197006

197006 197006

User Manual: 197006

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 60

Download
Open PDF In Browser	View PDF

i~€==2==P':::::7;7~~
LZIO*

SCIENCE &
fTT~6

~')

3so r

N~S

SOl~~J N~S M OBI
~010
A~~~911 land 3sor NVS
BZ9~B££9ZT ,)3S Sl~,)IOOI~3d

Computer Simulates Working of Inner Ear

TECHN~S;~

June, 1970 .
Vol. 19, No. 6

m
lESt And one-

Ie new eSP-30
10 MHz to perform
e high-resolution
sampling rates up to
The eSP-30. Built
1 not fugit fast enough.

Processors, Inc.

achusetts 01803

The 16th Annual Edition

0/ the

COMPUTER DIRECTORY

AND
BUYERS' GUIDE
will be published jointly by
The New York Times Book and Educational Division and Computers and Automation
as the Midyear issue of Computers and Automation (in soft cover)
and as Volume 4 of WHO'S WHO IN COMPUTERS AND DATA PROCESSING (in hard cover)

CONTENTS
- A Roster of Organizations in the Electronic Computing and Data Processing Industry
- A Buyers' Guide to Products and Services in the Electronic Computing and Data Processing Field
- Special Geographic Rosters of:
1. Organizations selling computing and data processing services
2. Organizations selling commercial time-shared computing services
3. Commercial organizations offering courses, seminars or instruction in
computing, programming, or systems
4. Organizations selling consulting services to the computer field
5. Organizations offering computing and data processing equipment on a lease basis
6. Organizations selling software or computer programs
- Characteristics of General Purpose Digital and Analog Computers
- A Roster of College and University Computer Centers
- Rosters of Computer Associations and Computer Users' Groups
- A Roster of Programming Languages
- A List of Over 1700 Applications of Electronic Computing and Data Processing Equipment
- A World Computer Census
- A Summary of Binary Arithmetic and Related Number Systems
- Some Binary, Octal, and Decimal Conversion Tables
- A Summary of Boolean Algebra (Contrasted with Elementary Algebra)
- Ranges of Current Computer Speeds
A Glossary of Key Ideas in the Computer Field
... and much more

PRICE
-

for the COMPUTER DIRECTORY AND BUYERS' GUIDE, 1970 in SOFT COVER:

Price for subs

~
w
~
~

I-

:QRS:
•

PR Interval
QT Interval

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

TIM E ( seconds)

Figure 3

A typical ECG trace showing diagramming complexes, intervals. and
segments.

Figure 3 represents a diagram of electrocardiographic
complexes, intervals, and segments. This is the type of trace
that would be obtained utilizing a standard electrocardiographic cart. I t should be noted that the ORS segment can
have very sharp slopes. The time duration (ORS interval)
can vary from below 30 milliseconds to above 60 milliseconds. The amplitude of this wave can be higher than 2 1/2
volts. Therefore, the slope of the OR segment can be quite
large. In general, an electrocardiogram does not contain
sign ificant frequencies above 45 hertz. Sampling theory
dictates that one should sample every 10 milliseconds to
represent a 50 Hz signal. A good rule of thumb is to sample
18

Phone Lines

It is desirable to keep the number of phone lines
servicing the computer system to a minimum. This will in
general reduce telephone line and receiver costs. It is
important to have enough telephone lines such that during
the busiest hour the number of busy signals that callers
receive is kept to a minimum. If this number becomes
excessive, users will find the system difficult to utilize. A
patient that is wired up for an electrocardiogram does not
enjoy waiting while an operator places a call a number of
times.
The analysis program expects incoming data to be
precisely separated. Therefore, it is important that a time
skew should not exist in the sampling for the analog to
digital converter (AID). A time skew could exist for any of
the following reasons:

1. The monitor control system does not allow the
AID process to be started i mmed iately.
2. The priority scheduling for the AID is incorrect.
3. 1/0 conflicts with other devices cause delay in the
analog to digital conversion.

0.5-

.....
0

at a rate of 5 times higher than this value in order to easily
reconstruct these signals.
The electrocardiogram produced by the patient at the
cart is frequency modulated (FM) and transmitted over
normal voice-grade telephone lines to the computing center.
I n addition to FM, some signal characteristics are altered
within the cart and reconstructed after demodulation at the
computer interface. The FM signal is demodulated and
reconstructed as previously indicated and input to the
analog to digital (AID) converter. This analog to digital
converter can sample up to 64 mu Itiplexer points in a
sequential read mode. The time between samples can be
changed if desired; at present it is 10 microseconds. The
advantages of transmitting these signals via FM is that
amplitude variations due to the phone system and noise on
the telephone lines will not interfere with the signal. Also,
since the program that analyzes these signals only deals
with relative amplitudes, any phase distortion introduced
by the voice-grade line will in general have little affect upon
the signal, since the phase distortion does not vary rapidly
with time.

Since many different electrocardiograms can be within
the system simultaneously, it is important that a sample for
a particular ECG be taken in a precise time increment from
the previous sample. It is not important that every ECG
within the system be sampled at exactly the same time, but
only for any particular ECG that the samples be spaced
precisely apart. Therefore, as long as the previous 3 items
are accounted for, sequential automatic reading mode for
the AID will meet this requirement.
At present both a vector and scalar scheme exist for
ECG analysis. In general, the scalar scheme is more widely
accepted. Both systems involve sending ECG and calibration data. The vector scheme involves a time correlation
between a number of simultaneous ECG measurements.
These measurements are transmitted on a 3 carrier system
(like the scalar) but require that no time skew exist
between samples. Therefore, sample and hold registers must
be provided on the AID for simultaneous sampling of all 3
carriers. This measurement must also meet the general
scalar requirement of 2 mi lIiseconds between group sampling.
I n general, it may be stated that the 12 lead scalar
computer analysis approach has generally gained more
clinical acceptance than the vector analysis program. It is
more easily correlated to the classical, non-computerized
ECG trace, thereby offering a simple procedure of usual
comparison by the physician.
0
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

A CASE HISTORY: IMPLEMENTATION OF A
COMPUTER-BASED PATIENIT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
J. Peter Singer

Frank A. Petro
Arthur Young & Co.
Crocker Plaza
Post at Montgomery
San Francisco, Calif. 94104

"A package should not be considered as a means for circumventing the tasks
and problems associated with an installation. Although the package designers
attempt to generalize their package for hospitals with many and varied
requirements, its design usually reflects the uniqueness of the hospital for
which it was developed. "
Within the last few years, considerable attention has
been devoted to the development of data processing appl ications for hospitals. Computer manufacturers and software
firms have developed a number of application packages
designed to meet the requirements of hospital administration.
Of the various applications available to hospital system
planners, patient accounting is generally regarded as the
most appropriate for initial implementation. This application is important because it typically comprises well over
half of the total data processing load of a hospital. In
addition, the data collection required for the Medicare and
Title X I X Programs have caused this application to be of
paramount importance in enabling hospitals to recover
charges for patients covered by these programs.

The scope of a patient accounting system generally
includes census, patient billing, and accounts receivable.
These subsystems are described as follows:

Mr. J. Peter Singer received his Masters Degree in Business
Administration from the Harvard Business School in 1957.
He is a Managing Associate at Arthur Young & Company's
San Francisco Office. As a consultant, he has had about 10
years experience in the development of data processing
systems, and has specialized in hospital and health care
consulting. He was responsible for the overall conduct of the
implementation at Stanford University Hospital described in
this article.

Mr. Frank A. Petro received his Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. After working with the
National I nstitutes of Health for two years, he joined Arthur
Young & Company's San Francisco Office. He was on-site
project manager for the installation of SHAS at the Stanford
University Hospital.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Census - The census provides assistance in Hospital
operations by serving as a communications link between the nursing stations and the ancillary departments. The census reports also may be used as a tool
for reporting vital signs and other nursi ng data. In
addition, census data frequently serves as a base for
statistical reports for Medical Records and are used
to keep the medical staff advised of pending Med icare
certifi cations.

Patient Billing - The patient billing programs post
charges to the patient's account and prepare the

patient's bill. Many systems offer an insurance proration feature by which the computer is used to
estimate that portion of the patient's bill which is due
from third party carriers. The patient billing subsystem also collects and reports utilization data, and
provides management-oriented analysis of revenue
data.
Accounts Receivable - The accounts receivable reports assist the collection efforts of the hospital's
Business Office.
From this brief description, it is apparent that a patient
accounting system offers a hospital the capability to automate many administrative tasks. A successful implementation can enable the hospital to reduce outstanding accounts
receivable, trim clerical staff costs, and relieve many statistical chores associated with census tabulations and Medicare
and Title X I X cost reporting.

The Uniqueness of Packages
The use of a package can reduce the time required to
implement patient accounting. A package, however, should
not be considered as a means for circumventing the tasks
and problems asso~iated with an installation. Most packages
were developed at one or two test sites. Although the
systems designers attempt to general ize them for hospitals
with many and varied requirements, their design usually
reflects the uniqueness of the hospital(s) for which they
were developed. This uniqueness expresses itself in many
ways. Teaching hospitals and larger hospitals, for example,
tend to offer a wider range of specialized services than
general-practice community or smaller hospitals. Public
hospitals tend to have a high volume of clinic and emergency outpatients. Other hospitals accommodate a high
volume of referral or one-time out-patients. Some hospitals
have several locations. Management styles differ, varying
across the spectrum from central ized to decentral ized
organizations. As a result, a package will often require some
tailoring to fit the administrative needs of the particular
hospital using it. I n addition to the modifications desired to
fit the unique characteristics of the using hospital, the
generalization of the package tends to make the system
inefficient and cumbersome to process. Many packages
'require changes for efficient processing by a specific user.
In mid-1969, the management of Stanford University
Hospital decided to redesign their computer-based patient
accounting system. As part of this decision, the I BM Shared
Hospital Accounting System (SHAS) was selected for installation on a stand-alone basis. I n order to install SHAS with
modifications desired to meet its unique needs, Stanford
University Hospital entered into a joint effort with Arthur
Young & Company for a three-phase installation plan.

PHASE I - PLANNING
The first phase of the installation plan consisted of specifying the system and planning the implementation. There
were three objectives for Phase I.

1. Determination of the System Design
The evaluation of SHAS established two classes of
modifications for the installation at Stanford. The first
involved changes to the system required by the management of the Hospital. Stanford University Hospital is both a
teaching and a community facility. It serves as the medical
center for Stanford University. In addition, it is the community hospital for the City of Palo Alto, California.
Because of this dual role, the Hospital's management
required several significant changes to the SHAS system
design.
20

The second 'class of modifications involved changes to
improve the operational characteristics of the system and
reduce the run time. Based on the experience of other
SHAS users, the expected running time for the System on a
stand-alone basis at Stanford was thought to be excessive.
The Hospital's long-range plan antitipated the use of the
same computer for many additional applications.
We have found that it is desirable to specify and
implement efficiency modifications at the time the package
is installed. After the System is operating, the users tend to
place heavy demands upon data processing personnel for
application design changes. These pressures make it difficult
to realize savings through improved efficiency modifications after the system is implemented.
2. Determine the Appropriate Hardware Configuration
SHAS is designed to be used with I BM hardware and its
disk operating system. Although this restricts the selection
of computer equipment, considerable attention was given
to the appropriate configuration to be used with the
package. Many data processing users waste hardware resources because they tend to over-buy computer equipment.
3. Determine an Installation Plan
The Phase I analysis enabled us to develop a staffing plan
required to install the system within the specified time
limitation. The analysis also provided a generalized plan for
the installation. This plan included a projected implementation date for the three subsystems of the Patient Accounting system.
To accomplish these goals, Arthur Young & Company
consultants worked closely with the Data Processing Manager and System Manager of the hospital. Phase I was
divided into three tasks:
1. ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
2. ANALYSIS OF USER REQUIREMENTS AND
DETERMINATION OF SPECIFICATIONS
3. HARDWARE/SOFTWARE ANALYSIS
Each of these activities proceeded simu Itaneously and
are described below.

