was fabricated by Sierra
Engineering Co., Sierra Madre,
Calif., to the specifications of
Aerojet-General, under a subcontract.
While a resident is learning
on the simulator, his instructor
will be at the instructor's control
console where he can monitor each
step of the performance.
If he
wishes to talk with the student,
he may stop the procedure at any
point and for as long as desired,
and then resume from that point
or start allover again. Not only
is the system designed to allow
the procedure to be halted at any
time, but also the computer maybe
called upon for a print-out of precisely what has taken place up to
that point -- or after the procedure has been completed, one may

-- Computer-controlled anesthesiology patient simulator is checked out prior
to demonstration by Dr. J.
S. Denson (left) and Dr.
Stephen Abrahamson.
review a time-sequence read-out of
everything that happened to the
manikin. In addition to the computer print-out, a pen recorder
also charts the action of all vital
signs as they occur.
Dr. Denson explained that Sim
One will be used in training resident anesthesiologists in the particular skill necessary in endotracheal intubation. "This is the
name given to a procedure which involves passing a semi-rigid tube
into the trachea, or windpipe.
Through this tube anesthesia gases
are administered directly to the
lungs while controlled artificial
breathing is maintained. This
teChnique is used frequently for
major surgery and it demands a high
degree of skill on the part of the
anesthesiologist," Dr. Denson said.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Newsletter
Drs. Denson and Abrahamson
feel that perhaps the greatest
training values afforded by Sim One
lie in the abilities of the simulator to demonstrate and repeat as
often as desired, the emergencies
which are irregular occurances during actual surgery. USC's researchers in medical education believe
that Sim One could be the first of
a whole generation of medical
simulators.

PROPERTY DEEDS TO BE
VERIFIED BY COMPUTER

Historical records of more
than 2.~ million land parcels -many dating back to 17th century
Spanish land grants -- will be
stored by an RCA computer for virtually instant retrieval at the
Security Title Insurance Company
in Los Angeles, Calif. Security
Title's EDP manager, Ernest F.
Woodward said, the information,
used by the company to verify property deeds in Los Angeles County,
now is contained on some 30 million
punched cards. This data will be
transferred to the memory storage
device of an RCA Spectra 70/45 computer this summer. Mr. Woodward
noted that the cards, which contain abstracts of every legal document affecting land transfers in
Los Angeles for the past 300 years,
represent the country's largest
file of its type, and the first
to be computerized.
In order to insure clear title
to a property, its ownership must
be traced as far back as possible.
With the computerized file, it will
be possible to retrieve in seconds
the complete history of any pa.rcel
of land in the County, saving as
much as a full day of research.
Information from an RCA Random Access Memory Unit may be displayed
visually on TV-tape screens of four
Video Data Terminals, or may be
produced as hard copy on a highspeed printer.
The Spectra 70/45 also will
write title policies tailored to
the specific needs of clients,
which vary in each case depending
upon unique characteristics of the
land involved. Terms of a policy
for a property with Municipal or
County access rights attached to
it will differ, for example, from
those of one for property without
such rights. Literally thousands
of individual policy clauses covering similar contingencies will
be stored in the computer's memory.
Those meeting requirements of a

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

particular situation will be selected automatically by the computer
and the policy will be written
accordingly.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY USING
DIGITAL COMPUTER TO
MATCH COLORS

American & Efird Mills, Mount
Holly, N.C., and IBM Corporation
have announced that a small digital
computer now is being used successfully to match hundreds of different textile colors. It is the first
time a textile firm has matched
colors this way, on a production
basis, for a wide variety of yarns
-- cottons, wools and a growing
number of synthetics. AGE annually
produces as many as 9000 different
colors.

card is a dossier on how one of
AGE's 200 standard dyes reacts wi th
different fibres at different concentration levels.
Basically, the computer matches
colors not unlike an artist on his
palette, except that it uses numbers to represent colors and can
mix the numerical symbols in millionths of a second. Since the computer isn't color-sensitive, AGE's
standard dyes and the samples to be
matched, have to be analyzed first
by a spectrophotometer. Once the
computer has the numerical color
profile of the sample, it begins
to blend matching formulas from
AGE's standard dyes, using combinations of three or four at a time.
Once the color match is struck and
tested in the laboratory, the computer can then calculate and document the king-sized formulas needed
for AGE's production package dye
machines, which process as much as
a ton of yarn at a time.

COMPUTERS TO EXPEDITE
TELEGRAPHIC TRAFFIC
IN AUSTRALIA

Two UNIVAC 418 Computers, supplied by Sperry Rand Corporation's
UNIVAC Division, are being installed
by Overseas Telecommunications Commission (Australia) to expedite the
transmission and distribution of
international telegrams.
-- Yarn on its way to the
dye vats. AGE's Research
and Development Director
Gordon Broome (left) and
Supt. of Dyeing and Finishing Neal Sellers check
two new colors against the
computer printout from the
color-matching IBM 1130.
The color matching and color
formulation are done on a desksized IBM 1130 computer in AGE's
color laboratory. Contrasted to
the long, painstaking process of
matching thousands of colors by
hand, AGE's computer: matches the
color automatically with a variety
of formulas; computes the different
costs for the different formulas-some running l5¢ a lb. less than
normal; and indicates how the color
match will appear under different
lighting (fluorescent as compared
to daylight, for example). It
takes the computer only minutes to
match a color, contrasted to days
and weeks by hand. The. ent i re process hinges on A&E's punched card
library of standard dyes, developed over a l5-month period. Each

With the new system, which replaces conventional teleprinter
equipment, a message recei ved by an
operator for transmission will appear on a screen as he types it,
enabling him to detect errors and
correct them. When the message is
completed, the contents are stored
in the computer's memory. The computer automatically finds the destination, seeks a vacant channel
and transmits the message. One of
the main benefits of the system
will be a speedup in the transmission of telegraphic traffic sent
across the Pacific for routing
through Australia to South East
Asia. This routing time will be
reduced to a few minutes.
Among other advantages the system automatically will ensure that
traffic is transmitted in accordance
with priority rating and time of receipt, eliminating the need for manual checking lists. Additionally,
the system will be programmed to
convert semi-automatically Australian Post Office messages to international format. The routing information will be supplied by an

Newsletter
operator at a format conversion
position equipped with CRT keyboard display unit. The computer
will keep records of messages and
their serial numbers.
The new message-switching system, costing over $1 million for
the basic computer equipment, will
be installed in OTC's Overseas Telecommunications Terminal at Paddington, a suburb of Sydney, Australia's
largest city. It is expected to be
fully operational by late 1967.

BULLOCK'S APPROVES CREDIT
IN SECONDS WITH AUTOMATED
FLOOR AUTHORIZATION SYSTEM

Bullock's Department Store,
Los Angeles, Calif., now can approve purchases in ten seconds, the
time it takes to check the credit
standing of their charge customers,
via an automated floor authorization system that joins a BunkerRamo cathode ray (CRT) device with
a central computer. The electronic
data processing device is reputed
to be the first of its kind in use
in a department store. Dave Blair,
Bullock's credit manager, and Darryl
Hoffman, Bullock's director of data
processing worked for almost a year
along with technicians of The Bunker-Ramo Corporation to develop the
system.
Some 750,000 Bullock's accounts
were programmed, based on diverse
criteria such as the occupation and
residence of the account, the age,
and how frequently and how much a
customer had been buying. Bullock's
downtown Los Angeles store, and
their seven Southern California
branches are linked directly with
this system which employs ten Bunker-Ramo Model 212 Display Stations
hooked up to an NCR 315 computer in
an area referred to as the Central
Credit Inqui ry .
When a customer makes a charge
purchase, the clerk calls the Central Credi t Inquiry by special phone
where the customer's account number
and name are punched in on the alphanumeric keyboard by the credit
operator. The computer responds
in seconds with an answer on the
CRT screen. If the computer has a
referral, the charge is referred to
a supervisor who makes a decision
as to whether or not the Charge
can be processed. The supervisor
is helped in his decision with further facts the computer can spell
out on the CRT screen related to
the account.

Even if all ten Bunker-Ramo
CRT machines were punched simultaneously, wi th inqui ries from ten
sales clerks made at the same time,
the last one would have a wait of
only ten seconds for an answer,
Mr. Blair said. He added that in
three months the system has resulted in faster customer service,
better control of bad debt losses,
some cost cutting, and more consistent credit authorization
judgements.

COMPUTER NOTES WHAT
MAKES PEOPLE TICK

Researchers at Carnegie Institute of Technology's computer controlled psychology laboratory in
Pittsburgh, Pa., are studying human behavior using a Honeywell
computer to explore the way people
learn and solve problems. Because
of the speed of response and ease
of storing experimental data in
the computer, psychologists are
able to record vast amounts of information from a subject in a short
span of time. This data is the
basis for psychological models describing the way people think. By
applying the information gained
from the experiments to a model in
a computer program, psychologists
hope to determine how people cope
with their environment.

in New York City. It has been designed to speed up the handling of
inquiries relative to CBS Television Network programming and consists of several Bunker-Ramo Series
200 cathode ray tube (CRT) input/
output terminals, linked to ~ Univac 1050-111 computer. It is said
to be the first CRT display system
in the United States used exclusively by a TV network for computer interrogation.
The CRT devices are used by
CBS Televi sion Network salesmen and
executives to obtain instantaneous
answers to questions pertaining to
station clearances, sponsors, advertising agency purchases, salesman's records, and much other information relative to the purchase
of commercial time on any CBS Television Network program. The system eliminates paperwork and delay.
By pushing a few buttons on the
Bunker-Ramo device the salesman
can have the answer in seconds wi thout having the customer wait for a
printout. When available commercial time is sold, the computer
record is updated instantaneously
by entering the sale information
on a teletype input/output. No
punched cards, punched tape, or
magnetic tape are used in the updating function.

Display screens connected tQ
the computer enable psychologists
to test memory and reaction times.
In a typical experiment, the subject is asked to recall a severaldigit number flashed on the screen
for only hundredths of a second.
The accuracy and speed of the subject's response are recorded by
the computer for later analysis.
Carnegie psychologists are
working toward computer programs
that will allow them to outline
their requirements to the computer
which will develop the experiment
for them. If they are successful,
the computer will serve as a research assistant, setting up experiments, taking voluminous notes
an evaluating test data.

CBS TV NETWORK SALESMEN
USE CRT DISPLAY SYSTEM
TO QUERY COMPUTER

-- After entering a request to the computer,
the answer appears on
the screen for CBS employee, Suzanne Franzel
The system also can check out:
which network stations are carrying
competing network shows or local
shows; the market potential of any
network show; the salesman's records as to what he is selling and
to whom; and all sponsors and their
records, as, well as ad agencies
and their records.

An on-line data processing
system that instantly displays the
availability status of commercial
time and other management reports
is in operation at CBS headquarters
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for ~ay, 1967'

Newsletter
NEW CONTRACTS

Barclays Bank Ltd., London,
England

Burroughs Corporation, Detroit,
Mich.

Federal Aviation Agency

Burroughs Corporation, Detroit,
Mich.

U. S. Army Missile Command,
Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Philco-Ford Corp., Aeronutronic Division, Newport
Beach. Calif.
Bonner & Moore Associates,
Inc., Houston, Texas

Kuwait National Petroleum Co.

Department of Health and Hospitals, St. Louis, Mo.

McDonnell Automation Center

American Airlines, Inc., and
Continental Air Lines, Inc.

General Precision's Link Group,
Binghamton, N.Y.

Aeronautical Systems Division, U. S. Air Force

Whittaker Corp., Los Angeles,
Calif.

Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corp.
British General Post Office

C-E-I-R, Inc.

General Electric Co., Defense
Electronics Div., Special Information Products Dept.,
Syracuse. N.Y.
Karstadt Company (West Germany's largest chain of department stores) Essen, West
Germany
U. S. Army Materiel Command
New York Central Railroad
Lockheed Space and Missile
Co., Sunnyvale, Calif.
Bayerische Hypotheken und
Wechsel (Bavarian Mortgage
and Loan) Bank of Munich,
West Germany
Conductron-Missouri, Division
of Conductron Corp.