Organizational Analysis
The impact of a new system on the organization structure is frequently overlooked in the implementation process. I mplementations of systems are usually undertaken by
data processing special ists. They usually do not focus on
organizational matters. As a result, compromises are required to force the amalgamation between the system and
certain user departments.
Proper analysis of organizational impact can significantly
improve the benefits to be derived from a system implementation. I n many cases, the organization and procedures
of the user departments are not compatible with the
requirements of the new system. For example, many
hospitals do not prorate charges to determine patient
liability while the patient is in the hospital. Some hospitals
wait until the insurance companies have paid before attempting to collect from the patient. The availabil ity of an
automatic insurance proration and a daily report of patient
liability enables the hospital, if it so desires, to advise the
patient of his liability at the time of discharge. This feature
may require a restructuring of the Business Office. Use of
the feature can appreciably increase a hospital's cash flow if
the restructuring is planned and accomplished smoothly.
The impact of the new system on the organization of the
hospital was determined. Policies and goals for operation
under the new environment were defined and formalized.
Functional organizational charts and job descriptions were
prepared.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Analysis of User Requirements and Determination
of Specifications
This step is an integral part of all good systems' implementation efforts. In the case of a package implementation,
the analysis of the requirements of the users generally
involves the comparison of the characteristics of the package with the requirements of the various users. Both the
project team and the appropriate users should work together to reconcile potential differences.
Although this step is generally a part of most systems
efforts, it is frequently approached in a haphazard fashion.
Unnecessary or improper modifications are a frequent
result if appropriate emphasis is not placed on the analysis
of the user requirements, if the implementation team
attempts to second guess the requirements of the user
department, or if a department does not seriously consider
its own requirements.
At Stanford, the project team spent a considerable
amount of time with the user departments to develop with
them the systems specifications. After these specifications
were determined, they were documented in reports to
management. These specifications then became fixed until
the installation was completed. This approach provided the
project team with a sound and firm system design, rather
than a design which would evolve as the system was being
implemented.

Hardware/Software Analysis
A study of the system design of the package should be
undertaken. For the Stanford project, this study included
running the package in a simulated operating environment
using transaction data from Stanford's files. Although a
technical study of this magnitude may not be required in
other situations, it is advantageous for the user hospital to
become knowledgeable about the software design of the
package as quickly as possible.
The results of hardware/software analysis at Stanford led
to the definition of:
(a) the most appropriate configuration to be used
with SHAS,
(b) the use of multitasking to improve SHAS throughput, and
(c) suggested modifications to the structure of SHAS
functions and job steps. Although this analysis
identified many potential modifications, only
those changes wh ich were cost-justified were
recommended for implementation.

Results of Phase I
The results of Phase I were documented for the hospital
management. This documentation included:
(a) description of the SHAS reports which were to
be provided to the hospital,
(b) detail design of the reports not included in the
SHAS package, but required by hospital management and operating personnel,
(c) definition of the SHAS modifications required to
meet the hospital's operating procedures, and
those necessary to improve the operational efficiency of the package, and
(d) definition of the changes to the hospital's operating practices required to meet the requirements
and constraints of SHAS.
All technical specifications were documented for all
SHAS programs. This documentation conformed to the
standards established by the Hospital's Data Processing
Department, and was at a level suitable for assignment to
programmers.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

PHASE II - INSTALLATION
The second phase consisted of the implementation of
the system as it was specified in Phase I. The i mplementa~
tion included not only the programming of the package
modifications, but also the implementation of the organizational modifications described during Phase I.
To accomplish this phase of the project, an on-site
Project Manager was appointed from the staff of Arthur
Young & Company to be responsible for the overall
guidance and direction of the implementation effort. He
reported directly to the Hospital's Associate Director of
Finance. In this way, the project manager was able to cross
. organizational lines to effect the necessary changes required
for the system's implementation.

Systems Coordinators
One of the unique aspects of the Stanford installation
was the use of two systems coordinators. These coordinators were representatives of user departments who were
organ izationally transferred to the Data Processing Department. One was from the hospital's Business Office, and the
other was a registered nurse from the nursing staff. These
coordinators were asked to participate in the design of
particular aspects of the SHAS System which affected their
departments. They were then assigned to work with their
respective user departments to assist with staff training,
procedure writing, and other user interface tasks.
The balance of the team included both Arthur Young &
\ Company and Hospital personnel. I t consisted of systems
analysts, with prior experience in the implementation of
SHAS, senior-level application programmers, and an administrative specialist responsible for the changes in the user
departments.
The first task during Phase II was the development of a
detailed work plan for the implementation of the system.
At Stanford, a PE RT chart was developed to plan the
sequencing of the various technical and user interface tasks
required for system implementation. This plan took into
consideration the number and experience of personnel
assigned to the project.

Charting Progress
After the plan was developed, it was summarized on two
wall charts. One chart pertained to the techn ical data
processing tasks required for implementation, and the other
related to user interface tasks. The data processing chart
was hung in a predominant place in the Data Processing
Department. The other chart was hung in the Business
Office. Progress on the project was charted on both of these
charts by the use of overlay sheets.
The PERT chart enabled the project managers to remain
closely attuned to the overall progress of the project. In
addition, project status was clearly visible to all of the
participants. As delays in specific tasks were incurred, it
was relatively easy to project the overall impact of these
delays.
Another advantage of the PE RT technique was its use in
developing status reports for hospital management. After
the PERT charts were developed, activity lists were summarized for management. These lists indicated the primary
tasks required for the implementation of each aspect of the
package, and the estimated time period during which these
tasks were to be accomplished. Each month, a report was
prepared. This report indicated the completion date for the
tasks planned for that month. The report also. contained a
brief narrative documenting the project problems incurred
during the month. We found this device useful not only for
keeping management abreast of project progress, but also to
keep the project team aware of assignment schedules.
21

POSTAGE STAMPS DESIGNED BY COMPUTER IN THE NETHERLANDS
Erik Albarda
Computer Science Institute
Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam 16, The Netherlands

I am at the Computer Science Department at the
University of Rotterdam, and we read your magazine with
very much interest. Especially the readers service is very
useful for us.
I have taken the freedom to act as your correspondent
because something interesting happened in The Netherlands. Our G.P.O. (General Post Office) issued a series of
stamps designed by a computer, which has never been done
before. The artist is R. D. E. Oxenaar, a member of the
Department for Numeric'Control of the Technical University of Eindhoven. (This is the same university to which the
well-known pioneer of modular programming, E. W.
Dijkstra, belongs.)
0
-

nederland
CORRECTION
The following corrections are for the article by Richard
E. Sprague, "The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Application of Computers to the Photographic
Evidence", wh ich was publ ished in our May, 1970 issue
(page 29).
p. 5, item 5: Replace page number "30" with "29"
p. 31, col. 2, line 36: Replace "Flammande" with
"Flammonde"
p. 42, caption for Fig. 7: Replace "3 seconds" with
"3.5 seconds"

We originally projected that six months would be required for systems implementation. Because of certain
software problems and staff turnover, delays were incurred.
The use of the PE RT charts enabled us to anticipate the
potential delays and to predict precisely the impact as
problems arose. As a result', we were able to limit the delays
to a minimum. The system was installed on a production
basis in seven months. I n add ition, the cost to Stanford for
the total project remained within budget limitations.
PHASE)II - FOLLOW-UP

Too many data processing professionals bel ieve that a
system installation is completed once the system is installed. In truth, the user does not really understand a
system and its limitations until it is operating on live data.
For this reason, a follow-up effort was planned as part of
the Stanford implementation. A programmer, a systems
analyst, and the systems coordinators were assigned to this
task. Essentially, they assisted departments in overcoming
minor difficulties which came to light as the users gained
experience. They also made modifications to the system
which may have been overlooked during the specifications
of the systems design.
Although this activity appears to be relatively mi nor
when compared to the tasks required for installation, its
importance cannot be understated. The installation of any
system, whether involving the use of a package or a system
developed in-house, is a complex task. Minor design considerations and user interface problems are going to be
overlooked dur~ng the specification and implementation
22

p. 43, caption for Fig. 9: Replace "after the first
three shots" with "after the first shot"
p. 47, col. 1, line 23: Replace "Z2313" with "Z313"
p. 51, Chart 2, 5th horizontal line: Replace "3 sec."
with "3.5 sec."
p. 57, col. 2, line 6: Replace "Table 1" with "Chart

2"
p. 57, col. 2, line 11: Replace "Table 1" with "Table

3"
p. 60, col. 2, line 5: Replace "Flammande" with
"Flammonde"

phases. Unless an effort is planned to correct these deficiencies after the system is installed, they will be overlooked by
data processing personnel who are interested in new and
more creative assignments. These problems bring increased
costs and unnecessary manual effort to the operating
departments, and destroy the credibility of the computer's
capability to assist operating personnel.
Conclusions

Many hospitals are beginning to install sophisticated data
processing systems. Many of these installations are being
undertaken by project teams with little prior exposure to
the complexity of hospital operations. Some of the projects
are directed by managers with limited exposure to the
implementation of large-scale data processing applications.
As a result, implementation timetables are frequently overrun and project costs greatly exceed budget estimates.
In this article we have described the approach used to
install the SHAS patient accounting system at Stanford
University Hospital. Although there were unique aspects to
the Stanford implementation, the techniques described in
this article can be applied to the implementation of systems
in other hospitals.
At Stanford, a team with hospital background and prior
SHAS experience participated in the project. The team was
guided by project leaders who managed with project control techniques that had been used successfully in other
projects. As a result, a highly modified version of SHAS was
installed with a minimum of delay and within budget
limitations.
0
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

WORLDWIDE

REP'ORT FROM GREAT BRITAIN
"Steal I BM's top talent and aim for the European
market at the very least," Saul Steinberg told a recent
public meeting of the Parliamentary Select Committee on
Science and Technology which, since early this year, has
been investigating the British computer industry.

Key to lel's Success
Steinberg did not mince his words. He told the politicians
that the way in wh ich I nternational Computers was created
a priori had meant the most serious difficulties for the
company's management. In this, Steinberg and Schoeters
are at one. I have always said in this column that the one
grave factor counter to I C L's success was the requirement
laid upon it by Government that besides its own very
successful 1900 series - now using logic more advanced and
faster than any U.S. machine - it should continue to make
and support on software the System-4 equipment from
Engl ish Electric, very closely akin to RCA's fami Iy.
He told the most revolutionary of the socialist members
on the Committee that he was against grants. The best thing
to do with ICL was to leave the company to work out its
own solutions and then provide contracts for the first 25
new machines. "Grants are not necessary - contracts are
the answer," he asserted.
But all this is a long way from the guidelines laid down
for the investigation by this Committee, which was convened purely and simply to look at Government procurement policies for computers. It has turned into a free-forall ... for what has Saul Steinberg really got to contribute on UK Government policies for the purchase of
computers? Every facet of the industry is being looked at in
sessions now crowding closer and closer together as the
threat of an early election looms larger. Even with an
October poll, the Committee will be hard pressed to get any
kind of report out before the recess. A June poll would
simply prevent any report being issued. There is enough
evidence already accumulated to provide at least 500 pages
of edited text.

No Investigation Needed
To my way of thinking, there should have been no
investigation at all. If a Government has taken as a conscious policy decision that an indigenous industry must be
fostered and promoted in the face of competition wh ich
often steps far outside the bounds of what we in Britain call
fair commercial practice, then is there anything wrong in
such a Government's buying domestic equipment for
standard jobs, knowing that price and performance are
right?
The trouble is that so few people in Parliament have
even the vaguest idea of what automation and information
processing are all about. Moreover, the Tories are for
laissez-faire and the bigger the company taking advantage,
the better. Labour on the other hand, sti II tends to take the
short-sighted view that once a company comes into a
depressed development area, no matter from where, and
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

once it employs a certain number of workers, it is British.
The fact that both manufacturing and research pol icies may
be controlled from a centre five thousand mi les away, or
that most of the components for the final product are being
imported, hardly seems to matter.
The hard fact of life that, if present growth continues,
computing in every shape and form will account for
somewhere between 5 and 6 per cent of the gross national
product of all advanced countries by the end of the present
decade, just has not sunk in yet.