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester,
N.Y.
BritiSh Overseas Airways Corp.
Honeywell Incorporated

Recognition Equipment Ltd.,
(British subsidiary of Recognition Equipment Inc., Dallas,
Texas)
Data Products Corp., Culver
City, Calif.
Sperry Rand Corp., UNIVAC Di v.,
New York, N.Y.
Computer Sciences Corp., El
SegundO. Calif.
General Railway Signal Company, a unit of General Signal Corp •. Rochester. N.Y.
Scientific Data Systems
Sperry Rand Corp., UNIVAC Div.,
New York, N.Y.
Systems Engineering Laboratories, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Cubic Corp., San Diego, Calif.
Collins Radio Co., Dallas,
Texas
Computer Applications Inc.,
New York, N.Y.

Tidewater Oil Company

ITT Data Services, a division of ITT Corporation

Sylvania Electronics, Inc

Systems Engineering Laboratories, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Naval Research Laboratory

Systems Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Burroughs B8500 electronic information
processing system for what will be the
largest on-line, real-time banking system in the world
177 radar digitizers which convert radar
signals into computer messages -- another
step toward automating the air traffic
system
Continued research and development of the
U. S. Army's Chaparral Air Defense guided
missile system
Design and responsibility for implementation of a totally integrated computerized
information system for use by operating
management at its Shuaiba Refinery located
south of the capital city of Kuwait
Consulting services and systems analysis
and planning studies on an "as required"
basis
Two Boeing 727 simulators and two visual
systems for Ameri can; a new 727 (the
third) for Continental
Design, development, and initial production of advanced air traffic control (ATC)
equipment
PERT programming services relating to an
on-going modification of Polaris submarines
Optical character recognition and highspeed sorting equipment that will read
information from and sort more than one
million banking documents per day
A follow-on order calling for DISCfILE
random access memory storage systems to
be used in conjunction with GE's 605
compu ter li ne
UNIVAC 494 Real-Time Computer System to
be used for information processing on all
phases of its operations with 54 branch
stores
Formulating and implementing a computerbased management information system
Equipment and automation of the 70-track
Alfred E. Perlman freight car classification yard
A Sigma 7 computer system which will be
used to help accelerate development of
the Poseidon missile
A UNIVAC 491 Real-Time Computer System

Four computer systems, each consisting of
one SEL 840A and one SEL840 Multiprocessor;
systems will be used as elements of C-5A
Mission Flight Simulator Complex for Lockheed and The United States Air Force
Development and production of a new product
in the field of computer output microfilmers
A large quantity of TE-216A data modems,
for the airline's intercontinental reservation system (BOADICEA)
Extension of previous contract which will
incorporate mass memory capabilities in
Honeywell H-200 series software
Responsibility for all data processing requirements of oil company's world headquarters and western division in Los Angeles
An SEL 810A computer system for use in acquiring and processing data from satellite
tracking antennas; installation will be in
Australia
An SEL 810A computer system; project use
is classified

$32 million

$22,403,010

$4,559,200

over
$3.5 million
$2.4 million

about
$2.3 million
over
$2 million
about
$1,700,000
$1.6 million

$1.6 million
over
$1,300,000
over
$1 million

about
$750.000
$500,000
about
million

over
$190,000
over
$150,000

Newsletter

NEW INSTALLATIONS

Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, Ga.

UNIVAC 1108-11 computer valued
at $2.6 million

Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colo.

Control Data 6400 computer system valued at $1,2 million

Hennepin County, Minneapolis, Minn.

IBM System/360 Model 30

Midwest Federal Savings and Loan
Association, MinneapOlis, Minn,
Service Bureau Corporation (SBC),
Scientific Computer Center,
Washington, D.C,
U, S, Railroad Retirement Board,
Chicago, Ill,
The Von Hoffman Companies, St,
Louis, Mo.

UNIVAC 491 computer system

University of Hawaii, Honolulu,
Hawaii

IBM System/360 Model 50

Bankers Investment Co"
son, Kans.

IBM System/360, Model 20

Hutchin-

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Jewel Companies, Inc"

Chicago, Ill,

Batelle Memorial Institute, Pacific
Northwest Laboratory, Washington

IBM System/360 Model 40
IBM System/360 Model 50
Honeywell Series 200 computer
system

Model 933 computer system valued
at $198,000; system contains a
SEL 810A computer
Two IBM System/360 Model 30
computers

Kansas State Teachers College,
Emporia, Kans.
Ted Bates & Co., New York, N,Y,

An SEL 840A computer, disc file,
and control unit valued at
$89,000
IBM 1130 computer and 1230 mark
scoring reader
Honeywell 2200 system

Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Honeywell 1200 system

Maison Blanche, New Orleans, La.

NCR 135 computer system

Percy Wilson Mortgage and Finance
Corp., Chicago, Ill.

IBM System/360 Model 20

Commercial National Bank, Peoria, Ill,

IBM System/360 Model 30

Elgin Electronics Inc., Waterford, Pa.
Edwards Air Force Base Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Calif.
AMFAC, Inc., Hawaii

NCR 315 computer system
SEL 810A computer system valued
at $200,000
Honeywell 200 system

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co" Goodyear Research Center, Akron, Ohio
General Precision, Inc., Aerospace
Group, Wayne, N,J,

Control Data 1700 computer
system
UNIVAC 1108 computer

The Chrysler Boat Corp., Dallas,
Texas
Atlantic Richfield Co" Dallas,
Texas

NCR 315 computer

IBM System/360 Model 50

Use by Lockheed, UNIVAC, all academic departments
of the school, all divisions of the experiment
station, and government and industry
Variety of scientific research projects concentrated in area of the atmospheric sciences, engineering and biological sciences; also wi 11 be used
for educational purposes as well as certain admi~
istrative programs
Centralizing county's record keeping program; providing better service to taxpayers of Minnesota's
largest county
On-line processing of savings accounts, to be
followed by on-line mortgage account processing
Expansion of data processing capabilities
Aid in administering the Railroad Retirement and
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts
Accounting and job estimating functions, and management control for inventory and production
scheduling
A campus-wide computing network used by faculty,
researchers, and students; supports over 600 research projects ranging from studies of tidal
waves to linguistics; also used for administrative
and accounting functions
Protection against unscrupulous persons' obtaining
large amounts of insurance on a multitude of small
loans -- alerts management by means of exception
reports to incorrect rates, refunds and charges
Acquiring and processing data and controlling a
linear accelerator installation
Helping provide customized grocery selections to
housewives in each of its 260 Jewel Food Stores
in the Chicago metropolitan area
Research purposes
Scoring and analysis of a variety of tests administered by public schools and the college
Providing immediate service and support to all
areas of the advertising agency's processing tasks
Administrative and scientific research applications initially; later conversational Fortran
and graphic display research projects
Assisting with accounts receivable processing for
Maison Blanche, a division of City Stores Company,
and handling ledger listings and statement printings for two other outlets in the Ci ty Stores chain
Servicing its $230 million portfolio of mortgage
loans; this includes recording of payments and
calculation of loan balance, interest, taxes and
insurance premiums; also used for escrow analysis, generating two reports annually
Handling the accounting functions of savings,
checking and trust accounts
Inventory control and production scheduling
Measuring, controlling, displaying and recording
test data from liquid propellant evaluation tests
Handling of accounting and inventory control work
of firm's six operating divisions
Automatic control of 20 on-line gas chromatographs
Scientific applications inVOlving wide variety of
calculations and tests, including model simulation,
and commercial applications including a nation-wide
payroll wi th remote check printing via communications
A system which will provide a complete "computer
picture" of planning and inventory operations
Scientific (exploration, engineering and research)
applications
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 19(>7

Newsletter
ORGANIZATION NEWS

RCA ENTERS FIELD OF
COMPUTER.BASED INSTRUCTION

RCA's full-scale entry into
the field of computer-based instruction, representing the first major
joint undertaking of its kind by
industry and education, has been
announced by Robert W. Sarnoff,
President of Radio Corporation of
America. He also announced the
formation of a new activity, RCA
Instructional Systems, which will
spearhead the development of computer-based techniques designed to
overcome some of the nation's most
pressing educational problems.
Mr. Sarnoff said the new technology will combine computers, communications channels and display
terminals into a system capable of
teaching the student as an individual, rather than an arbitrary
norm. He reported that Alan B.
Corderman has been appointed Director of RCA Instructional Systems, with headquarters in Palo
Alto, and will work closely with
a group o~ nationally-known Stanford University educators, headed
by Dr. Patrick Suppes, a pioneer
in computer-based instruction (CBI).
RCA Instructional Systems has
been given a "broad mandate" to
study, create and test instructional systems designed to facilitate many facets of the educational process, Mr. Sarnoff said.
He also noted that Random House
and its educational subsidiary,
the L. W. Singer Company, will
p lay an important ro Ie in the new
project.

COMPUTER SCIENCES
INTERNATIONAL, S.A.
INCORPORATED IN BELGIUM

On March 29th, Computer Sciences International, S.A., was incorporated in Brussels, Belgium,
to offer a broad range of computer
services throughout Western Europe.
The new company, which began operations in April, will provide a
complete range of computer-based
services, from problem analysis
through system concept and design,
programming, and system implementation.
Computer Sciences International is owned jointly by Computer Sci-

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

ences Corporation, one of the leading U.S. computer services firms,
and N. V. Phipils' Gloeilampenfabrieken of Eidnhoven, The Netherlands, one of the world's largest
electronics concerns. CSC, majority owner of the new company, has
been active in Europe for more than
a year. Computer Sciences International was formed to provide expanded capability in response to
the strong and growing demand for
computer-based services throughout
Europe,
Arthur E. Speckhard is president and general manager of Computer Sciences International.

AFFILIATION AGREEMENT LINKS
AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN
TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS

The first affiliation and licensing agreement linking American
and Australian technical consultants has been announced by Brandon
Applied Systems, Inc., of New York
City, and W. D. Scott & Pty. Ltd.,
of Sydney, Australia. Scott is
Australia's largest management consulting firm.
In a joint announcement, Dick
H. Brandon and Sir Walter Scott,
chief executives of the two firms,
said that under terms of the agreement their companies will exchange
technical expertise and research
information regularly. Personnel
will be exchanged for specific
joint projects and training of Australian personnel in U.S. computer
techniques, The agreement also
includes cooperative ventures
throughout Australia, New Zealand
and all of Asia.
Brandon Applied Systems is
furnishing training courses to the
Australian firm through its training division, Brandon Systems Institute of Washington, D.C., which
specializes in electronic data processing courses for management
personnel, systems analysis, and
programmers. Such courses in Australia, the world's fastest growing computer market, have not been
readily available. Brandon Applied
Systems, Inc. has licensed the use
of its name to W. D. Scott & Co.
In addition to its Institute,
Brandon Applied Systems, Inc. maintains offices in Washington, D.C.
·and in London. Scott has 15 offices in Australia, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.

EDUCATION NEWS

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF FUTURE
RECOMMENDED FOR THE SCHOOL
DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA

An educational system of the
future, the design for districtwide electronic data processing
support of administrative and
instructional functions, has been
recommended for the School District
of Philadelphia in a study done by
Santa Barbara's Brooks Foundation
in collaboration with Technomics,
Inc. of Santa Monica (Calif.) This
modern instructional system, the
culmination of a year-long study by
Brooks Foundation, was outlined before the Philadelphia School Board
last March by Don D. Bushnell,
Foundation Vice President. The
ten-year evolutionary development
plan, executed under a $93,000 contract from the School District of
Philadelphia, calls for the phased
introduction of forty computer consoles and ten thousand computer
stations into the School District's
250 schools by 1975.
The Brooks Foundation Plan,
designed to serve educational needs
of over a quarter of a million
youngsters, calls for the application of automated electronic information processing to such diverse school functions as: scheduling of classes, teacher assignments and busses; counseling and
testing; staff training; business
and plant management; all phases of
information retrieval and storage,
including student records; research;
and even architectural projections.
Such educational innovations as
automated library systems, computer-based games and the use of the
time-shared computer as a problemsolving tool are part of the plan.
Mr. Bushnell emphasized that
the most important contribution of
computer application to education
will lie in the area of individualized instruction. "Despite the inestimable gains in system efficiency that will be achieved through
computer app lication to education,"
he said, "the most dramatic benefit
will be realized bi the individual
learner. The computer, acting as
an aid but not a substitute for the
teacher, can provide each student
with an individually tailored study
program. A machine tutor, with infinite patience and absolute memory,
will be able to feed the student an
instructional program that is continually revised and guided by the

Newsletter
performance of the student himself.
Self-directed progress and problemsolving will be possible to a much
greater degree than ever before."
A report of this EDP design
will be published soon by McGraw
Hi 11 Book Co.

CALIFORNIA COMPUTER TEACHES
ARITHMETIC TO SCHOOLCHILDREN
IN KENTUCKY

A computer center in California recently began instructing and
testing elementary schoolchildren
of Morehead, Ky., in arithmetic over
long-distance data communications
facilities provided by General Telephone Company of Kentucky, a GT&E
subsidiary. Transmission of educa
tional data over conventional tele·
phone lines to teletypewriters at
the Breckenridge School in the Ken·
tucky community enabled second and
sixth grade students to use a highly advanced teaching program in
mathematics prepared at Stanford
University, Palo Alto, Calif., for
its computation center.
Each of the more than 50 students in the two classes sat in
turn at one of three teletypewriter units which printed the arithmetic lesson for each individual and
graded their responses. A secondgrade student is pictured below

answering a problem presented by
the Stanford computer while three
of her classmates look on. The
number of problems for each student
was determined on the basis of the
child's scholastic progress, requiring an average of about five
minutes at the teletypewriter.
When the lesson was completed, the
teletypewriter printed a record of
the day's work for the student.
Following the message, the machine
typed "goodbye Susan (or Jane or
Jim), tear off here ••• " It then
turned the paper up to the "cutter
bar", permitting the student to
52

tear the paper off and keep the
printed record of the day's work.
The Breckenridge School is
operated as part of Morehead State
University, located approximately
70 miles east of Lexington. Dr.
Adron Doran, President of Morehead
State, said, "This long-distance
teaching technique represents a
totally new concept of education
for the Appalachian region. It is
one of many educational programs
of a similar advanced nature which
we hope to bring to the area."
Dr. Doran is a member of the advisory committee on education to
the Appalachian Regional Commission established by Congress.

TCA, which was organized in
1962, 'provides a broad range of
traffic services to replace the
repetitive and time-consuming paperwork that surrounds the transportation of goods. Managed by
Stephen Kovach, president, the firm
has within its steadily growing
roster of customers many of the
country's well-known industrial
giants.
TCA's services also extend to
the transmission of computer-generated messages concerning Shipments
to teletypewriters at banks, consignees and carriers' destination

COMPUTING CENTERS

TRAFFIC COUNSEL OF AMERICA
LINKED TO SHIPPERS VIA
MODERN TELETYPEWRITERS

In the transportation of goods,
determining the correct rates, routes,
commodi ty classifications and i nterline charges, to prepare, what is
supposed to be an optimum bill of
lading, traditionally has been a
hit-or-miss effort subject to much
human error. Now, companies employing any type of teletypewriter
service can be linked to an unique
data processing center in Canton,
Ohio to quickly obtain accurate,
compiete bills of lading and freight
bills. The center, operated by
Traffic Counsel of America, Inc.,is
equipped to receive shipment information via regular telephone
lines, digest it within a randomaccess computer system, and transmi t back the data requi red to pri nt
out mUlti-copy shipping documents.
The entire cycle takes less than
one minute -- less than the time
it takes the trucker to come around
to the back of his truck to close
the doors after loading!
The heart of the operation is
a real-time computer with randomaccess equipment capable of storing ~ billion characters. Data
from a customer's teletypewriter
can be transmitted directly into
the computer -- regardless of the
type of Bell System transmission
service the customer may be utilizing within his overall data communications network. The same network is employed to send data back
to the customer, where a second
teletypewriter, at the Shipping
dock, for example, types out required documents.

-- Teletypewriter in terminal prints out Shipment
messages generated by Traffic Counsel of America's
computer
terminals. Banks use the data to
debit shippers' accounts and credit
the carriers'. Messages to consignees and carriers serve to alert
them of shipments on the way.
(For more information, designate
#41 on the Readers Service Card.)

SEVEN MARYLAND COLLEGES
LINKED IN COMPUTER NET

Seven state colleges in Maryland will share a single computer
complex in a unique educational
data processing program being initiated in Towson, Md. The program
has as its goal: to reduce administrative paper work; increase the
speed and accuracy of information
to faculty; and provide a tool for
student and institutional research
for the seven participating colleges.
The computer, a Honeywell 1200
system, will be located on the Towson State College campus. A transmission station at each of the other
six schools -- Morgan, Bowie, Coppin,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMAnON for May, 1967

Newsletter
Frostburgh, St. Mary's and Salisbury state colleges -- will send
and receive information over private telephone lines connected to
the central system. The campus
terminals will consist of a cardreading device, a keyboard printer
and a high-speed printing device
that can produce data from the computer at a rate of up to 400 lines
a minute.
Initially the system (which
will go into operation at the start
of the fall semester this year)
will process admissions and registration data, scheduling, and grade
reporting for 14,600 pupils at the
seven schools. (The number of students is expected to increase to
nearly 23,000 by 1970, according
to school officials.) Other financial accounting and library recordkeeping tasks also will be handled
by the system. Later the computer
will be used for student training
and computer-aided education, in
which students will be able to code
problems, transmit them along with
test data to the computer site, and
have them processed and sent back
to their campus terminals.

COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES

AIRCON, A COMPUTER SERVICE
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Radio Corporation of America
has activated a new common access
computer service that provides the
international business community
with a central clearing house for
a wide range of data. AIRCON,
which stands for Automated Information and Reservations Computer
Oriented Network, is a high-speed
computerized reservations information and message switching system
for industrial customers, explained
Howard R. Hawkins, President, RCA
Communications.
At present, RCA's AIRCON system will handle primarily administrative and reservations message
traffic and perform certain data
processing for subscribers. The
system is designed to serve the
needs of a wide range of industries,
particularly those with similar
reservations and information swi tching requirements, for example, hotels, airlines, railroads, travel,
and shipping. In the airline industry, both domestic and international carriers will be able to
COMPUTERS and AUTdMATION for May, 1967

obtain information on seat availability of subscribing airlines and
arrange through-bookings. In future phases, the system is expected
to handle data on air cargo space
reservations, flight planning, crew
scheduling, passenger and freight
information and a wide variety of
other administrative data services.
The AIRCON system, installed
at RCA Communications' international telecommunications center in New
York City, has two Model 4104 computers built by RCA's research and
development center in Van Nuys,
Calif. The dual computers, each.
capable of handling over 250,000
messages a day, will provide the
system wi th complete redundancy and
assure virtually uninterrupted
service.
Charges for the new AIHCON
service are based on a minimum of
$350 per month for each cable,
radio, satellite or wireline connected to the AIRCON center in New
York. This monthly minimum also
covers the computer processing of
35,000 average length messages.
(For more information, designate
#42 on the Readers Service Card.)

from. The box office and all Computicket service desks will sell
tickets from the same inventory simul taneously. "This means the public can make its choice from all
the unsold seats at every event
served by Computicket, not just
from the allotment held by one
agency", Jones said. And there
will be no surcharge to the public
for all the benefits of the Computicket service, he added.
Computicket also will provide
the management of organizations
that subscribe to the computerbased service with far better sales
information than they can obtain at
present. Computicket provides the
sports and entertainment industries
with their first total distribution
and control system.
Computer Sciences has formed a
subsidiary, Computicket Corporation,
to market and operate the Computicket
system. The initial Computicket
network, scheduled for installation
in Los Angeles, will employ a duplexed IBM System/360 Model 40 computer. This equipment will be cap-

COMPUTICKET

Computer Sciences Corporation
of El Segundo, Calif., has announced
the development of a computer-based
instant ticketing system that will
bring the sports or theater.box
office to the neighborhood bank or
shopping center. The system has
been under development for two years
and is expected to be operational
by 1968.
The new system is called Computicket. Fletcher Jones, president of Computer Sciences, explained
that in each metropolitan area in
which the system is established,
there will be two large-scale computers linked to terminal devices
installed in several hundred banks,
markets, and other commercial retail concerns. These terminal devices, to be operated by bank or
store employees, will be used not
only to query the computer on seat
availability but to print the admission tickets as well. Litton
Industries is designing the terminal units under an exclusive
contract, Jones said.
In addition to increasing the
number of places where tickets can
be bought during convenient hours,
the new service will provide a
greater number of seats to choose

Newsletter
able of storing information on the
price and location of up to 10million seats for as many as 800 different entertainment events. Computicket Corporation is negotiating
with the principal sports and entertainment organizations in Los
Angeles, and also is marketing the
system in other principal U. S.
cities.
(For more information, designate
~43 on the Readers Service Card.)

NEW PRODUCTS

Digital

CONTROL DATA 6500 SYSTEM

Control Data Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn., now is marketing
a new super scale computer system
known as the CO!ltrol Data 6500.
This dual processor system, latest
addition to the firm's 6000 Series
Computers, utilizes two Control
Data 6400-type processors. The
"central processor overhead" inherent in other "dual processor" systems, where the processors must
handle both processing and input/
output chores, is completely
eliminated.

central computer. The 6500 Dual
Processors also can be used interchangeably during the calculation
of a single problem, providing up
to twice the computing power of
the single-processor 6400 wi th only
a nominal increase in the system
pri ce.

lines that have already found application in the X and R register memories of a specific aerospace computer. The LCM 210 permits the convenient plugging-in of additional
sections of computer core storage
to effectively change the delay
line length.

The 6500 uses either a 65K or
131K word (60-bit) core memory.
Storage is in 4K word banks. Each
central processor has its own 24
operating registers for a total of
48 registers.

LCM 410 systems offer the ability of storing both electrically alterable and fixed data in the same
array. Standard expandable memory
capacity is 512 to 8192 words with
up to 32 bits per word; larger word
and bit sizes are available.

All of the desirable features
in other Control Data 6000 Series
Computers have been incorporated
in the 6500, including the entire
repertoire of field-tested and
proven 6000 Series programs. Programmers can start working immediately. Perhaps of primary importance is the 6400/6400/6600 SCOPE
Operating System. It was designed
especially to handle monitor and
executive functions in a dual processor system. This means that no
programs need be redesigned, and
no special training or relearning
will be required on the part of
the 6500 users.
(For more information, designate
~44 on the Readers Service Card.)

Memories

((o1:IIIoII.7nl

FOUR NEW CORE MEMORY SYSTEMS
FROM LITTON INDUSTRIES

Four new core memory systems,
specifically designed to meet high
reliability requirements of military and aerospace computers, are
being offered by the Guidance and
Control Systems division of Litton
Industries, Beverly Hills, Calif.
The four memories consi st of: LCM
710, random access, DRP; LCM 210,
serial access, DRO; LCM 410, random access, DRO/NDRO, and LCM 220,
random access, NDRO.

-- At the console of the
new Control Data® 6500
computer system
Since the 6500 Dual Processors
are free for processing only, they
may be used simultaneously for processing two of the several jobs
which can reside in the central
memory at'any given time. Thus,
the 6500 achieves multi-programming and mUlti-processing by one

LCM 710, through its use of
switch core word selection, provides a unique combination of coincident current addressing and
linear select operation. These
memories are available as complete
systems or with modified electronics for specific applications.
Standard expandable memory capacity is 256 or 4096 words with up
to 32 bits per word. Larger word
and bit sizes can be provided.
The LCM 210 systems are actually nonvolatile digital delay

The LCM 220 is a hard-wired
read-only memory, utilizing very
few semiconductor components. Unlike conventional hard-wired units
of the past, the LCM 220 system can
be readily filled without difficulty and easily modified with external fill equipment. LCM 220's expandable memory capcity is 256 to
4096 words with up to 60 bits per
word.
(For more information, designate
~47 on the Readers Service Card.)