The Election
Whatever the Select Committee may decide to recommend
to the Minister of Technology, the crux will be the
outcome of the election. It is most unlikely that Government money will remain in International Computers if
Labour loses. This would mean finding some $30m in a
hurry. While that would not break the company's back, it
might make agreement with several other European computer companies more difficult to achieve. The alternative
would be the marriage with CDC which many within ICL
favour as against the long hard flog down the road to
Europe.

Future Prospects
There is no arguing with the figures. The economic assessment of the market for electronic capital goods for the
period to 1972 by the Electronics Economic Development
Council - government, unions, industry - shows quite
clearly what has been happening on the computer front.
If I give a little table, it will speak volumes:-

All £'000

1968

1969

Exports

43,712

53,557

Imports

74,808

97,592

3,992
(ALL
MINUS)
27,174

3,204

Re-exports
Trade balance

40,768

1972
110,000
to
137,000
151,000
to
176,000
3,000

% growth
68-72
23 to 30

19 to 24

41 ,000 to 39,000 (range)
66,000 to 14,000 (limits)

Multiply all these figures by 2.5 to give $ and the UK
problem is quite clear. The percentage of imports representing I BM equipment is high. I BM makes nothi ng but the
1130 in the UK, plus a few bits and pieces for the 360
range from France and Germany and the discs for System 3
in Europe. There is nothing here to offset imports of
complete computer systems from Europe and the U.S. to
meet about half the UK market. So the UK companies had
lost half their potential outlets before they even began to
assume a shape in which they stood a hope of a chance of
competing.

(Please turn to page

62 )

COMPUTERS IN THE LABORATORY
Moses M. Berlin
Director of Planning
William Beaumont Hospital
Royal Oak, Mich. 48072

"The main purpose for a computer in the laboratory is 'high quality-control
of quantity'. The computer in the laboratory achieves this purpose only after
careful analysis of systems and requirements has been made."
Medicine, health, and hospitals have been often pointed
out as suitable areas for computers to be applied extensiveIy. Although there are many problems that computers can
help to solve, there are many more that computers cannot
nor should not be applied to. Hospitals, like every other
enterprise, will suffer wastes of time, energy, and money
when computers are misapplied.

Forget liT otal Systems"
We can propose a theorem or law: "Hospital computer
systems have failed in direct proportion to the enthusiasm
with wh ich they were launched as 'total systems'." We can
also propose the converse theorem: "Those persons who
have sought an orderly sequence of well-defined, practical,
modular appl ications, have succeeded and will succeed in
applying computers usefully to medicine and health care."
I n fact, it is desirable that all of us who prepare articles on
the use of computers in health and medical care should be
placed under the same restrictions that drugs are now
under, namely, that we indicate information about contraindications, warnings, precautions and adverse reactions.
The key words to be forgotten and disregarded are "total
system". Although this may be admirable as a distant goal,
they are disastrous as any near-at-hand task.

The Hospital Is a Business
Computers have been applied to four major areas of
hospital activity. First, a hospital is a business. Its product
is a service, namely, excellence in patient care. This service
depends upon highly skilled, devoted, sensitive people, and
upon. a continuous program of education, research and
renewal. As a business, the hospital has a business and
accounting function, not very different from this function
in any other business: The differences have been known to
drive hC9Spital controllers to distraction; but once the
anomal ies of the third-party, pre-reimbursement system are
comprehended, the hospital business systems can be developed effectively.
24

As one controller told me, in hospitals, unlike merchandising, you can't get back what you gave the customer
(namely, his health) if you discover you didn't charge him
enough. But with a mildly philosophical approach and some
earnest business judgment, it is possible to produce a
computer system that collates charges, totals them, subtracts insurance coverage, and prints the bill.
The most widespread current use of computers in hospitals is for this type of business data processing. It may be
attained in a variety of ways - from the time-sharedcomputer system that Michigan Blue Cross is developing, to
small computers being purchased or leased by individual
hospitals for appl ication to processing accounts receivable,
bills, and payroll.

Information Retrieval
A second, more challenging requirement concerns distribution and retrieval of medical information. Every hospital has basic communication needs that may be aided by
computers. For data transmission and display, the particular computer is less important than the peripheral device
used for actual display. Almost every third generation, and
many second generation computers, are eminently capable
of controlling a variety of terminal devices. However, it is
vital to select a terminal device that serves the particular
requirement: a noisy, if economical teletypewriter, does
not belong at a nursing station; a quiet, if expensive CRT
display does belong in an intensive-care unit, when it is used
for real-time display of physiologic parameters under continuous monitoring and analysis. Many experimental systems are in use at various hospitals and medical centers, for
computer-controlled processing and display of medical
data. I have visited dozens of these places; but I have yet to
see a working, operational system - such as I have observed
in use at airports, to place, confirm or purchase airline
reservations.
This type of system was inaugurated by American
Airlines (and called SABR E) many years ago - and it has
been refined, adapted and developed; such a system will
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

work very well and is certainly applicable in a hospital when and if the detailed analysis of requirements and
systems design that preceded SAB R E is capable of being .
accomplished in the hospital.
A major cause for the many failures of these "total"
computer-communications systems in health is that one of
the important users in the hospital is the doctor. Doctors
as a class are rather unprepared for the techniques that
computers afford. Although medical school students are
learning more about computers, nevertheless there is a
substantial gap between doctors and computer people;
there is a formidable tendency to adhere to old traditions in
the medical profession, to prepare and compile medical
data in the same old cumbersome way. Medical records are
really composed in a problem-oriented manner; occasionally, they are composed incoherently. However, this is
changing; eventually, medical data will be recorded in a
fashion that permits establishment of structured data files
that in turn permit computer programs to retrieve, summarize, edit and distribute or display.
Management

The third area of application is management. Hospitals
have management staffs; many of these managers are well
trained and experienced. I n addition, the great majority of
non-profit hospitals are governed by trustee groups of
whose members are industrial, financial, and professional
leaders, and who have had considerable management experience with computers and automation.
Thus, in hospitals, the computer can be a management
tool - for: financial analysis and forecasting; inventory
control; materials management of the thousands of supplies
that hospitals order and use; and preventive maintenance
scheduling. The computer is an efficacious tool here, as it
has proved to be in other service industries, such as airlines,
hotels, and franchised food processing.
Medical-Clinical Activity

The fourth area of hospital applications is, the medicalclinical activity: diagnostic, research and educational. Here
many notable applications, truly could not function without electronic equipment for diagnosis, therapy, monitoring, and analysis. Particularly the mini-computer may be
the control element.
The Clinical Pathology Laboratory

The main purpose for a computer in the clin ical laboratory is "high qual ity-control of quantity". The computer in
the laboratory achieves this purpose only after careful
analysis of systems and requirements has been made.
Therefore, the objectives of the laboratory must be understood, and the capabilities and limitations of technology,
resources, and people must be appropriately combined.

Lab Requirements

Let me first briefly explain the functions and requirements of the laboratory. Pathology by textbook definition
is that branch of medicine which employs methods and
instruments of precision for the examination of secretions
and excretions of the human body and its functions, in
order to: diagnose disease; follow its course; aid in its
treatment; ascertain the cause of death if death occurs;
ascertain the result of treatment; and through research help
advance the science of medicine.
As applied to medicine, pathology includes the disciplines of gross and microscopic anatomic pathology, and
clinical pathology.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Clinical pathology, in wh ich automation and computers
figure prominently, consists of the following major areas of
study:
Hematology - the qualitative and quantitative study
of blood cells;
Bio-chemistry - the study of chemical changes in the
body caused by disease;
Bacteriology - the study of disease-bearing bacteria
and fungi;
Serology - the study of changes in blood serum
produced by disease; and
Blood banks, blood coagulation, and urinalysis.
Of these, hematology and chemistry are primary areas for
automation and computerization. I n other words, in these
two areas, 75 to 85% of all analyses can be performed
under automatic control. To varying lesser degrees, analyses
can be automated in the other areas.
The general requirements for an acceptable computerassisted laboratory system, are that it not only benefit the
clinical lab, but also, the nursing service, the patient-care
physicians, the hospital and above all, the patient.
Functions of the Computer System

A description of the general functions of the system,
within the lab, are in order here.
Clerical - Throughout a normal work day, lab technologists expend much of their time in manually writing a
variety of lists - such as patient accession lists, wherein the
patient is assigned a lab number; work lists, wherein the lab
number is listed with particular lab tests that have been
ordered; quality control results, which are harvested at
intervals during the day and charted; work tally sheets for
administrative purposes of lab work load analysis; and
charge lists for accounting.
Computational - Many of the laboratory procedures
.require computations to convert raw data obtained by
analytical instruments into meaningful, clinically useful
information. Each time a computation is manually or
mentally executed by a technologist there are chances for
mathematical errors or transcription errors. With computer
assistance both kinds of potential error are minimized.
Quality Control - Without computer assistance the
technologists must: monitor analytical instruments; make
corrections for drift of basel ine; interpret and chart repeated analyses of standards; decide when methods are
"out of control"; and decide when to repeat an analysis
which appears possibly in error. A properly designed computer system can monitor the instruments, analyze the data
continuously to provide contfnuous control of quality, and
relay error messages to the technologists in the event that
potentially erroneous data is transmitted.
Benefits to the Nursing Service

Benefits to the Nursing SerVice include:
Requisition Procedures Simplification - Currently, the
nursing service manually generates a daily blood drawing
list from each ward. In addition, the nursing service transcribes the physicians' requests for laboratory tests to the
combination laboratory request-result form. With an optical
card reader and a mark-sensing request form, the computer
would generate the blood drawing list and direct the
printing of specimen tube labels. The nursing service would
only need to mark the card in accordance with the
physicians' orders.
Charting Procedures - Presently the nursing service
places the laboratory result forms in the patient charts in an
overlapping shingle fashion. This is a time consuming
operation. With a computer, a summary review of serial
25

laboratory results can be published in the form of a single
page summary report which is easily placed in the patient
charts.
Benefits to the Physician

The Benefits to the Patient-Care Physician include, first
of all:
General Benefits - Much of the above discussion affords
direct benefits to the physicians. Results with no computational or transcription errors and of better quality and
usefully presented in the patient charts are beneficial. By
freeing technologists from clerical duties, patient reports
are completed up to four hours earlier. Technologist time
can then be better util ized to provide laboratory tests not
now available. Local performance of these tests provides
less delay in patient care decisions than when specimens are
shipped to distant laboratories.
Distribution of Laboratory Results - As noted above,
completed laboratory reports can be returned to the floors
up to four hours earlier. This aids the physician in directing
the diagnosis, therapy or decision for discharge of his
patients. In addition, those laboratory results which are
completed can be given to physicians immediately upon
request. This latter aspect is of extreme importance in
hospitals like William Beaumont, with an active emergency
service, intensive care units and an outpatient service.

Patient Benefits

All of the above benefits directly relate to better patient
care, although most of them will not be obvious to the
patient. With earlier reporting, physicians can review laboratory data at a time of the day when additional procedures
can still be obtained from the laboratory. Furthermore, the
decision to discharge can be made early enough in the day
so that the patient can leave the hospital that same day,
rather than awaiting a review of final laboratory results the
next morning. It is estimated that the potential will exist
for shortening the hospital stay by 12 to 24 hours in most
instances. This benefit will be obvious to the patient.
All of the above constitute direct or indirect benefits for
the hospital. Billing for laboratory services is rapidly provided to the hospital accounting department from the
laboratory computer. This should result in increased revenue which might otherwise be lost as a result of misplaced
billing slips. The need for clerical support within the
laboratory will also be decreased.
I do not mean to imply that computerization is necessarily fiscally economical. Hospital benefits, summarized
from previous considerations, accrue: (1) through better
patient-care services; (2) through a better uti I ization of
laboratory personnel and nursing service time; (3) through a
modest increase in revenue from more complete billing; and
(4) conceivably through an increased utilization of patient
beds. The computerization of laboratories in other institutions has not resulted in any decrease in the need for
laboratory technologist support.