HONEYWELL MEMORY CYCLE TIME
REDUCED TO 670 NANOSECONDS

Faster cycle and access times
and a wider operating temperature
range have been announced by Honeywell's Computer Control Division
(Framingham, Mass.) for its ICM-47
core memory system. Full cycle time
for the integrated circuit memory
has been reduced from 750 to 670
nanoseconds, and access time has
been cut from 400 to 350 nanoseconds. The systems operating temperature range has been expanded
from 00 - 40 0 C to 0 0 - 50 0 C.
The new capabilities widen the
applications for the system especially where operating temperatures
and faster cycle times are important
factors. The changes make the ICM-47
fully interchangeable wi th the di vision's one microsecond memory, the
ICM-40.
(For more information, designate
~46 on the Readers Service Card.)

GE ANNOUNCES FOUR-FOLD
MEMORY CAPACITY INCREASE
FOR MEDIUM-SCALE COMPUTERS

A four-fold increase in the
memory capaci ty of General Electric's
medium-scale computers has been announced by Louis E. Wengert, deputy
division general manager for GE's
Information Systems Division, in a
move which expands significantly
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Newsletter
the performance capabilites of the
GE-425 and GE-435 systems.
The central memory banks of
the computers have been boosted to
store up to 131,000 words (524,000
characters). Previously the maximum meory capacity was 32,000 words
(128,000 characters). The boosted
capacity makes it possible for the
systems to handle much larger and
more complex communications, business and scientific problems. The
expanded memories also enlarge the
abilities of the computers to work
on several programs at once.
In addition, users now have
the opportunity to "grow" their
GE-425 or GE-435 installation and
extend its life, thus amortizing
data processing costs over a longer
period of time, Mr. Wengert noted.
Users can obtain added memory capacity in 16,000-word increments as
their work loads require it. The
extended memory modules will be
avai lable for fi rst deli veries starting in the first quarter of 1968.
(For more information, designate
#45 on the Readers Service Card.)

and the Advanced Programming and
Multiply-Divide features. Besides
the central processor, the system
calls for four magnetic tape drive~
a card reader punch, and a printer.
The programs are highly modular and
can be adapted easily to an IBM
1460 or 360, Model 30, equipped
with 1401 Compatibility Mode. Program modularity also makes it easy
to modify the programs to meet individual bank requirements.
(For more information, designate
#48 on the Readers Service Card.)

'INSTANT' AUTO PART DESIGN

During the 1967 Automotive Engineering Exposition (held in January), an IBM 1130 computing system
was used to calculate automatically
the specifications for auto springs
and gears. (Such devices are shown
on the computer's printed results
in the photo.) In the demonstra-

be available to IBM 1130 users during the second quarter of this year.
(For more information, designate
#49 on the Readers Service Card.)

FACILITY LOCATION PACKAGE

A computer-oriented Facility
Location Package (FLP-l) has been
announced jointly by Fisher-Stevens,
Inc., data processing firm of Clifton, N.J., andRe Shriver Associates,
an operations research conSUlting
firm in Denville, N.J. FLP-l is
an advanced approach for top management when considering where to
locate plant and warehouse facilities. The new system will indicate
to the executive whether he should
utilize present facilities; cut
back or increase facilities; where
to locate new facilities; and what
customers should be handled from
each facility. The system, programmed in FORTRAN, can be adapted
to most large technical computers.
(For more information, designate
#51 on the Readers Service Card.)
AUTOMATIC FLOWCHARTING
FOR IBM SYSTEM/360

Programmers who write instructions for the IBM System/360 now
can calion the same computer to
help them do their job. With System/360 Flowchart, a new program
now available from IBM Corporation,
a computer can produce -- in minutes
-- detailed diagrams like those
shown in the picture. Drawing such

Software

READY -TO-USE SYSTEMS
FOR BANKS

The first of a series of readyto-use systems, designed to enable
banks to reduce the cost and time
needed to automate various customer services, has been developed by
Information Sciences Associates,
Cherry Hill, N.J. The initial system, which is named the Bankserv
Credit Card System 1401, is for
processing credit card accounting
in an IBM 1401. The system covers
both merchant and cardholder accounting. (A second credit card
system for use on the IBM System/
360, Model 30, will be available
in the near future.)
The first Bankserv system for
credit card accounting consists of
everything needed for immediate implementation. This includes a detailed system design, computer programs on card decks or magnetic
tapes, layouts of data formats and
forms, and comprehensive documentation of all system elemtns.
The computer programs of the
system are written in Autocoder
for an IBM 1401 processor, with
16,000 characters of core storage
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

tion, it was shown how a designer,
using familiar engineering terms,
can type a description of the part
directly into the 1130 system. Almost instantly, the computer prints
all of the information needed to
produce and test the part. A new
IBM program enables the designer to
use the system himself, eliminating
the need to calion a computer specialist to translate engineering
terms into computer language.
The program -- the 1130 Mechanism Design System - Gears and Springs
-- produces specifications for helical and spur gears and for extension,
compression and torsion springs.
These parts are common not only to
automobiles but to a variety of other mechanical devices, ranging from
household appliances to jet aircraft. The program is scheduled to

flowcharts by hand may take days or
weeks. These diaQrams, essential
programming tools, enable the user
to plan and organize his work by
mapping out each logical step in
the program.
System/360 Flowchart is the
most easily used technique for automatic flowcharting yet developed by
IBM. The programmer need only list

Newsletter
the steps of his program in simple,
English-like statements. Entered
into the computer by punched cards,
the list is transformed into diagrams. Even persons with Ii ttle or
no prog~amming experience can use
System/360 Flowchart to produce
and update the diagrams for the
programmer.

"Because the tablet is transparent, an operator can place it
over a cathode ray tube display to
~hange data already stored in a
computer", Dr. Storer said. Also,
he noted, the operator can put
paper or fi 1m on the tablet to pro-

SYLVANIA DATA TABLET

An electronic ballpoint pen
which translates graphic material
to computer language as it writes
and simultaneously transmits data
to computer for storage oranalysis
has been developed at the Applied
Research Laboratory of Sylvania
Electronic Systems, a division of
Sylvania Electric Products, Inc.,
Waltham, Mass. The pen and its
electronic "note pad", known as
the Sylvania Data Tablet, enable
scienti sts to communicate wi th computers through written symbols and
diagrams rather than by formal
mathematical terminology. The system converts written symbols to
digital and analog signals for
transmittal to computers or over
telephone lines for display at remote locations.
The writing area is a conductive surface on which electric
waves travel in "x" (horizontal)
and "y" (vertical) directions. As
the pen passes over the writing
surface it records its position by
measuring the phase of these "x" and
"y" signals at a rate of 200 per
second. It can measure movements
as small as three one-thousandths
of an inch o
Dr. James E. Storer,
Laboratory Director, said that in
addition to "x" and "y" measurements, the Sylvania Data Tablet has
a third axis capability. Varying
the height of the pen above the
tablet can assign electronically
an increased number of characteristics to graphic elements.

A COMPUTER EYEIT "LOOKS AND SEES"

What would a "computer eye"
be? It would be a device that
could be attached to a computer,
which would:

Flowchart programs for earlier
systems either required more complex instructions or produced less
detailed charts. The new'program
contains more automatic features
for labeling and linking elements
of the flowchart. It also enables
programmers to include footnotes
in the charts for the first time.
(For more information, designate
#54 on the Readers Service Card.)

Data TransmiHers
and AID Converters

Input-Output

• optically sense (or "see")
the surrounding environment;
• select and examine ("look at")
points or areas in its field
of view;
• recognize patterns; and
• call for appropriate responses.
duce a permanent copy of the graphics as he works. This versatility
enables the operator to feed graphics to a computer, ask questions
about it, and make revisions merely
by drawing symbols or schem.tics
rather than writing new programs.
"The system can benefi t almost anyone wishing to convert graphics to
digital form," Dr. Storer stated.
(For more information, designate
#55 on the Readers Service Card.)

POTTER ANNOUNCES
CONTROL UNIT FOR
FIRM'S RAM®

Potter Instrument Company,
Plainview, N.Y., has announce~ a
newly-designed Control Unit for the
RAM (random access memory). The
Control Unit, designated the CTM4550, provides the logic and electronics necessary to adapt the RAM
to a standard computer interface
and is available either 6-bit character oriented or 8-bit byte oriented. A complete logic package
with error detection and address
location are features of the new
equipment.
With CTM, a data processing
system can conveniently cause any
of the three operations of read,
write or sectorize to be performed.
Two-mode sectorization control
is offered as an optional accessory.
This relieves the data processing
system fromprogramming the addresses
used for the sectorization operation. Another option is: MultipleRAM unit, which enables a group of
RAMs to be treated as a single data
storage unit.
(For more information, designate
#56 on the Readers Service Card.)

Such a machine exists. The
first such machine was delivered
recently to Project MAC at Mass.
Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Mass. Three more Computer Eyes
have been ordered, and are being
buil t by the maker, Information International Inc., West Los Angeles,
Calif.; they are for use in educational and industrial environments.
Demonstrations of the Computer Eye
can be arranged in Los Angeles on
request. The accompanying picture
shows one of many ways in which the
Computer Eye can be mounted and
used.

J~
The Computer Eye is an outgrowth of the Programmable Film
Readers previously built by Information International, Inc., but the
Computer Eye is based on responding
to reflected light (reflected from
the environment) rather than to
transmitted light (transmitted
through a previously made film).
In technical language, the
Computer Eye is an optical information sensor and processor which is
able to recognize, measure, and interpret scenes in the real world.
The sensor of the Eye is like a TV
camera but differs because it is
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Newsletter
under control of a computer program
for processing images. Thus the
Eye can select points or areas in
its field of view, see~ out a significant part of the image, pay
attention to that, and then transfer attention to other areas, all
under the guidance of a computer
program that recognizes and deals
wi th patterns.
Among the possible applications of the Computer Eye are:
measuring and classifying biological samples as "seen" through a
microscope; interpreting and digitizing maps, x-rays, photographs,
or engineering drawings; detecting
and classifying physical flaws in
objects; comparing and measuring
precisely the dimensions, shapes,
finishes, etc., of parts fabricated in a production process; etc.
The sensor element is an image
dissector phototube which can resolve the field of view into approximately 1200 lines. The image
is processed by a general purpose
computer with a stored program,
which includes corrections for any
geometric distortion that may be
introduced by the optical system.
(For more information, designate
#S7 on the Readers Service Card.)

PHOTOTYPESETTERS PRODUCE
70 LlNES·PER·MINUTE

Photon, Inc., Wilmington,
Mass., has developed two newelectronic phototypesetters that are
more than three times as fast as
the best competitive machines and
that break the age-old $1000 per
line equipment cost barrier in
typesetting. The new models,
Textmaster 713-30 and 713-40 produce 70 newspaper lines a minute
for an investment cost as low as
$700 per line per minute.

for 64 fonts in the two earlier
models •
All four Textmasters are dri ven by 6, ~ or 8 channel paper tapes.
An auxiliary reader-drive unit enables use of computer magnetic tapes.
When used in conjunction wi th a computer, all four Textmasters can produce completely made-up pages, so
that customary manual stripping
steps are eliminated and the making
of printing plates can follow directly from the phototypesetting.
The new Model s 713-30 and 713-40
Phototypesetters are suited for
broad use by newspapers as well as
commercial printers and typesetters.
Shipments are scheduled to begin in
the second quarter of 1967.
(For more information, designate
#S9 on the Readers Service Card.)

DATAFINDER
CARD PUNCH
"INSTRUCTOR"

Datafinder -- &n electricallyactivated instruction device for
card punch operators -- now is being introduced to the data processing market by Tab Products Company,
San Francisco. Datafinder is readily attached to any standard IBM
card punch or verifier and provides
operators with continuous automatic
instruction while substantially increasing their punching speed and accuracy to achieve optimum thru-put.
Datafinder utilizes an electrically controlled light beam,
positioned beneath an 11" xli"
document viewing panel. This fine

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Warren Higgins, Marketing Director for Tab Products Machine
Division, said that a unique feature of Datafinder is its ability
to su bst i tu te its own "memory" for
that of the operator with respect
to card field sequence and data
location on the source document.
Also, by the movement or non-movement of the light-ru ler, a long wi th
the instrument panel lights, the
operator instinctively senses when
a punching mistake has been made.
Datafinder utilizes solidstate circuitry and, under actual
operating conditions in a variety
of applications, reduces training
time by some two-thirds while increasing thru-put by an average of
2S%. In addition, error reduction
of some 70% has been accomplished
through Datafinder's automatic
guide system.
(For more information, designate
#S8 on the Readers Service Card.)

Components

CARD PATCHER

To correct punched card errors,
the BARC Hole Filler, introduced by
Berkeley Applied Research Corp.,
Alamo, Calif., applies an opaque
liquid plastic which dries in less
than a minu te and is compati ble wi th
all data processing machines.
This patented product makes it
possible to "erase" errors with a
single stroke. A patched hole may
be repunched without fouling the
punch. Each bottle of BARC Hole
Filler will correct approximately
SOOO cards. Introductory kits,
with six fillers and a drying rack,
are available.
(For more information, designate
#6S on the Readers Service Card.)

By comparison, the most efficient tape-driven, hot metal linecasters produce up to lS'lines a
minute at a cost of about $2SOO a
line. The closest competing phototypesetter claims a top speed of
20 lines a minute, at about $ISOO
a Ii ne.
Al though Photon's new machines
are related to two other Textmasters introduced earlier, there are
important differences. The two
newest versions are more than SO%
faster but cost only about 2d';6more.
The new 713-30 and 40 have less
type font mixing power -- they use
8 sizes of each of 4 different type
faces for a total of 32 type fonts,
compared with 8 sizes of 8 faces

punched. Lighted lenses on the ad~
jacent instruction panel concurrently give the operator standard
and special punching and coding
instructions, and indicate the size
of the card field to be punched.

line of light acts as a moving ruler, underscoring each field on the
document in punching sequence. When
punching of a field is completed,
the light line instantly moves to
indicate the next information to be

4.81T SHIFT REGISTER
CONTAINS EQUIVALENT
OF 175 COMPONENTS

Sylvania Electric Products
Inc. (a subsidiary of General Telephone & Electronics Corporation)

Newsletter
has announced a major development
in large scale integrated circuit
arrays -- a universal 4-bit shift
register containing the equivalent
of 175 components., The unit is the
most complex single chip -- 60 x 85
mils -- ever produced by Sylvania,

loading than individual packages.
(For more information, designate
#64 on the Reade~s Service Card.)
DIGITAL'S NEW PANELAID
AND OCTAID KITS

Digital Equipment Corporation,
Maynard, Mass., has introduced two
series of digital module kits which
provide the digital logic user with
an easy-to-assemble, time-saving
method of building common logic
functions such as up-down counting,
decoding, digital to analog and analog to digital conversions, and
computer interfaces. The new kits
include an Octaidm series containing up to eight standard FLIP CHIP!)
modules and a Panelaid® series containing up to 64 modules.
according to Dr. Richard Sirrine,
Manager of Engineering - Integrated
Circuits for Sylvania's Semiconductor Di vision.
The 4-bit shift register is
capable of performing parallel and
serial storage and data shifti ng in
every type of digital system. It
also lends itself to parallel and
serial or serial to parallel conversion, storage, delay and shifting operations in all parts of digital computers or control systems
and can perform key arithmetic operations, such as multiplication
and division.
The new register can shift left
or right from parallel units and
contains the equivalent of eight
SUHL (Sylvania Universal High Level
Logic) packages. These are: two
dual J-K flip flops; two dual ANDNOR gates; one quad inverter; one
dual inverter; one AND-OR gate, and
one pulse shaper. It wi 11 shi ft at
speeds in excess of 25 megacycles.
The SMIOO is a complete 4-bit
storage and parallel and/or serial
shift register for digital systems.
Addi tional packages can be connected
together to form larger word lengths
in multiples of four bits. All of
the inputs and outputs are completely
compatible with Sylvania's families
of TTL, SUHL I and SUHL II.
The new 4-bit register is a
true universal logic element, not
just a storage element, and is designed to simplify digital systems
design in all speed ranges. Incorporated in a computer, each of the
new units would replace eight devices formerly required. In addition, Dr. Sirrine said, it provides
the user with lower power requirements, substantially less wiring,
less board space and less clock
58

-- A complete Panelaid and
Octaid kit together with
their printed circuit boards
Each kit contains the necesary modules, connectors, and specially designed printed circuit
back panel wiring which requires
only a simple soldering operation
to achieve connection. Hand wiring and trouble shooting are eliminated, resulting in a significant
reduction in manufacturing time.
Input/Output Buffer kits are
designed to interface between Digital's PDP-8 or PDP-8/S computers
and other Octaid kits or specially
designed systems. Panelaid kits
in general can be interfaced directly to the PDP-8 or PDP-8/S.
Delivery of both the Octaid and
Panelaid series is off-the-shelf.
(For more information, designate
#66 on the Readers Service Card.)

forest fires and water pollution
in streams and lakes are some of
the things that it will be possible
to detect with a new Bendix airborne thermal mapping and infrared
imaging system. The infrared detection system is believed to be
the first commercially available
device of its kind, said officials
of Bendix Aerospace Systems Division at Ann Arbor, Mich., where it
was developed.
In many cases it will be possible to detect plant and tree diseases before major damage has occurred by using the infrared system
which records the differences in
heat radiation between diseased and
healthy plants. Early forest fire
detection is another indicated use,
as the system will be able'to pinpoint "hot spots" caused by incipient fires before they can be detected visually. Mapping of temperature variations in water currents can prove useful in not only
determining currents, but also in
locating water pollution sources,
Bendix officials said.
The system consists of four
basic modules - a scan head, control console, vertical reference,
and power supply. It can be installed and serviced in a wide
range of light aircraft. The system is said to be simple to operate. It uses readily available
70-millimeter Tri-X film. Only
moving parts are the scanning shaft
and film drive. The power consumption is low, as the system operates
on 10-amperes, 28-volts direct current. Cooling is by liquid nitrogen contained in the detector
dewar located in the scan head.
The scan head can be installed
either externally or internally on
the aircraft and has a scanning
angle of 120 degrees, instantaneous resolution of 3 milliradians
and maximum temperature sensitivity of 0.5 degrees centigrade.
Spectral coverage for the standard
mapper is 0.7 to 5.5 micrDns. Var·
ious modifications and accessories
such as roll compensation, 8 to 14
micron coverage and a tape recording output also are available.

RESEARCH FRONTIER

WIDE USE SEEN FOR NEW
BENDIX INFRARED SYSTEM

The beginnings of plant and
tree disease epidemics, smoldering

IBM MAKES MASKS FOR
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
AUTOMATICALL Y

Researchers at IBM Corporation
have overcome a major difficulty in
making complex arrangements of integrated circuits. They have largely
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Newsletter
automated the design and fabrication of the circuit masks, cutting
the time of these operations by
more than a factor of ten.
The photograph shows an integrated circuit chip of 55 NOR circuits, which was fabricated from
masks generated in the experimental
automated process. The circuit

step-and-repeat camera to form a
complete array of chip patterns at
final size on photographic plates
which, in turn, are used to expose
the array of chip patterns on the
semiconductor wafer.
Details of the newly developed
technique were descri bed by Dr. Dale
L. Critchlow at the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Convention
held in New York.

BUSINESS NEWS

THE FOXBORO COMPANY SALES,
NET INCOME SET RECORDS
IN 1966

chip, containing 207 field-effect
devices, is compared in size to
crystals of common table salt.
In the new process, the design
and fabrication of masks consi sts of
fi ve basic steps. First the designer draws a rough pencil sketch of
the ci rcui t layout. Then he translates this into digital form by describing the circuitry in a symbolic notation -- a specially developed high-level language for th
mask designer. In step three, this
symbolic langu~ge is fed to a computer and processed. In processing, the circuit structures are
automatically assigned to their
appropriate masks. The computer
then generates a set of commands
which can be used to drive a "light
table" to draw the patterns for
each layer of the mask set. In
the fourth step, the actual patterns are drawn on high-resolution
photographic plates by the light
table at 10 to 20 times final size.
The plates are mounted on an x-y
platform, which is driven by stepping motors. As the table is moved,
under computer command, a light
beam from a xenon flash lamp
draws the mask pattern on the
plate. The flashing of the lamp
also is controlled bY'commands from
the computer. Four patterns of an
insulated-gate field-effect tran~
sistor chip of 122 circuits were
written in about 1 hour; over 100
hours would be required to cut artwork by commercial techniques. In
the final step, the exposed and developed plates are placed in a

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

President R. A. Bristol reports sales and net income of The
Foxboro Company (Foxboro, Mass.)
set records in 1966, the eighth
successive year of record sales.
Sales, up 16% over 1965, totalled
$111,255,167. Net income was
$10,118,159, a 21% increase from
$8,343,958 in 1965.
In 1966, new orders booked
were approximately $125 million,
up nearly 25% from the 1965 record.
The company entered 1967 with a
backlog of nearly $40 million in
open orders on the books.

MEMOREX REPORTS
1966 EARNINGS

Memorex Corporation net earnings for the year ended December
31, 1966 were $2,724,000 compared
to $1,331,000 for 1965, Laurence
L. Spitters, President has disclosed. Net sales of Memorex, a
leading developer and manufacturer
of precision magnetic tapes, were
$24,417,000 in 1966, compared with
$13,099,000 in 1965, an86% increase.
Also evidence of the growth
and maturation of Memorex's business during 1966 were doubled production capacity, new product introductions, and stronger selling
capability with 18 branch offices
in the United States and five new
sales subsidiaries in Europe.
Mr. Spitters also said that
Memorex doubled the size of its Research facilities and launched a
new subsidiary, Disc Pack Corporation, which will constitute a diversification for Memorex.

ALL-TIME HIGH SALES AND
EARNINGS REPORTED BY
CUBIC CORP. FOR 1966

Earnings surpassed $1 million
for the first time and sales reached
an all-time high in 1966 for Cubic
Corp., Walter J. Zable, president,
has announced. After-tax profits
for 1966 rose 43% to $1,003,413,
from $702,194 in 1965. Sales increased l~~, from $13,850,674 in
1965 to $15,289,077 in 1966.
Backlog at year end was slightly less than $12 million, a new record,
versus $11 million at the close of
1965, the previous record year. Mr.
Zable said, "Success of products
like the Votronics vote counter and
our line of electronic surveying instruments has meant a rising percentage of industrial/commercial
sales versus mi 11 tary systems work."

IDC REPORT ON
INTERNATIONAL
MARKET

The international market for
American-made computers is growing
considerably faster than the domestic market, according to a study just
completed by the International Data
Corp., Newtonville, Mass., a market
research firm for the information
processing industry. Patrick J.
McGovern, president of IDC, notes
that by 1973 the international market
for U.S.-made computers will equal
the U.S. market in annual shipments.
Computer shipments increased
dramatically during 1966, by 52.5%
over the previous year, to a record
$3.66 billion. For the current year,
computer shipments are predicted to
be $4.3 billion. In 1966, McGovern
said, almost 74% of American-made
computers were installed in the U.S.
These were worth $10 billion of the
$13.5 billion total. By 1977, when
there will be approximately $100
billion of American-made computers
installed, about half (in value)
will be located outside the U.S.
A summary of the report is contained in the current issue of EDP
Industry and Market Report, IDC~
newsletter for executives concerned
wi th electronic data processing. The
newsletter contains 20-year estimates
and projections for each of the five
principal sectors of the computer
industry, a worldwide analysis of
general-purpose computers manufactured by U.S.-owned companies, and
a discussion of industry trends
through 1975. Copies are available.
(For more information, designate
~68 on the Readers Service Card.)