Hardware Requirements

The consideration of the general requirements for a
computer-assisted laboratory serves to indicate some of the
specific requirements for such a system.
I n order to put into effect all of the benefits described
above, the system must be "on-line in real-time". The
computer must be capable of accepting the raw laboratory
data as it is generated at the analytical instruments, and be
able to process this data immediately. "Processing" includes
the computation and qualitv control. The processed data
26

and the laboratory request file must be readily accessible at
all times so that physician inquiries can be satisfied and
emergency reports can be immediately available. These
requirements define the need for direct interfacing of
laboratory instruments, for easily operated devices with
rapidity of data input, for disc storage to gain instant access
capabilities, and for appropriate programming.
The ability to create blood drawing lists, patient accession files, work lists and incomplete work lists from cards
marked by the nursing unit requires an operating optical
card reader and a line printer capable of printing at least
300 lines per minute. The printer can also be used for
publishing the summary reports for the patient charts.

\
\

,
\ \
\

I nput Devices

The necessary hardware includes input devices directly
connected to the analytical laboratory instruments. These
devices should also be operable in a general purpose mode
for the entry of data such as white cell differentials in
hematology, which are not subject to instrumental automation. These input devices must be simple to operate and
provide for the rapid entry of a patient's accession number,
the type of test being reported, the raw data, and an
assortment of selected comments (such as "specimen
diluted 2: 1" or "quantity not sufficient" or "report to
follow"). With more sophisticated input devices, the computer can "talk back" to the technologists, particularly to
give messages about the improper use of the equipment or
probable errors in the data.
Additional interfaced input devices would be desirable
for atomic absorption determinations, protein electrophoresis and gas chromatography. Special purpose input
devices for entering white cell differentials, erythrocyte
morphology, reticulocyte counts, urinalysis results, bacteriology data and blood bank information are necessary for
the entry of data from special and "non-automatable"
procedures throughout the laboratories.

The Computer

The computer can vary in size when backed up by a
central hospital computer for long term storage and retrieval capabil ities. Computers dedicated to clinical laboratory functions range from the CDC 3200 like the one at the
National I nstitutes of Health to the PDP-8 or comparable
small computers commercially available as "off-the-shelf"
systems. The degree of sophistication and potential for
expansion relates directly to the combination of "computer
power", and the ingenuity and experience of the system
designers and programmers.
Output Devices

Output devices. vary depending upon the desires and
philosophies of the users. Under currently acceptable practices, as prescribed by the Joint Committee on Hospital
Accreditation of the A.M.A., the final reports must be
printed and subjected to the review of laboratory personnel
prior to dissemination to the patient areas. This requirement, along with others noted above, dictates the necessity
of a 'line printer. The A.M.A. restriction would not preclude
publishing provisional reports at remote terminals such as
the emergency room area, the intensive care un its, operating rooms or patient ward areas, if desired.
The Beaumont Hospital System

The William Beaumont Hospital has selected a system
that was developed by the Berkeley Scientific Laboratories
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

'----:
I

11. Pc
paSSE

Wash

Sterr

PUNCH LINES . . .
Business managers worrying about rising costs during the
70's can count on at least one thing: The cost of their
computer systems won't increase over today's levels -

despite the fact that they will, on the average, require a
five-fold increase in computing power. What will make this
static pricing possible is Large Scale Integration (LSI) - an
electronics technology that permits batch fabrication of
computer memories formerly hand-wired. LSI is to the
computer industry what automation was to the auto
industry.
- Robert E. Markle, Vice President
Cogar Corporation
Herkimer, N. Y. 13350

---

More than 200 companies are currently in the highly
competitive, low-profit margin, time sharing service with
most, if not all, companies not making a profit. The largest
segment of this market, scientific computation, will continue to grow, although its market share will shrink rapidly
and wi II stagnate by the mi d-1970's. Even now vendors of

-+-

'
j
(

r-i

time-sharing service will have to find other opportunities to
broaden their market and even maintain solvency. The
shake-out time is here.
- "Samson Trends"
Samson SC£ence Corp.
245 Park Ave.
New York, N. Y. 10003

(BSL) for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
The Chief of Hematology at Beaumont is the pathologist
who helped develop the N.I.H. system during his tenure as
Chief of Hematology there. I n the BSL concept, the data
input consoles are directly interfaced to the lab analytical
instruments. They route raw data for processing, storage
and retrieval, to the computer. We will use a mini-computer, the Interdata 4, but as BSL has shown, it would be
possible to utilize in place of the Interdata, a Control Data
1700 series, the XDS Sigma 2 series, the IBM 1800 series,
or equivalent process control systems.
The advanced design and implementation of the system
at N.I.H. represents the culmination of roughly 30 manyears of effort by N .I.H. pathologists and computer scientists. The currently operating system was programmed and
implemented by the "hardware" and "software" specialists
assembled at BSL East for the N .I.H. project. Beaumont's
system will differ from the N.I.H. system in the level of
sophistication we will have, based on more specialized input
devices for the entry of multiple result tests and consequently, more and diverse reports.

The Social Implications of Computers in Medicine
In conclusion, I would wish to add some comments on
the social implications of computers in medicine. (1) The
mini-computer can be a crucial tool in improving the
manner in which health care is accomplished and delivered.
(2) Interest and talent can be applied fruitfully in designing
computer-based systems for health care. (3) As Fortune for
January, 1970, asserted: "The institution in medicine of
the same degree of efficiency that Americans have reached
in other realms (of industry) would probably effect enough
saving so that good care could be brought to every American with very little increase in cost." I could alter "would
probably" to "might perhaps" - but I hope Fortune is
right.
0
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

The "blue collar" computer - the computer that makes
things and keeps assembly lines moving - will really come
into its own during the next 10 years. By the end of the

decade the smallest industrial plant will be a prime computer user. What is needed, however, is more confidence in
computers. The ghost of automation keeps reappearing,
although economists have proven that unemp loyment is
lowest when productivity is highest, and more computers
working in factories would mean greater productivity.
- G. C. Turner, General Manager

Hagan/Computer Systems Div.
Westinghouse
200 Beta Dr.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15238

Revolutions in technology can happen, but they're not
likely because of the stolid resistance of the hard-to-change
habits of human beings. It takes a long time for things to
evolve and become universally accepted because of the
habit patterns of people. The computer will become more
critical than ever to world society during the next decade,
but people - perhaps wisely - resist change and only very
gradually permit technical innovations to become part of
daily life.

- Erwin Tomash, Pres.
Data Products Corp.
6219 DeSota Ave.
Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364

Much of the hardware and all of the technology to create a
system of automatic pollution monitoring stations using
electronic data processing equipment currently exists. The
establishment of automatic monitoring stations should
naturally evolve out of the growing concern for environmental control. At a moment's notice, those charged with
the enforcement of air and water pollution regul ations could
be advised as to excessive contamination. Remedial action
could be swift, and the public interest - and the environment - protected.

- George WUlfing, President
Infotec, Inc.
22 Purchase St.
Rye, N. Y. 01580

The staggering cost of paper handling will force businesses
and government into the "electronic money age". The
effect of "electronic money" on the nation's economy will
be somewhat comparable to the impact made by the
railroad, automobile, and modern communications systems.

William M. Tetrick, President
Synergistics, Inc.
10 Tech Circle
Natick, Mass. 01760

There are nearly 3000 computer service firms in the
country, and there ought to be more like 300. With money
getting tighter, and competition growing, we're going to see
a considerable weeding out in the field. There's a lot of "me
too" type thinking in the computer industry, and not
enough searching for new ideas and applications.

Mike Fremming, Chairman of the Board
Financial Technology, Inc.
7501 Carpenter Freeway
Dallas, Tex. 75247
27

THE HOSPITAL COMPUTER COMES OF AGE
Morton Ruderman, President
A. Neil Pappalardo, Vice President
Medical Information Technology, Inc.
65 Rogers St.
Cambridge, Mass. 02142

"A company offering total computer services to hospitals must provide for
the hospital's desire to lease, rent, and even acquire fully operational medical
informa tion systems, including the computer and all necessary input/output
terminal hardware, and both systems and applications software. "
Viewed as the ultimate solution to the information
handling crisis being experienced by today's hospitals,
computers are just now emerging into all aspects of patient
care. Years of work in designing a range of systems capable
of handling the bulk of the information collection, storage
and retrieval associated with medical care have netted
substantial gains in the areas of laboratory automation,
on-line patient monitoring, multiphasic screening and in the
development of hospital information systems.
The obstacles associated with the development of complete hospital information systems are bei ng overcome.
Current technology and effective management techniques
are finally being applied to fill the patient care void.
Technology has confronted the hospital with things that
are not easily overcome - things like: (1) the necessity for
a large initial capital investment for system hardware; (2)

inadequate reliability; (3) an inability to attract the necessary support staff; and (4) substantial start-up time before
operating systems can be obtained.
Until recently, a hospital or other medical environment
desiring to computerize has been required to make a large
capital outlay for equipment. This fact alone has prevented
all but the most affluent institutions from attempting
innovative programs.
In addition to the outlay for hardware, once one leaves
the area of accounting and enters the realm of patient care,
the requirements for reliability go up to 100 percent.
Significant additional expense is necessary to achieve adequate system redundancy.
However, even in those cases where a hospital was able
to locate the funds for computer hardware, their ability to
attract and maintain an adequate technical staff has proven

Morton E. Ruderman is president of Medical Information
Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH). Prior to forming MEDITECH in 1969. Mr. Ruderman was the Biomedical Marketing
Manager with Digital Equipment Corporation. He received his
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from
Northeastern University in 1959. and has taken additional
graduate and executive development courses in management.

A. Neil Pappalardo is vice president of systems development and secretary-treasurer of MEDITECH. He was formerly the Assistant Director of the Laboratory of Computer
Science and a Research Associate at Massachusetts General
Hospital. Mr. Pappalardo received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T. in 1964. He later
took graduate courses in computer sciences at M.I.T.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

PDp·15 HARDWARE CONFIGURATION
NECESSARY TO SUPPORT MUMPS SYSTEM

not only expensive, but difficult as well. System development is time consuming. Unlike most turnkey users, medical institutions require a substantial amount of system
modification and software development before the benefits
of computerization can be real ized. Thus, as much as four
or five years are necessary to evolve software and techniques which maximize the data storage and handling
ability of a computer based operation.
Thus, if this technology is to be spread into a wider
range of medical environments, it will require commercial
enterprises that are capable of del iveri ng tota I services ina
manner that minimizes start-up costs and the technical
staffs required to sustain the system.