MONTH,LY COMPUTER CENSUS
The number of electronic computers installed or on order at
anyone time has been increasing rapidly during the past several
years. New models have been offered in the computer market, and
familiar machines have gone out-of-production and subsequently
been retired from active use and dismantled. Some new computers
have been recei ved with open arms by users - others have been
gi ven the cold shoulder.
To aid our readers in keepi ng up wi th thi s rapidly changi ng
profile of computer use, COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION presents this
monthly report on the number of general purpose electronic digital computers made by U.S.-based companies which are installed
or on order as of the preceding month. These census figures l!!::
clude installations and orders outside the United States. The
figures are compiled and updated each month by the International

Data Corporation, Newton, Mass. 02160, a market research fi rm
specializing in the computer industry.
We hope they will serve
as a useful "box-score" of progress for readers interested in
following the growth of the American computer industry and of
the comput ing power it builds.
In general, manufacturers in the computer field do not officially release ins,ta11ation and on order figures. The figures
in this census are developed through a continuing market survey
conducted by the International Data Corporation. This market
research program" compiles and maintains a worldwide computer installation locator file which identifies, by customer, the installation sites of electronic computers. The resulting census
counts are submitted to the individual computer manufacturers for
their review and voluntary confirmation.

AS OF APRIL 10, 1967
NAME OF
MANUFACTURER
ASI Computer

Autonetics
Bunker-Ramo Corp.

Burroughs

Control Data Corporation

Data Machines, Inc.
Digi tal Equipment Corp.

Electronic Associates. Inc.
General Electric

Honeywell

NAME OF
COMPUTER
ASI 210
ASI 2100
ADVANCE 6020
ADVANCE 6040
ADVANCE 6050
ADVANCE 6070
ADVANCE 6130
RECOMP I!
RECOMP II!
BR-130
BR-133
BR-230
BR-300
BR-330
BR-340
205
220
B100
B200 Series
B300 Series
B2500
B3500
B5500
B6500
B8500
G-15
G-20
LGP-21
LGP-30
RPC-4000
160· /160A/16OG
924/924A
1604/1604A
1700
3100
3200
3300
3400
3500
3600
3800
6400
6600
6800
620
620 I
PDP-l
PDP-4
PDP-5
PDP-6
PDP-7
PDP-8
PDP-9
PDP-lO
8400
115
205
210
215
225
235
415
425
435
625
635
645
DDP-24
DDP-1l6
DDP-124
DDP-224
DDP-516
H-120
H-200
H-400
H-800
H-1200

SOLID
STATE?
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y

Y
semi
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

AVERAGE MONTHLY
RENTAL
$3850
$4200
$4400
$5600
$9000
$15,000
$1000
$2495
$1495
$2000
$2400
$2680
$3000
$4000
$7000
$4600
$14,000
$2800
$5400
$10,000
$5000
$14,000
$22,000
$33,000
$200.000
$1600
$15,500
$725
$1300
$1875
$2100/$5000/$12,000
$11,000
$45,000
$3500
$10,000
$14,000
$19,500
$18,000
$30,000
$48,000
$49,300
$52,000
$117,000
$130 000
$900
$500
$3400
$1700
$900
$10,000
$1300
$525
$1000
$7500
$12 000
$1800
$2900
$16,000
$6000
$8000
$10,900
$9600
$18,000
$25,000
$50,000
$56,000
$90.000
$2500
$900
$2050
$3300
$700
$3900
$8400
$8500
$28,000
$8000

DATE OF FIRST
INSTALLATION
4/62
12/63
4/65
7/65
2/66
10/65
2/67
11/58
6/61
10/61
5/64
8/63
3/59
12/60
12/63
1/54
10/58
8/64
11/61
7/65
2/67
5/67
3/63
2/68
2/67
7/55
4/61
12/62
9/56
1/61
5/60; 7/61 ;3/64
8/61
1/60
5/66
12/64
5/64
9/65
11/64
9/67
6/63
2/66
5/66
8/64
4/67
11/65
6/67
11/60
8/62
9/63
10/64
11/64
4/65
12/66
7/67
6/65
12/65
6/64
7/59
9/63
4/61
4/64
5/64
6/64
9/65
4/65
5/65
7/66
5/63
4/65
3/66
3/65

9/66
1/66
3/64
12/61
12/60
2/66

NUMBER OF
INSTALLATIONS
26
7
14
8
7

NUMBER OF
UNFILLED ORDERS

x
X
13
12
9

8
33

160
36
15
33
29
20
40
32
180
600
148
3

o
o

280
25
160
133
64
462
28
59
60
98

X
X
X

32
X
X
X
X
X
X
9

8
73

55
52
9

14
4

X
X
X
X
X
X
X

178
25

60
19

45
18
13
24

55
115
24
128
700
6

16
310
42
47
54
202
73
215
82
25
22
21

10
X

13
22
17
2
12
38
X
X
X

1
26
170
64
14
9

600
X
X
X
X

55
42
15
16
17

87
180
36
56
45
430
1060
101
90
92

X
44
34
8
160
300
140
X
1
100

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

NAME OF
MANUFACTURER
Honeywell (cont'd)

IBM

National Cash Regi ster Co,

Philco
Radio Corporation of America

Rayt heon
Scientific Control Corporation

Scient ific Data Systems Inc.

Systems Engineering Labs

UNIVAC

NAME OF
SOLID
COMPUTER
STATE?
H-1400
Y
Y
H-1800
H-2200
Y
Y
H-4200
H-8200
Y
N
305
Y
360/20
Y
360/30
Y
360/40
Y
360/44
Y
360/50
Y
360/65
Y
360/67
Y
360/75
Y
360/90 Series
N
650
Y
1130
Y
1401
1401-G
Y
Y
1410
Y
1440
Y
1460
Y
1620 I, II
y
1800
N
701
y
7010
702
N
Y
7030
N
704
Y
7040
y
7044
N
705
Y
7070, 2, 4
y
7080
709
N
7090
Y
y
7094
7094 II
Y
y
NCR - 304
Y
NCR - 310
y
NCR - 315
y
NCR - 315-RMC
y
NCR - 390
y
NCR - 500
1000
Y
2000-210, 211
Y
y
2000-212
y
RCA 301
Y
RCA 3301
RCA 501
Y
y
RCA 601
Y
Spectra 70/15
y
Spectra 70/25
y
Spectra 70/35
y
Spect ra 70/45
Y
S~ectra 7Oi55
Y
250
y
440
Y
520
y
650
y
655
y
660
y
670
y
6700
y
SDS-92
5OS-9l0
Y
Y
SOS-920
y
SDS-925
SDS-930
Y
Y
SDS-940
y
SOS-9300
Sigma 2
Y
y
Sigma 5
Sigma 7
Y
y
810
y
810A
y
840
840A
Y
I&II
N
III
Y
Fi Ie Computers
N
Solid-State 80 It II,
y
90 I, II & Step
418
Y
y
490 Series
1004
Y
1005
Y
1050
Y
1100 Series (except
1107)
N
1107
Y
1108
Y
y
9200
y
9300
LARC
Y

AVERAGE MONTHLY
RENTAL
$14,000
$42,000
$12,000
$20,500
~35 000
$3600
$2000
$7500
$15,000
$10,000
$26,000
$50,000
$75,000
$78,000
$140,000
$4800
$1200
$6600
$2300
$14,200
$4800
$11,500
$4000
$7600
$5000
$22,600
$6900
$160,000
$32,000
$22,000
$32,000
$38,000
$27,000
$55,000
$40,000
$63,500
$72,500
~78,500

$14,000
$2500
$8500
$12,000
$1850
~1500

$7010
$40,000
52 000
$7000
$17,000
$14,000
$35,000
$4100
$6700
$10,400
$17,400
~40,500

$1200
$3500
P200
$500
$1800
$2000
$2600
~30,000

$1500
$2000
$2900
$3000
$3400
$10,000
$7000
$1000
$6000
~12,000

$1000
$900
$1400
~1400

$25,000
$20,000
$15,000

DATE OF FIRST
INSTALLATION
1/64
1/64
1/66
4/67
4i68
12/57
12/65
5/65
4/65
7/66
8/65
11/65
10/66
2/66
6/67
11/54
2/66
9/60
5/64
11/61
4/63
10/63
9/60
1/66
4/53
10/63
2/55
5/61
12/55
6/63
6/63
11/55
3/60
8/61
8/58
11/59
9/62
4i64
1/60
5/61
5/62
9/65
5/61
10i65
6/63
10/58
1 63
2 61
7/64
6/59
11/62
9/65
9/65
1/67
11/65
lli66
12/60
3/64
1Oi65
5/66
10/66
10/65
5/66
lOi67
4/65
8/62
9/62
12/64
6/64
4/66
11/64
12/66
8/67
12i66
9/65
8/66
11/65
8i66
3/51 & 11/57
8/62
8/56

NUMBER OF
INSTALLATIONS
12
20
36
0
0
125
2550
3900
2000
50
300
60
7
20
0
152
1400
7650
1610
815
3500
1700
1660
160
1
216
7
6
27
120
130
48
315
85
8
44
105
138
24
15
435
63
500
1200
16
16
12
642
73
96
5
100
62
22
64
3
175
17
23
11
1
2
1
0
95
210
155
40
210
13
32
12
0
7
24
22
4
6
24
69
14

NUMBER OF
UNFILLED ORDERS
X

1
62
9
5
X

6800
4400
1800
200
700
260
50
38
10
X

4600
X
X

50
190
X

90
350
X

5
X
X
X

6
8
X
X
X
X
X

1
4
X
X

122
44
25
850
X
X
X

1
3
X

X
130
54

140
110
15
X
1
5
7
2
1
2
1
65
50
40
35
50
28
13
200 :
22
27
X
14
X
34
X
X
X
I

$8000
$11,000
$35,000
$1900
$2400
$8000

8/58
6/63
12/61
2/63
4/66
9/63

228
114
150
3200
650
285

X
36
56
50
200
20

$35,000
$55,000
$65,000
$1500
$3400

12/50
10/62
9/65
6/67
6/67
5i60

9
35
48
0
0
2

X
X
74
950
550
X

~135,000

45,734
26,181
TOTALS
X
no longer in production.
• To avoid double counting, note th~t the Control Data 160 serves as the central processor of the NCR 310. Also, customers ordering a new
computer model intended to replace a computer model in the same product line may continue to use much of their current peripheral equipment,
which can account for 30-70"~ of the value of the total coinputer system.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Small computers
are Innovation machines
The power under the direct control of the scientific investigator with small computers is enormous. Not just
the power to calculate. Not just the power to analyze.
But the power to innovate.
Small computers - and by that we mean laboratory
size or smaller general purpose machines - are most
frequently used on-line, in real time, intimately hooked
up to the experiment. Inputs to the computer are direct from the experiment. Outputs are instantaneous
detail, or instantaneous sampl ing, or instantaneous
averaged resu Its, all provided while the experi ment
proceeds.
Two things can now happen. First, the investigator can
change the method of data taking, or the sequence of
data taking, based on the results he sees emerging. He
can sample more frequently than he thought necessary, or can look in detail, at an unexpected result.