Testing the Total Service Concept
Organized to support both the management and technological needs of today's hospitals, Medical Information
Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH) was established in August
of 1969 to deliver continuing medical information system
services to a wide variety of medical environments.
The mushrooming demand for effective and economic
patient care has sped the development of a computer
system capable of automating many of the repetitive and
time-consuming tasks found in a hospital. Services have
been evolved to integrate medical, scientific and operation
skills needed in providing computer-based information services to hospitals, clinics, screening centers, and other such
patient care facilities at a low cost - often for no more cost
per month than the salary of a medical secretary for total
computer service (i .e. 24-hours, seven days per week)
including programs, terminal and central computer usage.
Computer programs generated and maintained by MEDITECH are currently in use by many remotely located
hospitals. Software for the system includes the company's
unique version of the MGH Utility Multi-Programming
System (MUMPS) interpreter, originally conceived at the
Massachusetts General Hospital. All application programs
for the medical environment are written using this interpretive language -. allowing use of standard arithmetic and
Boolean statements. MUMPS has been made even more
suitable to the medical data management function by the
addition of an extensive set of instructions to manipulate
text strings and data files. These modifications were necessary since much of the data processing activity is in the
form of inputting text strings that are analyzed, processed,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

r----...,

41<

41<.

~~~I~~~ ~~_-l~_~

L__

__~

"--------~--"=~="--"------'--up TO 1311( CORE

Management Criteria
When the focus shifts from hardware to total software
services, the issue of system management becomes paramount. Whereas a considerable portion of the problem is
technological, the overriding concern is still that of managing the process in which the computer takes over the data
management responsibility in a hospital.
Today, hospitals are understaffed and are working under
continuous pressures. They are constantly criticized by the
community for inadequate services and by government for
high medical costs in the del ivery of health care. They have
little leisure nor the means with which to experiment with
new techniques. The computer must, therefore, be brought
into the hospital routine so as not to disrupt on-going
procedures.
Successful implementation is as much a management
problem as a technological one because hospitals require
services that are multi-disciplinary. It is becoming increasingly clear that, just as hospitals require computer services
that are evolutionary in nature, so too the organizations
offering medically-oriented computer services must be willing to maintain these services and evolve new applications
programs as the hospital's needs grow.

r------,

~---.,

c-:::,•

--i
I. __

....

- ... ,

--~

...J

".... -~:

I
UP T06
~"lld

ImE'S

lIl(lILdtPfl1lflonldl

system

DECtdfl€' Drlyes

.,nei dnllPd lines Ind'(,lle e .. ~dnSlOn

Figure 1

stored, and then retrieved on command by the computer a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-9 (Figure 1).

MUMPS - An Interpretive Language
Since the MUMPS interpreter is a high-level language
with a particularly powerful set of features tailored to the
medical community, applications programs are easily
created. Although the ease of programming might also be
accomplished by using a compiler language where the
source program would be similar to MUMPS, use of an
interpretive language has two major advantages.
The first is the elimination of compiling and/or assembling during program development. This feature makes the
correction and modification of the programs especially
convenient, and allows the programmer to make changes as
the programs are running. This ability to modify programs
quickly is especially desirable during the trial service operation.
The second and even more overriding benefit of using an
interpretive language arises from size considerations. Since
the source language version of an interpretive program is
very concise, it is possible to have several programs resident
in core simultaneously. This feature allows the time-sharing
of a medium-scale computer by partitioning of core, rather
than by a continuous swapping of programs from the disk.
If the program being run is too long to fit into a partition,
it may be broken down into several segments. These
segments are stored on the disk together with the inactive
programs, and are brought into the partition by the interpreter only as they are invoked. by the application
program.

The Computer Facility
The central computer facil ity itself is composed of three
basic elements:
a.) a medium-scale central processor (PDP-9) with a
very fast core storage,
b.) a high-speed disk memory system, and
c.) a set of terminal scanners capable of interfacing
to remote teletypewriters or keyboard display
scopes, line printers, card readers, optical sense
page readers arid analog-to~digital converters.
29

MEDITECH'S second computer facility will be the
PDP-15, an evolved version of the PDP-9 with increased
capabilities for servicing hospitals.
Shared Computer Resources

The system is designed to meet the requirements for
implementation and maintenance of information systems
which are concerned with solving the problems created by
the burgeoning volume of medical data processing activities.
This is being done in such a way that the spiraling costs of
medical care can be controlled. The strategy was one of
developing ti me-sharing computers and software in such a
way that several medical organizations share a single computer. This multi-user sharing of the computer's hardware
and its appl ication packages offers substantial economies to
each user of the system. This is especially true since most
users of the system have similar needs, as would be
expected with hospitals, cI inics and laboratories.
However, whenever an individual user requires a specialized program to suit his individual needs and capabilities, a
specialized application package is easily and quickly developed for him to facilitate his ability to interact with the
system. The goal of this approach is to develop computer
capabilities by a stable and evolutionary process tailored to
the user's changing needs.

Complete Systems Support Is Needed

from a patient: increased efficiency in caring for patients;
creation of legible and fully completed records; and a
vehicle for the early detection of disease and for computeraided diagnosis.
MEDITECH programs for automating the medical history incorporate the branching criteria characteristic of
patient-physician interaction, as well as many detailed
followup questions.
A self-instructional procedure or a staff member shows
the patient how to respond to questions asked by the
terminal; then she is essentially free to carryon other
responsibilities to the physician. The patient interview is
conducted by the computer, which generates mu Itiplechoice questions to which the patient responds by typing in
the number of the appropriate response.
The patient chooses the number of the appropriate
answer when the question does not warrant a "Y" (yes) or
"N" (no) response. Subsequent questions depend on the
patient's previous response and each question and answer
session is, therefore, configured for the particu lar patient
being interviewed. Patient responses are indicated within
boxes.
After each interview, a summary of the patient history is
generated for the physician prior to his examining the
patient. This patient history summary may be either in
narrative form or it may be only a "printout" (list) of
positive findings. Chief complaint histories (e.g., a history
NAME: GONZALES, MICHAEL
REASON FOR VISIT:

As medically-oriented users increase the number and
scope of services they can effectively utilize, some find they
are able to justify the installation of their own computer
system. Yet, many medical organizations do not desire to
acquire the skilled computer specialists necessary to design
a complete information system - nor to program, operate,
maintain and effectively apply this capability to their own
changing needs. For this evolutionary process, a different
type of complete systems support is needed.
A company offering services in this area must provide
for the hospital's desire to lease, rent, and even acquire
fully operational medical information systems, including
the computer and all necessary input/output terminal hardware, and both systems and applications software.
Thus, a hospital that develops expertise in a time-shared
use of a computer system always can convert to a totally
dedicated in-house computer installation without the expense of reprogramming, systems checkout or other" such
transient problems usually encountered in such a conversion. The cost for such a dedicated in-house installation
would be in the $100,000 range - remarkably low in a day
of million dollar medical information systems.

SEX: M

GENERAL CHECKUP

SOCIAL HISTORY:
PT IS 28 YRS OLD,MARRIED, AND IS EMPLOYED.
FAMILY HISTORY:
HYPERTENSION, CANCER AND ASTHMA.
GENERAL:
WEIGHT GAIN OF 22 LBS. ALCOHOLIC CONSuMPTION: OCCASIONAL
HEENT:
EYE SYMPTOMS: BLURRING EYESIGHT AND EYE PAIN. HISTORY OF
EYE DISEASE. NO DIFFICULTY HEARING. NO TINNITUS. NO EPISTAXIS.
NOTES SINUS TROUBLE, DENIES CHANGE IN VOICE.
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM:
STOPPED SMOKING 1 YEAR AGO (SMOKED MORE THAN l~ YEARS) ONE
TO TWO PACKS A DAY. DENIES COUGH,NOTES NO SHORTNESS OF BREATH.
HISTORY OF NO KNOWN RESPIRATORY AILMENTS.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM:
DENIES CHEST PAIN,DENIES PALPITATIONS,NOTES ORTHOPNEA DENIES
PEDAL EDEMA. DENIES LEG PAINS, DENIES PERIPHERAL REACTION TO
COLD. HISTORY OF HEART MURMUR.
GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM:
NOTES ABDOMINAL PAIN,RARELY, DENIES NAUSEA OR VOMITING,DENIES
JAUNDICE,TROUBLED BY CONSTIPATION. HAS BEEN TOLD BY MD OF PRESENCE OF HEMERRHOIDS AND NERVOUS STOMACH.

Figure 2

specifically designed for a patient with chest pain, nausea,
etc.) are available (Figure 2).
Specialized Application Packages Are Needed

Today, no service company can claim to offer a totally
operational version of a hospital information system. However, several companies are moving in this direction. If one
looks at the modular application packages now in use and
in the development stages, the progress is quite encouraging.
However, a large part of the problem encountered in
designing such a system is the need for handling "literal"
termi nology with the efficiency that computers regularly
handle numbers. The system usable in this environment
must be capable of acquiring both literal and analog data.
The Automated Medical History

Several objectives of acquiring literal data can be seen in
the use of a computer to acquire a medical history directly
30

Patient Examination Report

A Medical Report Routine takes data acquired from the
patient interview and enables the user either to enter data
for a particular report or to generate a full prose of
previously entered data. A Report Form Number is used to
specify the kind of report desired (Figure 3). The Examination report is then generated, addressed to the physician
indicated (Figure 4).
Hospital Census Operations

Another area where the computer can be readily applied
is in providing complete and updated information serving as
a record of patient location, as a verification of room
assignments for accounting, and as an indication of bed
availability. Knowledge of the exact location of all patients,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

FORM NO: [JJ
Cll/~7/69;

OPTION:

Discharging a Patient

HYPERTENSION EVALUATION; DR. GROSSMAN)

@] NTER

THIS IS REPORT

REPORT
NO.l~

REPORT I .D.: ~.---;UNERE-PAmNTTHOMASS-Mmt]
ENTER ITEMS IN ORDER:
~-DR.KL

INE- -.- ------

> 1 HMR THOMAS SM I TH
> 2i1 l' 3 MONTHS
I > 21,231'CHRONIC FATIGUE ........... .
I

Any patient may easily be discharged from the hospital
at any time.
On activating the Discharge Routine and entering the
patient number, the patient's name and location will be
printed out on the teletype along with the question, ... "DISCHARGE O.K.?" If the user types "Y" (for
yes), discharge is made by the computer, which now
considers that bed as available for a new patient.

Figure 3

Scheduling Appointments

DEAR DR. KLI NE,
THANK YOU FOR REFERRING MR. THOMAS SMITH FOR HYPERTENSION
EVALUATION.
THE PATIENT HAS KNOWN OF THE PROBLEM FOR THE PAST THREE
MONTHS. THERE IS A POSITIVE FAMILY HISTORY OF HYPERTENSION.
THE PAT I ENT HAS NOTED CHRON I C FATIGUE ................. .

Computerization enables a hospital to effectively list,
make or cancel appointments for any diagnostic or care
OPTION:[BJAKE APPOINTMENT
FOR WHAT UNIT? 0RAY
FOR WHAT DATE:~

Figure 4

FOR WHAT TIME: ~

and of space available to care for them, is critical to
hospital efficiency and patient care.
Optimal implementation of MEDITECH'S patient census
operations requires planning with the client hospital as to
the best location of terminals. Terminals located in the
admissions office accept the normal types of admissjon
data; i.e., patient name, address, telephone number, illness,
unit number, name of private physician, etc. Once this is in
the system there is never the need to prepare forms for this
information again.
Each morning the admissions office updates the computer with the names of persons admitted during the past
night. At this time, a bed availability list is generated for
the various divisions and patient care units of the hospital.
Once this is done, any census information may be requested

HOSF\ITAL ROUTINE DESIRED :~ARD REPORT
WARD:

===

WHITE 1
14 BEDS OCCUPIED, 6 BEDS FREE
ID

99-7~

77-64
73-16
79-14

NAME
JONES, JAMES
SAMUELS, RALPH
TARLIN, ROBERT
FORMAN, ROBERT

AGE
28
42
57

SEX
M
M
M

..............

BED
Wli11A
Wli11B
WIIlIC

Figure 5

from the computer, including printouts of bed availability
in an individual care unit (Figure 5).
Swift admission of a patient to any available bed within
a hospital is accomplished using an Admission Routine. The
computer requests all the data necessary to admit the
patient: i.e., name, address, telephone number, next of kin,
birth date, sex, admitting diagnosis, insurance, and bed
location (ward and bed). The patient's hospital number is
then assigned by the computer and admission is completed.
If the admitting officer is unsure as to which beds are
available he merely types a question mark (7) on the
teletype. The computer then generates a list of available
bedsat any particular care unit.