Second, he can influence the experiment, either by
hi mself or automatically by the computer, based on the
results he sees emerging.
If he waited to complete the experi ment and analyze
the results at the computation center, the opportunity
to innovate would be gone.
Small, real-time, on-line, general purpose computers
are intensely personal, highly approachable, responsive scientific innovation machines. 'It wi II be the rare
laboratory that will not have one in the next few years.
DIGITAL is the largest supplier of small
computers to the scientific disciplines. PDP- ~8/S, PDP-8, L1NC-8, PDP-9, PDP-9 Multianalyzer, and five versions of the PDP-10:
Write for the just-published 540-page Small;
Computer Handbook and Primer. Free.
i

COMPUTERS' MODULES

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, Maynard, Massachusetts 01754. Telephone: (617) 897·8821 • Cambridge, Mass .• New Haven. Washington, D. C.• Parsippany,
N. J .• Rochester, N. Y.• Philadelphia. Huntsville. Pittsburgh. Chicago. Denver· Ann Arbor. HOtJston • Los Angeles. Palo Alto. Seattle .,Carleton Place and Toronto,
Ont. • Reading, England • Paris, France. Munich and Cologne, Germany. Sydney and West Perth, Australia. Modules distributed also through Allied Radio

Designate No. 12 on Reader Service Card

CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS

May 3-4, 1967: Annual National Colloquium on Information
Retrieval, Philadelphia, Pa.; contact R. M. Hildreth, Publicity Chairman, Auerbach Corp., 121 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107
May 3-5, 1967: Electronic Components Technical Conference,
Marriott Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, Washington, D.C.; contact C. K. Morehouse, Globe Union Inc., Box 591, Milwaukee, Wisc. 53201
May 4-5, 1967: The Montreal Chapter of the Computer Society of Canada EXPO '67. Seminar, Windsor Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; contact Raymond A. Beaudoin, Programme Committee, Computer Society of Canada, P.O. Box
1772, Station B, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
May 8-10, 1967: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Third Annual Data Processing and Automation Conference, Executive House, Chicago, Ill.; contact Tracy E.
Spencer, Management Services, N.R.E.C.A., 2000 Florida
Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009
May 18,' 1967: Association for Computing Machinery Technical Symposium, San Fernando Valley Chapter, Century
Plaza Hotel, Century City, Los Angeles, Calif.; contact B.
G. Dexter, Jr. TRW Systems, One Space Park, Redondo
Beach, Calif. 90278
May 18-19, 1967: 10th Midwest Symposium on Circuit Theory,
Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.
May 23-26, 1967: GUIDE International, Americana Hotel,
New York, N.Y.; contact Lois E. Mecham, Secretary, GUIDE
International, c/o United Services Automobile Assoc., 4119
Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78215
May 31-June 2, 1967: A Symposium on Automatic Photointerpretation, Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut
Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.; contact George C. Cheng,
Symposium Coordinator, Pattern Recognition Society, P.O.
Box 692, Silver Spring, Md. 20901
June 8, 1967: International Conference for Network Planning
Users, Royal Festival Hall, London, England; contact Graham R. Bunting, Press Officer, I.C.T. House, Putney, S.W.15,
England.
June 9, 1967: Third Annual Stony Brook Conference on "Advances in Computing," Stony Brook, L.I., N.Y.; contact Sol
Droder, SUNYC Stony Brook, L.L, N.Y. 11790
June 12-14, 1967: International Communications Conference,
Leamipgton Hotel, Minneapolis, Minn.; contact R. J. Collins, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Minn., Minneapolis, Minn. 55455
June 14-17, 1967: Annual Meeting of Council of Social Science Data Archives, University of California, Los Angeles,
Calif.; contact William A. Glaser, Bureau of Applied Social Research, 605 West 115 St., New York, N.Y. 10025,
or Ralph Bisco, Institute for Social Research, P.O. Box
1248, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106
June 19-21, 1967: Conference of ADP Managers on Public
Welfare (By Invitation Only), Airlie House, Warrenton,
Virginia; contact Saya S. Schwartz, Bureau of Family Services, Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington,
D.C. 20201
June 19:'"21, 1967: Third Annual Conference on Automatic
Data Processing (ADP) Systems in Local Government, Hotel
Barbizon-Plaza, New York City, N.Y.; contact Henry Sellin,
School of Continuing Education, New York University, New
York, N.Y. 10003
June 20-23, 1967: DPMA International Data Processing Conference and Business Exposition, Sheraton-Boston Hotel,
Boston, Mass.; contact William J. Horne, Conference Director, United Shoe Machinery Corp., 140 Federal St., Boston,
Mass.
June 26-27,1967: Computer Personnel Research Group Fifth
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

Annual Conference, University of Maryland, College Park,
Md. (near Washington, D.C.); contact Dr. Charles D. Lothridge, General Electric Co., 570 Lexington Ave., New York,
N.Y. 10022
June 26-30, 1967: 8th Annual Joint Automatic Control Conference (J ACC), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
Pa.; contact G. K. L. Chien, IBM Corporation, Monterey
& Cottle Roads, San Jose, Calif. 95114
June 28-30, 1967: 1967 Joint Automatic Control Conference,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.; contact Lewis
Winner, 152 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10036
July 31-August 4, 1967: MEDAC '67 Symposium and Exhibition, San Francisco Hilton Hotel, San Francisco, Calif.;
contact John J. Post, Executive Secretary, AAMI, P. O. Box
314, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. 02138
August 7-11, 1967: 12th Annual Technical Symposium of the
Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, International Hotel, Los Angeles, Calif.; contact Dr. John H. Atkinson, Technical Program Chairman, S.P.LE. Symposium, P.O.
Box 288, Redondo Beach, Calif. 90277.
August 22-25, 1967: WESCON (Western Electronic Show and
Convention), Cow Palace, San Francisco, Calif.; contact Don
Larson, 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005
August 23-25, 1967: International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Grenoble University Campus, St. MartinD'Heres, France; contact Professor . Bernard Vauquois,
C.E.T.A., B.P. No.8, 38- St. Martin-D'Heres, France.
Aug. 28-Sept. 2, 1967: AICA (International Association for
Analogue Computation) Fifth Congress, Lausanne, Switzerland; contact secretary of the Swiss Federation of Automatic
Control, Wasserwerkstrasse 53, Zurich, Switzerland
Aug. 29-31, 1967: 1967 ACM (Association for Computing
Machinery) National Conference, Twentieth Anniversary,
Sheraton Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.; contact Thomas
Willette, P.O. Box 6, Annandale, Va. 22003
Sept. 6-8, 1967: First Annual IEEE Computer Conference,
Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago, Ill.; contact Professor S. S.
Yau, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, The Technological Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. 60201
Sept. 11-15, 1967: Fifth International Cybernetics Congress,
Palais des Expositions, Place Andre Rijckmans, Namur, Belgium; contact J. Lemaire, Managing Director, same address.
Sept. 11-15, 1967: 1967 International Symposium on Information Theory, Athens, Greece; contact A. V. Balakrishnan,
Dept. of Engineering, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
Sept. 25-28, 1967: International Symposium on Automation of
Population Register Systems, Jerusalem, Israel; contact D.
Chevion, Chairman of Council, Infonnation Processing Association of Israel, P.O.B. 3009, Jerusalem, Israel
October 1-4, 1967: 1967 International Systems Meeting, Cobo
Hall, Detroit, Mich.; contact Richard L. Irwin, Systems and
Procedures Association, 24587 Bagley Rd., Cleveland, Ohio
44138
Oct. 18-20, 1967: Eighth Annual Symposium on Switching
and Automata Theory, University of Texas, Austin, Tex.;
contact Prof. C. L. Coates, Room 520, Engineering Sci.
Bldg., Univ. of Tex., Austin, Tex. 78712
Nov. 14-16, 1967: Fall Joint Computer Conference, Anaheim
Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif.; contact AFIPS Headquarters, 211 E. 43rd St., New York, N.Y. 10017
May 21-23, 1968: Spring Joint Computer Conference, Sheraton
Park/Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.; contact AFIPS
Headquarters, 211 E. 43rd St., New York, N.Y. 10017
Aug. 5-10, 1968: IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) Congress 68, Edinburgh, Scotland; contact
John Fowlers & Partners, Ltd., Grand Buildings, Trafalgar
Square, London, W.C. 2., England

BOOKS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Neil Macdonald
Assistant Editor
Computers and Automation
We publish here citations and brief
reviews of books and other publications
which have a significant relation to computers, data processing, and automation,
and which have come to our attention.
We shall be glad to report other information in- future lists if a review copy
is sent to us. The plan of each entry is:
author or editor / title / publisher or
issuer / date, publication process, number of pages, price or its equivalent /
comments. If you write to a publisher
or issuer, we would appreciate your
mentioning Computers and Automation.

and program-produced indexes
cover a broad range of subjects.

whIch

Apter, Michael J. / Cybernetics and Development / Pergamon Press, 44-01
21st St., Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
/ 1966, hardbound, 188 pp., $8.00
This book is a "preliminary attempt"
to apply some of the insights and techniques of cybernetics to the problem of
understanding the development and control of biological systems. Chapters include: "Cybernetics and Development,"
"Informr..tion Theory and Development,"
"Development on the Computer," and
"Growing Automata Nets."
Bellman, R. E., R. E. Kalaba and J.
Lockett / Numerical Inversion of the
Laplace Transform: Applications to
Biology, Economics, Engineering, and
Physics / American Elsevier Publishing
Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10017 / 1966, hardbound,
249 pp., $?
This is the fourth volume in a series
"Modern Analytic and Computational
Methods in Science and Mathematics."
The purpose of the series is to refonnulate classical processes of mathematical
physics in terms suitable for computational study. This volume covers applica-

Reviews
American Documentation Institute, ed.,
and 108 authors / Proceedings of the
American Documentation Institute,
Vol. I, Parameters of Infonnation
Science Annual Meeting / Spartan
Books, 1250 Conn. Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. / 1964, hardbound, 519
pp., $?
This volume contains papers from the
October, 1964 annual meeting of the
American Documentation Institute. It
contains some computer preprinted papers

··........ ...
·.

•••••••
•••••••
••
••
•••••••

.....

...

Is programming important at Lockheed Missiles &
Space Company? Consider these facts: scientific programming, on an extremely broad scale, ranges from
deep sea to deep space. Business progr~mming
includes real-time systems for manufactUring and
management information. Programming services are
concentrated in one centralized facility. Degree and
appropriate experience required.
For further information, write K. R. Kiddoo, Professional Placement Manager, Lockheed Missiles &
Space Company, P.O. Box 504, Sunnyvale, California.
An equal opportunity employer. LOCKHEED
MISSILES &

Designate No. 11 on' Reader Service Card

SPACE COMPANY

GROUP DIVISION OF" LOCKHEED AIRCRAFr CORPORA nON

tions of the Laplace transform
fields as heat conduction, system
cation, non-linear control, and
pendent transport processes. It
appendices and an index.

in such
identifitime-deincludes

Cherry, Colin / On Human Communication: A Review, A Survey, and A Criticism, 2nd ed., / The M.I.T. Press, 50
Ames St., Cambridge, Mass. 02142 /
1966, hardbound, 337 pp., $10.00.
This is a collection of essays by the
author, who is a Professor of Tele-communication, Imperial College, University
of London; the book surveys the newlyevolved, combined field of cybernetics and
information theory (linguistics, mathematics, phonetics, psychology, and semantics). This second edition is a revised and
updated version of the first .. It includes
bibliographies, over 400 footnoted references, an appendix of terms, and an
index.
Computer Consultants Limited / A Report on Computers in Russia / Computer Consultants Limited, G.P.D. Box
22, Enfield, Middlesex,' England /
1966, looseleaf, duplicated, 200 pp.,
$30.00?
This report is based on observations
made and information obtained in the
U.S.S.R. by representatives of Computer
Consultants Limited, and is mainly a report on machines and their features. The
analysis of Soviet computers is preceded
by a short section giving general information on the social and state systems of
the U.S.S.R.
The authors predict that, while computer activity in Russia is at present well
behind Great Britain, Russia will outdistance the rest of the world during the
next five years.
Dimitry, Donald L., and Thomas H.
Mott, Jr. / Introduction to Fortran
IV Programming / Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10017 / 1966, hardbound,
334 pp., $6.95
The purpose of this text is to present
Fortran at an elementary, but comprehensive level. The authors have stressed the
governing rules of Fortran IV as defined
for the IBM 7040-7044 computer. The
first three chapters are devoted to a discussion of computer operations and adapt·
ing programming languages to machinelanguages. The remaining 15 chapters
are devoted to Fortran programming.
Problems are included at the end of each
chapter. All examples presented havf'
been computer tested. The final chapter
consists of 25 problems chosen to demonstrate programming techniques. Flow
charts and programs are presented for ten
of the problems.
.
This book is a good basic reference on
Fortran.
Flores, Ivan / The Logic of Computer
Arithmetic / Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. / 1963, hardbound,
493 pp. $?
This book is an exhaustive study of
highspeed, binary digital computer arithmetic hardware, and its rationale. It is
intended for practicing engineers or logi-

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

cal designers in the computer field. There
are 18 chapters, a bibliography and index.
This book is highly technical.
Forney, G. David, Jr. / Concatenated
Codes I The M.I.T. Press, 50 Ames
St., Cambridge, Mass. 02142 / 1966,
hardbound, 147 pp., $8.50
This book is a revision of the Sc.D.
thesis of the author. It discusses the general structure of communication systems
and previously known results rather than
on details of proofs. Chapters include:
"Reed-Solomon and BCH Codes," "Generalized Minimum Distance Decoding,"
"Theoretical Performance of Concatenated Codes," and "Computed Performance of Concatenated Codes."
Gardner, Martin / New Mathematical
Diversions from Scientific American /
Simon and Schuster, Inc., 630 5th
Ave., New York, N.Y. 10020 I 1966,
hardbound, 253 pp. $5.95
This book is the third collection of the
author's column in the Scientific American. It contains twenty new mathematical games ranging from confirming the
Pythagorean Theorem with scissors to
solving problems of packing spheres with
rubber cement and ping-pong balls. A
fascinating book to challenge the mathematical imagination.

Kent, Allen I Specialized Information
Centers / Spartan Books, Washington,
D.C. I 1965, hardbound, 296 pp., $9.00
This book provides detailed information
on specialized information centers, the
unit operations performed and the factors
influencing their success or failure during
operation. It also offers a comparative
presentation of case histories. Chapters include: "Acquisition of Materials," "Terminology Control," "Storage of Source
Materials," "Delivery of Search Results,"
and "Costs and Evaluation." The author
is the Director of the Knowledge Availability Systems Center at the University
of Pittsburgh.
Although the sources of excerpts from
materials supplied are not identified, this
book presents a good first analysis of the
field.
Manheim, Marvin L. / Hierarchical
Structure: A Model of Design and
Planning Processes / The M.I.T. Press,
50 Ames St., Cambridge, Mass. 02142
/ 1966, paper bound, 226+ pp., $8.50
This is the author's Ph.D. dissertation,
submitted to the Dept. of Civil Engineering at M.LT. under the title "Highway
Route Location as a Hierarchically Structured Sequential Decision Process: An
experiment in the use of Bayesian decision
theory for guiding an engineering process."

ADVERTISING INDEX
Following is the index of advertisements. Each item contains: N arne and address of the advertiser / page number
where the advertisement appears / name of agency if any.
American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 195 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10017 /
Page 2/ N. W. Ayer & Son
Auerbach Corp., 121 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 / Page 29 / -Brandon Applied Systems, Inc., 30 East 42nd St., New York, N. Y. 10017 /
Page 6 / -Burroughs Corp., 6071 Second Blvd., Detroit, Mich. 48232 / Page 68 / Campbell-Ewald Co.
Computer Sciences Corp., 650 N. Sepulveda Blvd., EI Segundo, Calif. 90245 /
Page 4 / Jay Chiat & Associates
Consolidated Electrodynamics Corp. (Data Instr. Div.), 360 Sierra Madre Villa,
Pasadena, Calif. 91109 / Page 67 / Hixson & Jorgensen, Inc.
Datametrics Corp., 8217 Lankershim Blvd., No. Hollywood, Calif. 91605 /
Page 66 / Soltys Assoc.
Department of the Air Force, Headquarters 2750th Air Base Wing, WrightPatterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433 / Page 43 / -Digital Equipment Corp., 146 Main St., Maynard, Mass. 01754 / Page 62 /
Kalb & Schneider Inc.
Hughes Aircraft Co., 11940 W. Jefferson Blvd., Culver City, Calif. 90230 /
Page 65 / Foote, Cone & Belding
.
Information International, Inc., 545 Technology Sq., Cambridge, Mass. 02139 /
Page 3 / Kalb & Schneider Inc.
International Business Machines Corp., Data Processing Div., White Plains,
N. Y. / Page 21 / Marsteller Inc.
Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., P. O. Box 504, Sunnyvale, Calif. / Page 64/
McCann-Erickson Inc.
Memorex Corp., 213 Memorex Park, Santa Clara, Calif. 95050 / Pages 34 and
35 / Hoefer, Dieteric.h & Brown
Miller-Stephenson Chemical Co. , 15 Sugar Rd., Danbury, Conn. / Page 15 /
Solow-Wexton Inc.
Randolph Computer Corp., 200 Park Ave., New York, N. Y. 10017 / Page 53 /
Albert A. Kohler Co.

Computer
Program Design
(Southern California)
HUGHES Guidance and Controls
Division has several openings for
qualified persons who have the
ability to create complex digital
computer programs-and the desire
to do the job thoroughly and efficiently. Satisfaction of current
commitments on such systems as:
PHOENIX. IRAM. VATE and ASG-18
requires experience in the design
of real-time command and control
programs, or of software progmms
for execution on an IBM 7094 or
GE 635 computer.
Responsibilities include: specification, deSign, implementation, checkout and support of computer
programs for a wide variety of
applications including:
• Airborne Navigation & Fire
Control
• Digital Simulation of Airborne
Computer and its environment
• Automatic In-Flight & Depot
System Testing
II Assemblers & Compilers
II

Automation of Electronic
Equipment Design

Requires: an accredited degree in
Engineering or MathematiCS, a minimum of three years of professional
experience and U.S. citizenship.
Please airmail your resume to:
Mr. Robert A. Martin
Head of Employment
HUGHES Aerospace Divisions
11940 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Culver City 28 I California

r------------------,

:L __________________
HUGHES:J
HUGHES AIRCRAFT COMPANY

AEROSPACE DIVISIONS

An equal opportunity employer - M & F

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 1967

NEW PATENTS

From a /Juffer to an interface slstenJ ...
DmC Blakes a Iliodel

101' (~V(~I'y

Raymond R. Skolnick
Patent Manager
Ford Instrument Co.
Div. of Sperry Rand Corp.
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101

A-D ID-A

COBlputer application!
trol Logic-Large MultiChannel 50 KC A-D
multiplexer - Buffer
Register . . . and . . .
Input Request.

The following is a compilation of
patpnts pertaining to computers and associated equipment from the "Official
Gazette of the U. S. Patent Office,"
dates of issue as indicated. Each entry
consists of: patent number / inventor (s)
/ assignee / invention. Printed copies
of patents may be obtained from the
U. S. Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 20231, at a cost of 50
cents each.

These are but a part of
the powerful problem
solvers working for you
between the computer
and its analog inputs.
You eVen get an ...
INACK!!

MODEL IS 1108

What's your problem . . . partner?
If it has to do with computer interfacing equipment . . . chances are
DmC has already solved it with its IS 1 1 08
system.
Help your 1108 or
other computer to precisely specify WHEN
to convert, WHICH of
the 64 channels to convert and, HOW many
high speed conversions
to make . . . among
others.
Think what you can do
with this superb Con-

February 7, 1967
3,303,351 / Shintaro Oshima, Musashinoshi, Tokyo-to, Hajime Enomoto, Sugano-machi, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba-ken,
Seiichi Inoue, Musashino-shi, Tokyoto, and Yasuo Koseki, Chofu-shi, Tokyo-to, Japan / assignors to Kokusai
Denshin Denwa Kabushiki Kaisha,
Tokyo-to, Japan / Logical Circuit Using Magnetic Cores.
3,303,464 / Edwin R. Kolb, University
Heights, Ohio / assignor to HarrisIntertype Corp. / Ring-Sum Logic Circuit.
3,303,473 / Genung L. Clapper, Vestal,
N.Y. / assignor to International Business Machines Corp. / Adaptive Logic
Circuits.
3,303,474 / Clarence ]. Moore, Philadelphia, and Stephen W. Leibholz,
Hatboro, Pa. / assignors to Radio
Corporation of America / Duplexing
System For Controlling On-Line And
Standby Conditions Of Two Computers.
3,303,479 / Milton Rosenberg, Santa
Monica, Calif. / assignor to Ampex
Corporation / Multiaperture Magnetic
Memory System.
3,303,480 / David R. Bennion and William K. English, Menlo Park, and
David Nitzan, Palo Alto, Calif. / assignors to AMP Inc. / Dummy Load
For Magnetic Core Logic Circuits.
3,303,481 / Barry I. Kessler, Cherry Hill,
N.]. / assignor to Radio Corporation
of America / Memory With Noise Cancellation.

WHAT'S AN INACK??
Just the finest Input
Acknowledgement
that confirms that the
input data is of the
pure strain variety and
fully acceptable for
your computer:
Our staff knows of this
ad and is ready to accept all offers. Offers
to be challenged that
is . . . on solving your
problem.
So ... challenge them.
The solution to your
computer interfacing
problem may be closer
than you think.
While you are intellectually probing our engineering staff, ask
them to send you some
data on this equipment
.. . it's free for the asking. Chances are you
will learn something
new!

February 14, 1967

DATAMETRICS CORP.
8217 Lankershim Blvd.
No. Hollywood, Calif. 91605
(213) 767·9811
Designate No. 6 on Reader Service Card

Our Eastern Field Office is represented by the Ray Howden Co.
909 Oakland Avenue, Columbus/Ohio 43224/(614) 267-9251

3,304,410 / Edwin O. Blodgett, Rochester, N.Y. / assignor, by mesne assignments, to Friden, Inc. / Tabulating Card Reader.
3,304,411 / Edwin O. Blodgett, Rochester, N.Y. / assignor, by mesne assignments, to Friden, Inc. / Punched-Card
Reader.
3,304,436 / James ]. Klinikowski, Sonierville, N.]. / assignor to Burroughs
Corp. / Semiconductor Counting Circuits.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for May, 19()7

For people \tVho "W'ish to save
dollars and data
[!] Simplified parts provisioning and service
with complete interchangeability of parts,
regardless of speed requirements.
[!] There is one basic model with tape speeds
from 37% to 112% ips-and a choice of
cabinet configurations: horizontal for computer applications; vertical for data acquisition systems. And, due to its rugged compact
construction, the DR-3000 is also ideally
suited for mobile assignments.
[!] Each system is supported by prompt local
service and assistance available through
CEC's nationwide resident field force.
Is it any wonder that the DR-3000 is considered the "best buy" in digital tape recording?
For complete information, call your nearest
CEC Field Office. Or write Consolidated
Electrodynamics, Pasadena, California
91109. A subsidiary of Bell & Howell.
Bulletin 3000-XI9.

CEC's DR-3000 Digital Magnetic Tape
System is a minor phenomenon in an age
of high cost instrumentation.
Not only does the DR-3000 cost less than
any other digital tape handler, but it offers
a combination of versatility and reliability
unmatched by the majority of today's most
expensive systems.
COITl.pare these advantages:

[!] Highest performance specifications at
lowest cost of any tape transport available.
[!] The DR-3000 is fully IBM compatible
with assured machine-to-machine compatibility at all speeds and all densities, 7 or 9
channel.
[!] The DR-3000 is the only low cost transport with straight-line loading for rapid,
easy tape loading.
[!] CEC's unique, all-metal-front-surface
heads guarantee 2500 hours head life-the
highest in the industry.
[!] Fully computer compatible command
structure and selectable logic levels provide
wide flexibility of interfacing.
[!] Dual capstans with positive drive precludes tapc slippage and assures gentle tape
handling.

CEC
DATATAPE PRODUCTS

BELL4 HOWELL
Designate No. 8 on Reader Service Card

On time - as promised:
Burroughs B2500/B3500
third generation systems
- complete with software.
Now· operational.
Third generation hardware and software. That's what we promised
for the two new computers we announced last spring.
We've kept this commitment. The small to medium scale B 2500
and B 3500 are now operational. Ready for deliveries.
In a series of tests at our plant in Pasadena, California, recently, they
demonstrated everyone of their advanced capabilities-with results
that met all our expectations.
The two systems demonstrated how third generation software enables
them to use part of their own computational power to allocate and
organize their own work. To automatically match their resources to
varying work loads and changing priorities through use of the
Burroughs Master·Control Program.
They multiprocessed unrelated major programs with complete freedom and ease-under totally automatic software control.
They demonstrated highly efficient operation in COBOL, the widely
accepted higher level language for business data processing.

Altogether, it was an impressive demonstration
not only of two third generation computers but of the idea that made
them possible: the Burroughs concept of integrating hardware with
software by developing both at the same time. Three years ago, this
concept became a reality with our B 5500-the first self-operating
computer. All subsequent Burroughs 500 Systems have followed this
outstandingly successful lead.
If you want to see true third generation hardware and software in
action-call us. Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Michigan 48232.

Burroughs

Designate No. 5 on Reader Service Card

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196705

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