Transfers
To transfer a patient, the computer requests the
patient's unit number and asks for a ward or bed to which
the patient is being transferred. If the requested bed is
available, the transfer is completed immediately. Bed location can be specified merely by ward or room, whereupon
the computer will assign the patient any available bed in
that ward or room.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

O. K.

OPTION:~IST APPOINTMENTS

Figure 6

center. Appointments can either be listed by patient number or by particular location such as X-Ray, TB Clinic, etc.
(Figure 6).

Ordering Medications and Lab Tests
Using the correct routine and appropriate option within
that routine, a physician (or his designate with proper
identification) may order or cancel drugs for any patient
under his care. The physician may request a list of all drugs
currently in use for the patient, along with the name of the
doctor who prescribed them and the time at which he did
so. (All medication charges are automatically held by the
computer for listing on patient bills when the patient's bill
is activated.)
The ability to order investigative and diagnostic laboratory tests enables a physician to quickly treat his patient. A
laboratory technician may then enter results for laboratory
tests previously ordered. As with the Medication Routine,
test charges are held by the computer until the patient is
billed on leaving the hospital.

The Automated Chemistry Laboratory
Nowhere is the need for computer-based applications
packages as critical as in the Chemistry laboratory. During
the normal day of operation, the system is required to
accept requisition information, print out IA/ork sheets,
collect test data directly from laboratory instrumentation,
generate patient reports, and answer a number of general
inquiries for test results.
Many normal procedures in the laboratory are, unfortunately, manual ones which do not lend themselves to
automation. Provision is made for entry of results from
manual tests into the computer-generated patient reports.
The operation of a typical computer-based laboratory is
outlined below. The following sections explain the major
functions performed by the existing chemistry laboratory
system in use today _ However, MEDI TECH has personnel
available to assist in this evolutionary process.
Log-in: When a sample arrives in the laboratory, it is
assigned a specimen number in the normal manner. For
each specimen number, the hospital identification number
(or any identification number) of the patient to whom it
belongs is entered into the computer through a termi nal
(teletype or display).
If the patient is in the active file, thecomputer responds
to this identification number with the name and patient
31

care unit for verification, after which the typist designates
the tests which are to be performed.
If the computer has no prior information on the patient,
the typist (technician) must enter the pati~nt's name, sex,
hospital number, etc. into the computer - thus creating a
patient file.
Test requests arrive in the laboratory throughout the day
and can be entered into the computer on a conti nuing basis.

Cumulative Reports

Test results are compiled by the computer for each
patient. The report issued for the use of the medical staff is
cumulative, containing all the laboratory findings for a
WHITE

SMITH, THOMAS

MAR

2~lG

3,197~

COLLECTION DATE
---ELECTROLYTES---

OPTION: lLOG-INI
PATIENT NUMBER:~ (SMITH, THOMAS
TESTS:

NA, K, BUN, GLU,

SODIUM
(L36-L45 MEQ/L)

W2illG)

::5.5

POTASSIUM
0.5-5 MEQ/L)

........ .

OK?[D

---BLOOD SERUM METABOLITES---

SPECIMEN NO:

1~4

BUN
(8-25

Figure 7

PEND
MG/l~~

ML)

BLOOD SUGAR

During peak loads, multiple terminals may be used to enter
test data (Figure 7).
Master Worksheet: The Master Worksheet contains
essentially the same information that appeared on the
Log-I n requisitions - but is formatted by the computer so
that the technician working with the samples can conveniently use it as a guide for dividing and grouping the

(7~-1~~ MG/l~e

ML)

Figure 10

patient during the past Week. Test results outside of normal
range findings are marked (*) for easy identification on all
output (Figure 10).
Preparing the Patient's Bill

OPTION:~ASTER WORKSHEET
SN

PATIENT
TATEL,L
LERNER,R
PETERSON, D
SMI TH, T

1~1
1~2
1~3
1~4

CA
CA
CA
GLU

TESTS
K
K

BUN
NA
SGOT
NA

NA
BUN

BUN

The computer can compile all applicable charges against
any patient number requested. Last minute additions to the
list of charges are requested by the computer before
HOSPITAL ROUTINE DESIRED: ~ILLING

Figure 8

specimens according to the tests to be performed (Figure
8).
At specified ti mes during the day (or on request), the
computer prints out worksheets for each run of tests to be
performed in the laboratory. Each worksheet contains a
schedule for each particular test and includes standards,
controls, and speci mens. The technicians enter their readings on these computer-generated worksheets (Figure 9).
ELECTROLYTE
CUP

WORK

MARCH 3,

SHEET

PATIENT

197~

TESTS

~3/~3

STAND 3

WHITE

2~6G

74.~~

SUBTOTAL

74.ee

SUBTOTAL

9.~e
9.~~

MEDICATION CHARGES:
~3/~3

PLACIDYL

LAB CHARGES:

e3/e3
~3/~3
~3/~3

STAND 2

W2~6G)

ROOM CHARGES:

e3/e3

STAND 1

GLUCOSE
POTASSIUM
SODIUM
UREA NITROGEN

6.e~
4.~e

4.ee
SUBTOTAL

15.e~
29.~e

TOTAL

112.~~

Figure 11

STAND 4
CONTROL
1 ill

TATEL, L

LERNER, R

C02
C02

1~3

PETERSON, R

C02

Figure 9

Test Result Entry: To insure immediate reporting ot
tests ordered on an emergency basis, test results on specimens marked "STAT" (indicating an emergency situation)
are entered into the computer immediately and then automatically reported to the appropriate care center. All test
results are, at present, entered manually into the computer.
With the installation of analog-to-digital conversion, the
computer will collect data directly from laboratory instrumentation on-line. MEDITECH has an AID converter that
can presently transmit through regular communications
systems. This capability eliminates the transcription of test
results while monitoring all instrumentation for quality
control. The computer is programmed to permit considerable flexibility in entering test results which are not in a
defined order, and can generate any desired report of test
results for procedures done in the laboratory.
32

PATIENT NUMBER: ~~-46 (SMITH,THOMAS
ANY ITEMS TO ADD TO BILL?~

compiling the total bill for the patient. The computer then
prepares the reconci liation for the patient account (Figure
11 ).
Future Developments

Many people believe that full utilization of computer
services by hospitals may be as far as a decade away. Our
present experience contradicts this view - though we
recognize that the process is still evolutionary in nature.
During the last two years, developments in system integration and in software have laid the groundwork for rapid
development of the modular components from which a
total hospital information system can be assembled.
I n the short term, we expect to see many hospitals
working with the individual service components they deem
as most critical. Later, their desire to expand will be
matched by further refinements in technology, and they
will be able to fill in computer-based services to supplement
their existing capability.
Growth, then, will be evolutionary. It will also be a
steady and continual process, assisted by private organizations who can provide the technical expertise to refine the
process.
0
COMPUTERS a:1d AUTOMATION for June, 1970

THE ROLE OF ADMINISTRATORS AND PHYSICIANS
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Geoffrey G. Jackson
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital
721 Huntington Ave.
Boston, Mass. 02115

"We can no longer administer a complex medical institution by 'the seat of
our pants' any more than the physician can continue to practice advanced
medicine without computer a,ssistance. "

This is an age of rapidly escalating medical care costs,
and much has been said about rising salary levels and
increased costs for medical products. As an index of
growth, suppose we take short-term general community
hospitals. There has been an increase of some 13% between
1963 and 1968 in the number of people required to render
service. Combining this with a 35% increase in average
annual salary over the same period of time, there has been
an annual increase in costs of over $2 billion. This represents over 40% of the total increases from all causes.

Personnel cost is rising at a faster rate than other cost
factors.

The Flood of Information
With the above in mind, what logical approaches can be
considered for controlling these costs, or at least bringing
the rate of increase into line with the rate of increase in the
national economy? There are no easy answers; the increasing complexity of rendering patient care in the hospital
environment is one of the major factors causing the rise of
costs. Automated devices (electronic and electro-mechanical) are proliferating in every area of the hospital. Chemistry and hematology laboratories are being automated.
Countless patient monitoring devices and systems have
come into use. Patient menu selections are being broadened
by pre-prepared, portion-controlled, food systems. These
automated devices and systems are expanding the capability
of areas affected, which in turn generates an increased
utilization of the facility. It is, to some degree, a "vicious
cycle" where increased capability produces increased
demand, and vice versa. In addition, these automated
systems are generating a vast flood of information.
How many people are involved with this ever-increasing
tide of information? No accurate figures really exist, probably because it is difficult to identify the time consumed by
any individual performing his portion of the informationhandling activity related to a given sub-system, such as a
.
laboratory. But doubtless many hours are involved.
Satisfactory measurements can hardly be made until
accurate information is available defining the path of the
information sub-system. Few hospitals can exhibit accurate
flow charts of their many information sub-systems. Even if
we cannot measure accurately the times or costs, we should
at least diagram the sub-systems and identify the number of
people involved. In this way we can indicate the magnitude
of the pro.blems which ensue when some portion of an
information sub-system fails to perform as it should.
I

Geoffrey G. Jackson is the Associate Director of the Peter
Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Mass. He holds a B.A. from
Amherst College, and an M.S. in Administrative Medicine
from Columbia University. His administrative residency,
required for his M.S., was done at Massachusetts General
Hospital. He was formerly with General Electric Co. as
manager of market research and development for MEDI NET,
and was the assistant director of the University Hospital at
the Boston University Medical Center.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Categories of I nformation Are Not Clear Cut

The great majority of hospital information sub-systems
contain essentially two categories of information: medical
information; and administrative information. This categorical subdivision is, however, not sharp. For example, the
typical laboratory requisition and reporting document is a
mu Itipart form with the names of procedures or tests to be
performed, and a blank space which is subsequently filled
in with the result. One carbon copy of the form contains
charge-code numbers (if the hospital has automated patient
billing) to be used by the accounting department. In
addition, patient identification information including name,
patient number, location, etc. is on all copies. Of course,
the test result data is basically medical information. But
when this same information is collected over a certain time
period and analyzed for quality control, the information
becomes an ad mi n istrative tool. Alternatively, charge code
information collected over a certain time, and summarized
statistically, to indicate test frequency and trends, has
medical implications.
This type of interrelationship exists in all hospital
ancillary service areas including pharmacy, laboratories,
radiology, and dietary. A significant number of hospitals
that have electronic data processing installations fail to
recognize this interrelationship. That failure frequently
results in considerable unnecessary duplication. Thus many
hospital EDP billing systems are designed to suit the needs
of the accounting department only. I n some instances,
operating departments such as laboratories are not even
aware that useful statistical fallout from the billing system
is available.

Physician Interaction

Physicians interact with the information sub-systems at
various levels. I n many instances sUb-systems have evolved
directly as a result of physician requirements, either for
medical reasons or for convenience. For example, the
elapsed time between a sample collected for a laboratory
test, and the reported result may be specified by the
physician. Physicians tend to request immediate results for
a far higher percentage of the total tests than is generally
aoknowledged to be medically essential. A high rate of
these "rush" orders compounds the problem of total
throughput in a laboratory. Most laboratories (such as
chemistry and hematology) use sophisticated automated
equipment, and set up "batch runs". Once these runs are in
process, they cannot be interrupted; thus most responses to
"rush" orders must be determined manually rather than via
automated equipment. This is not only more costly, but
interferes with the regular "flow process". When the number of these orders becomes inordinate, the entire testing
cycle is slowed down.

Patient Identification

I n the typical requisition for ancillary servi ce (such as
radiology, etc.) the most vital part of the information is
identifying of the patient. Illegibility can cause significant
problems; up to this point they have not been well
measured. Most hospitals utilize some form of metal-plate
ink imprinter to identify patients. These devices are often
not properly operated and some portion of the information
is illegible. Typically, if the originating department can read
the patient's name, they assume that this is adequate. But
although his name may be clear, the patient's number a.n?
his location may be partially obscured. When the requIsItion is then received in the ancillary department, they are
not able to read the location, and they call "information"
34

or the admitting office to determine the location of the
patient, in order to transmit the ancillary department's
result to the correct place. A second part of this form goes
to the accounting department; they also can't read the
patieQt number, by means of which they organize their
billing accounts. Another telephone call and some more
wasted effort is needed to fill in another bit of essential
information for the same transaction. Any significant
amount of illegibility can cause inordinate delays in transmitting important information.

The Level of Understanding

A level of understanding of various hospital information
sub-systems both by administration and the physicians is
urgently needed. Neither the hospital administrator nor the
physician need be a systems analyst, but they do need a
general understanding of hospital systems and procedures
to work effectively together. Naturally, there is a tendency
on the part of anyone to want to solve his own pressing
problems without due regard to the effect of the solution
on others. This approach to problem solving is evident in
many hospitals. Over the past ten years, it has produced
"information systems" which can best be described as
"patchwork quilts" and which function, in many cases,
only on the knowledge and inherent idiosyncracies of
several key clerical employees.
The Results of Uncoordination

This example of the results of a self-centered approach
to problem solving occurred in a hospital recently. The
director of one of the clinical laboratories in this hospital
engaged a commercial time-sharing computer firm to provide a system which would (1) accept information pertaining to orders for clinical tests organized by patient; and (2)
produce work lists organized by procedure - thus "automating" a somewhat time consuming and tedious manual
task. Originally, this new system was to be used on a trial
basis for two months only. But because the laboratory
personnel readily accepted it, the system quickly became an
integral part of the overall computer system of the hospital.
When the hospital systems staff were then brought up to
date on the new system in the lab, they quickly determined
another use for it. By adding six digits to the input of each
patient requisition, the system could produce, as a byproduct, a machine-readable tape which could be used for
billing. This application of the system eliminated manual
keypunching of some 1000 cards per day - and the time
saved in the billing activity turned out to be greater than
the time saved in the lab itself.
Why was this second use for this system not planned
from the start? The commercial firm installing the system
should have recognized the potential of the proposed
activity; but the laboratory director made the mistake of
solving his own problem without considering the other
operating parts of the hospital.
Responsibilities of Equipment Manufacturers

The attitudes and responsibilities assumed by the manufacturers of automated equipment can also affect the
success of a system. For example, one firm producing an
automated hematology device provides with the device a
"black book" to be used to convert the analog signal to a
printed digital result. There was no provjsion made by this
company for acquiring these digital results in machine-readable form. Thus numbers had to be re-keyed before they
could be introduced into the in-house computer system.
Equipment manufacturers have made some progress in
automating clinical tests, but not enough progress has been
. COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

PROBLEM CORNER
Walter Penney, COP
Problem Editor
Computers and Automation

Solution to Problem 705: AI's 3-Ring Problem

PROBLEM 706: RESTORATION COMPLETED

The numbers 2, 5 and 7 were in the outer areas and 6, 1
and 4, respectively, were in the overlapped portions; or,
equivalently, 6, 1 and 4 in the outer areas and 5, 7 and 2,
respectively, in the overlapped portions.

"Had a little trouble with our printer today," Joe said as
Pete entered the computer room.
"What was that?"
"Well, at first we thought there was something wrong
with our decimal to binary conversion routine. By coincidence, at the ti me the bug developed, we happened to be
using a number containing only l's and O's. You can
imagine our surprise when we got the same number for the
equivalent in binary."
"You pulling my leg or something?" Pete asked. "Only 1
and 0 are the same in decimal and binary."
"Right! But this was a 6-digit number. Of course, as
soon as we tried another number we realized what the
trouble was. The machine for some reason was printing out
only the left-most six bits."
"Everything O.K. now?"
"Oh, yes," Joe said. "And my faith in the conversion
routine was restored."
What was the number?

Readers are invited to submit problems (and their
solutions) for publication in this column to: Problem
Editor, Computers and Automation, 815 Washington St.,
Newtonville, Mass. 02160.

made in speeding up reports of the results of these tests.
The fact that the lab can conduct tests more rapidly is of
little value to the practicing physician, unless he can obtain
the results reasonably quickly.
Personnel Shortage
The hospital/medical field needs capable systems people.
To say that these people are in short supply is an understatement. Hopefully the unique challenge of the medical
field will attract more capable people.
I do firmly believe that hospitals need to be automated.
We can no longer administer a complex medical institution
by "the seat of our pants", any more than the physician
can continue to practice advanced medicine without computer assistance. There is no reason, however, for wellplanned, automated systems to "de-humanize" hospitals.
Lessons from Industry
Many of the criticisms leveled at our "so-called" health
delivery system are justified, I think (see Fortune magazine,
January, 1970). Management of hospital and health delivery systems has been less than outstanding, and doctors,
administrators, and boards of trustees must share the
blame.
Probably the area in which they have been most negligent is in the utilization of the systems and techniques that
have been developed and used by industry for almost two
decades now. Perhaps one cannot directly compare the
manufacturing process with the sickness-to-health process,
yet a lab system is in many ways similar to a process control
system. While there are few manufacturing industries that
today do not rely on process control systems, the number
of hospitals with totally automated laboratory systems is
quite small.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

We are rapidly becoming buried in a sea of millions of
words handwritten on paper documents. These words must
be reduced, formatted and stored in machine-readable form
soon, or the volume will make access to the documents
virtually impossible within any reasonable time frame. The
problems created by the volume of medical records in my
hospital are staggering. Industries could not make a profit
without solving these kinds of problems. If airline scheduling were not computer-assisted, the airline companies
could not handle the volume of business they do economically. I npatient and outpatient admissions in a hospital
share some of the problems of airline scheduling, yet there
are few inpatient/outpatient scheduling and admissions
systems.
The Commercial Vendor
We must be wary of the commercial vendor's ability to
solve complex systems problems. Much of what appears in
advertisements and brochures is in the imagination of the
marketing section of a company. A demonstration model
can be a long way from the reality of actually operating a
system. Attempts to apply industrial techniques to hospitals will only succeed in an environment of mutual understanding. A lack of understanding can have undesirable, if
not disastrous results.
Neither hospital administrators nor physicians are capable of functioning effectively in an environment of too
stringent systems controls. But the total lack of control
over automated systems is no longer tolerable. We can no
longer cling to our paper documents and a prodigious
memory. Administrators and doctors alike must shed the
familiar past and delve into the realities of today - and
without question, this means automation wherever feasible.

In the Year 2001: SURGERY BY COMPUTER
Dr. Robert Fondiller
Management Consultants
200 W. 58th St.
New York, N. Y. 10019

"The kidney transplant operation proceeds at lightning speed - without a
human surgeon! The computer-controlled robot, whom the staff has affectionately named 'Dr. Sawbones', is efficiently operating at a speed that is
almost too fast for the human eye to follow."
A.D. 2001. Mr. Star Bright is lying naked in the
environmentally-controlled operating room of Compu
Hospital. He is in the midst of a kidney transplant.
The only other human being in the operating room is
Miss Digit, a computer operator with a specialty in nursing.
Her only attire is an aseptic spray-on coverall. When she
goes off duty, her coverall will wash off instantly in the
shower, and she will spray on another attire, appropriate to
her after-work activity, by merely pushing the appropriate

buttons of the spray-on machine for a riding outfit, evening
dress, or whatever is her whim of the moment.
Miss Digit is paying no attention to Mr. Star Bright. She
is programming the computer for the next patient, a heart
transplant, whose operation will begin in 2 minutes and 46
seconds. Organs are no longer repaired, nor taken from
other human beings. The man-made article is now far
superior, free from disease or breakdown, and "guaranteed
for a lifetime."
Mr. Bright's operation is proceeding at lightning speed without a human surgeon! The computer-controlled robot,
whom the staff affectionately call "Dr. Sawbones", is
efficiently operating at a speed that is almost too fast for
the human eye to follow.

Admission Procedures

Dr. Robert Fondiller is a licensed Professional Engineer
with degrees from Columbia University and Stevens Institute
of Technology. He is also a licensed Psychologist; his Doctorate Thesis was on "Creative Problem-Solving." Dr. Fondilier
is on the faculties of New York University and Columbia
University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. In
addition to his teaching responsibilities and consulting assignments, he is also a frequent speaker for the American
Management Association, the Association for Computing
Machinery, and a number of other professional societies.

When Mr. Bright arrived in the unattended reception
room of Compu Hospital, there was no tiresome waiting,
interviewing, and filling out of forms - with the patient
"dropping dead" on his feet. Instead, Mr. Bright walked up
to the brightly illuminated sign, "NEW PATIENTS PRESS
THIS BUTTON". He pressed the button, and a recorded
voice immediately welcomed him in warm, soothing tones:
"Welcome to Compu Hospital. You will be out again healthier than ever - in less than fifteen minutes. Your
friends and fami Iy can wait for you at the Exit Door, at the
back of the hospital. Will" the patient please lie down on the
couch, with the head toward the wall. That is all."
Mr. Bright followed the instructions. Lying down, with
his head toward the wall, he·discovered that the "couch"
was the beginning of a ride on an endless conveyor belt. His
weight actuated the drive motor and he began travelling
toward the operating room. Soft, warm air and lighting
soothed him. A gentle voice cooed, "Please ·shut your
eyes." As the conveyor belt carried Mr. Bright along, his
spray-on clothing was evaporated off, his skin was laved by
a warm, antiseptic mist that did not lower h is body
temperature.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

The pea-size transmitter that had been implanted in Mr.
Bright's body at birth broadcast his identification number,
so that the computer could retrieve all his vital information
from the Personal Data Bank, without Mr. Bright having to
say a word. No need to recall the date of birth when you
are too ill to remember. No need for blood typing, etc., etc.
Routine Tests

Routine tests were conducted almost without Mr.
Bright's knowing about them. For instance, he thought that
he felt a slight tingling at one of his fingertips - but before
he could really identify the sensation, it had gone away.
Actually, his fingertip had been sprayed with a local
anesthesia, a needle had extracted a micro-sample of blood
from a capillary, and a light touch of a laser beam had
cauterized the spot - all in less than one second.
Mr. Bright was in a state of euphoria. The first zone
through which the conveyor belt passed contained a heady
gaseous relaxant and analgesic (an agent for producing
insensibility to pain). Mr. Bright began to feel that the
world was a very happy, healthy, pain less place in wh ich to
live. Therefore, when the sub-liminal (below the level of
conscious awareness) command to "deliver a urine sample"
was given by the robot and collected by the robot, Mr.
Bright unknowingly complied. (I n contrast to the old
procedures of the Dark Ages of 1970, when the patient was
too frightened to relax sufficiently to deliver a sample of
urine for analysis.)

Identifying Illness

Mr. Bright then passed through a hoop of extremely
delicate thermal sensors, whose function was to identify
and diagnose any illness anywhere in his body. Whenever
any part of the body is in stress or difficulty, blood rushes
to that area to help repair and heal the area. This causes a
local concentration of higher heat than the rest of the
body, wh ich the thermal sensors detect. The body-scanning
of the thermal sensors is computer-plotted by X and Y axes
to pinpoint any aberrations from health. The aberrations
are then fed into the computer for diagnosis, and choice of
therapy - which is then carried out by injection of
long-lasting (several years, if necessary) prescriptions - or,
- if indicated, - surgical procedures by Dr. Sawbones.
I n Mr. Bright's case, the computer calculated Mr.
Bright's survival chances without an operation versus his
survival chances while undergoing an operation versus his
survival chances as a result of having had the operation, and mathematically selected his best statistical survival
chance as having the operation now.

A Failing Kidney

Once Mr. Bright's trouble" was found to be a failing
kidney, he was injected with a dye that colored his kidney
only. Later, in the operating room, a curve-tracing computer program would control Dr. Sawbones' laser in cutting
out his old kidney.
In the meantime, the size of the artificial kidney that
Mr. Bright would require was calculated by a computer
program based on these input data:
1. His weight - as determined when the conveyor
belt went over an in-line scale.
2. His body volume - determined by an array of
photosensors beneath the transparent conveyo"r
belt and alongside the conveyor belt. (Very much
like the photosensors that keep elevator doors
open when a passenger is in front of the photosensor, either entering or leaving the elevator.) The
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

computer completed all the intricate calculations
to arrive at Mr. Bright's body volume and density,
including taking account of such possibilities as
edema (abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in
the connective tissue).
By the time that Mr. Bright arrived in the operating
room the computer had:
1. Computer-admitted him to the hospital.
2. Computer-interviewed him.
3. Computer-received him - and undressed, washed,
and given him a relaxant.
4. Computer-lab tested him.
5. Computer-diagnosed him.
6. Computer-prepared him for the operation.
7. Computer-administered his analgesia.
8. Computer-calculated operating room procedure
for him.
9. Computer-programmed the operating robot.
Finally, Mr. Bright passed through the hypnotic section
of the conveyor belt, immediately prior to entering the
operating room. The hypnotic section:
1. Hypnotized the patient by a combination of visual
sti muli (flashing and whirling lights, visible
through closed eyelids) and a soft, suggestive
recorded voice.
2. Gave him all his instructions for behavior during
the operation, such as "feel no pain, remain
motionless, obey instructions."
3. Gave him all his post-operative instructions as
post-hypnotic suggestion, including a list of do's
and dont's, possible post-operative symptoms and
what to do in response to each, when to return for
a check-up, etc. (Under hypnosis, long and detailed instructions are easily remembered and
obeyed.)
Now, Mr. Bright arrives in the operating room, delivered
by the conveyor belt. His computer-selected artificial kidney has been automatically delivered to Dr. Sawbones. His
body is relaxed. It is simply a matter of taking out the old,
defective kidney and replacing it with the new artificial
one.

The Transplant

Dr. Sawbones' many robot hands go into action simultaneously, as computer-programmed (from his data bank of
previous kidney transplant operations, which has been
personally tailored to Mr. Bright's specific case as it was
diagnosed and analyzed during his brief, quick trip along
the conveyor belt). Dr. Sawbones operates alone. He needs
no surgical assistants, with whom he needs to speak, and
then wait for them to understand and execute his orders.
While Dr. Sawbones is making a laser incision in "thE
most perfect spot" (bearing in mind the location of thE
kidney, the musculature of the abdomen, and the esthetic~
of the slight, thin white line of scar tissue that will remain),
other pairs of "paws" of Dr. Sawbones' are testing thE
elasticity of Mr. Bright's abdominal skin - to mathematically compute the optimum length and direction of the
incision to just clear the removal of the old kidney and the
insertion of the new.
As the incision is made, the laser cauterizes the tissue
against blood flow and infection, and the "paws" continually test the size of opening that is necessary bY'pulling the
incision open as it is being cut! A feedback loop through
the computer continuously monitors and calculates the
length and direction of incision required and the results of
the calculations control the motion, and the length of
motion, of Dr. Sawbones' laser beam.
37

1. Patient Reception - Flashing sign says, "Push Button",
which plays recording, "Lie down, head towards wall.

8. Computer Monitors ma-I---=_ _ _ _ _ _-f...
jor organs from transmitters implanted'
at birth.~/',
/

","

7. Clothing
Disintegrato:."

//'

,'"
",

,,/ /
/"

'.~

on conveyor belt.

SURGERY BY COMPUTER
Copyright 1970 by:
Dr. Robert Fondiller
200 West 58 Street
New York City 10019
212-586-6650

While the incision is widening, others of Dr. Sawbones'
"fingers" are spreading the muscle layers apart, while still
others are positioning themselves to pinch off the important blood vessels leading to the kidney, prior to their
being severed by the laser beam (in a cutting by evaporation, but not cauterizing, model.
At the time of the removal of the old kidney, some
twenty or thirty of Dr. Sawbones' "fingers" will be pinching off blood vessels, holding back muscles, lifting out the
old kidney, inserting the new kidney, etc. The whole
operation is programmed to take place in less than three
minutes.
Timed Recovery

At the end of 180 seconds, Mr. Bright has a freshlytested, newly-installed, artificial kidney that will outlast
him, and he is passing on the conveyor belt out to the back
door, where his timed recovery will enable him to get a
post-hypnotic cue to "Sit up! You are all better again and healthier and happier for your visit to Compu HospitaL" And so, Mrs. Bright accompanies him home in their
car, less than five minutes from the time that Mr. Bright
walKed in the front door of Compu Hospital, an ail ing man,
in need of a serious operation!

"MAY DAY!"
Miss Digit has been watching Dr. SawBones operating on
Mr. Bright out of the corner of her eye, as she went about
her computer-tending duties. If there had been the slightest
difficulty of any kind, she would have immediately hit one
of the "MAY DAY!" buttons, strategically placed within
arm's length from any point in the operating room. The
"MAY DAY!" button would:
1. I mmediately immobilize Dr. Sawbones.
38

ect any unhealthy symptoms anywhere.
10. Photosensors - vertical & horizontal,
measure body's cubic dimensions vs.
weight and height.

2. Actuate a high-speed, 5-second computer print-out
of:
a. The patient's diagnosis.
b. The PERT diagram of the step-by-step procedure for the operation.
c. The post-operative procedures.
d. The point at which the operation was stopped.
e. The reason why the operation was stopped.
f. The PERT diagram of what should be done,
step-by-step, right now.
Alongside the operating room is a dormitory containing
a complete human operating room team, antiseptically
prepared, dressed, ready for immediate action, and fast
asleep. While sleeping, this team has been receiving a
sub-liminal report of all the information in the above
print-out. If the operation had concluded successfully, they
would have received a suggestion to "Forget all about this
operation." On the other hand, if anything goes wrong, the
dormitory room is immediately revolved to open into the
operating room and the operating team awakened. They are
all ready to go into instant action, because they have been
completely in touch with every detail of the operation
while asleep. Their last sleeping suggestion would have
been, "You will remember everything about this operation
when you wake up NOW!" The operating team would then
take over from Dr. Sawbones, as best they could, being
only humans (with such very human limitations as only
two hands apiece, and being able to think with a brain
whose internal speed is only 50 miles per second vis-a-vis
the computer's internal electrical speed approaching light's
velocity of 186,000 miles per second).
Alternatives to Transplant Surgery

The foregoing description of an organ transplant operation 31 years hence was unimaginative, because organ
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

,\ ,
\

~~Y-f-13.MAY DAY! button is.pushed by computer op.erator,in case of any

,,
\

b,.."{!

malfunction --to delIver the human operahng team, Emergency
Stand-By Medic Corps, ready to continue, from the adjacent dormitory where they are sub-liminally listening to the operation, as it
takes place, whi
they sleep.

iiREBI14. Patient Is Programmed
- / for his own post-operammiEW~"'i tive care, by post-hypnotic suggestion.

E.MERGENCY
STAND-BY
MEDIC CORPS

p~tient.~

passes thru
Washing &
Sterilizing Mist.

12. Dye shot lnto
organ,
.
to guide curve -tracing
~.___~--/
laser beam for its removal.
_ _ _ _ _ _ 16.
_ Operatlng Ro
laser, replaces failing
organ in 3 minutes,
17. High-Energy Clothes
portal-to-portal. Highsprayed on,to~
energy blood transfusion
has special rapid-growth - - - nally supply post-o erative strength ~atient.
cells, for healing.

transplant surgery may no longer be necessary then. I nstead, mi niature transmitters will probably be placed
throughout the body at birth, each about the size of a fly
speck, or broadcast only when the strategic location in the
body (which the transmitter is monitoring) becomes unhealthy. In effect, many "Little Brothers watching you"
will safeguard your health.
Diseased organs will be injected by a gun aimed and shot
(to the proper depth inside the body) from outside the
body, with specific, trained bacteria to fight the specific
illness. Or, general purpose cells with a high growth rate
(like a controllable healthy cancer) will be used to consume
the unhealthy cells and rapidly replace them. Or, chemotherapy will be employed, where the chemical unbalance
(either living or inert) that causes malfunction in organs will
have been so accurately analyzed, that countervailing chemicals can be introduced to restore the proper balance within
the organ. Or, a hypodermic needle could be inserted into
the ailing organ, disintegrate it into dust-sized particles,
suck the particles out, and re-inject another dehydrated,
collapsed, string-shaped new organ, that would then be
wetted and blown up in its proper place into a full-size,
"instant" replacement organ.
The description of Mr. Bright walking into Compu
Hospital was also an old-fash ioned, rutty idea. Actually,
since everybody would be computer-monitored, if something serious occurred, an ambulance would be computerdispatched to pick up the patient, drive into the hospital
itself, and unload him directly onto the conveyor belt.
Costs

Of course, costs will go up due to the inflationary
pressures of the work ing-class unions. But these wi II be
more than off-set by the cost-savings of the thin king class's
innovations. As a result, a three-minute operation may cost
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

$20.00 per minute of computer and peripheral (Dr. Sawbones') time, or a total of $60.00 for an organ transplant.
In a checkless society, the computer would simply deduct
the cost of the operation from Mr. Bright's account - with
no paper work, no signatures.
Mr. Bright's temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and
respiration rate are all computer-monitored on the conveyor belt, and in the operating room, as they are 24-hours
of every day of his life.
Monitoring and Decoding Brain Waves

There is a very, very remote possibility that by A.D.
2001, a computer may be able to decode Mr. Bright's brain
waves (as measured by electro-encephalogram-electrodes on
the skull) into actual words and sentences. If so, it will be
possible to computer-interrogate Mr. Bright for his symptoms, and receive h is answers without Mr. Bright having to
speak. If not, the interview by the computer can take place
in the hypnotic trance, with the computer decoding human
speech into computer language of "O's" and "1 's".
The Here and Now Reality

I mplantable Transmitters for sounds (such as a phonocardiogram), for temperature, and for pressure are now
manufactured by American Electronic Laboratories, I nco of
Lansdale, Pennsylvania. AE Leven hasa Phonocatheter that
is passed into the kidney, for recording the renal arterial
pulse for the urologist.
Mr. George S. Springsteen, Vice President of Management Concepts, Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a
leading expert on medical data systems - such as the
cardiac arrest and the anaesthesiology systems of Albert
Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, the obstetrics and gynaecology system at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C., the radiation therapy data system
39

at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and
many others. The biggest problem that Mr. Springsteen has
encountered in creating the systems that help a doctor to
get an immediate computer read-out of how similar cases
have been handled by other doctors - with what dosages of
what curative agents, with what percentages of success, and
what survival rates - has been the resistance of physicians
to the thought that anyone else practicing their speciality
might have useful information that they, themselves, do not
already know.
Norman W. Rubinson, formerly the Director of the
Rockland County Health Complex, has introduced computerized multi-phasic testing, laboratory automation,
hospital administration, and epidemiological (relating to
epidemics) research. Presently, Mr. Rubinson is Chairman
of the Board of Cambridge Computer Corporation in New
York City, wh ich is putting these computerized applications into a rapidly broadening number of institutions.

FerroFluidics Corporation of Burlington, Massachusetts,
has developed specialized magnetic liquids that will assist in
the non-surgical removal of cancerous tissue by selective
absorption of laser energy.
The diametric opposite of our forecast of the year 2001
is in actual use now. The University of Southern Cal ifornia
and Aerojet-General-Corp. have developed a computercontrolled medical manikin, Sim One, that substitutes for
human patients in training student doctors. Sim One has
just gotten a new right arm and a new computer that will
have "muscle", "nerves", "bone", and "pulse." Internal
instrumentation will identify and measure the quantity of
three different simulated drug injections, and will detect
and report contact with bone and nerve areas. The "arm"
will even jerk to signify discomfort. This is just the opposite
of Dr. Sawbones operating on Mr. Bright. "Turnabout is
fair play."
0

NUMBLES
NUMBER PUZZLES FOR NIMBLE MINDS
-AN 0 COMPUTE RS
Neil Macdonald
Assistant Editor
Computers and Automation
A "numble" is an arithmetical problem in which: digits
have been replaced by capital letters; and there are two
messages, one which can be read right away and a second
one in the digit cipher. The problem is to solve for the
digits.
Each capital letter in the arithmetical problem stands for
just one digit 0 to 9. A digit may be represented by more
than one letter. The second message, which is expressed in
numerical digits, is to be translated (using the same key)
into letters so that it may be read; but the spelling uses
puns or is otherwise irregular, to discourage cryptanalytic
methods of deciphering.
We invite our readers to send us solutions, together with
human programs or computer programs, which will produce
the solutions. This month's Numble was contributed by:
Stuart Freudberg
Newton High School
Newton. Mass.

Solution to Numble 704
In Numble 704 in the April issue, the digits 0 through 9
are represented by letters as follows:

H=O

0=5

U =1
G,N = 2
E=3
A,I =4

K=6
S=7
R=8
T,F,P = 9

The full message is: "Rogues speak of their honor."

Solution to Numble 705
In Numble 705 in the May issue, the digits 0 through 9
are represented by letters as follows:

H=O
0=1
B,W,Y = 2
R=3

A=4

L=5

S=6
E=7
P,T = 8
C,M = 9

The full message is: "May all peoples welcome each
other as brothers."

NUMBLE 706

A G 0
x
L K
K E Y
G W W E
L D D L

K
G A K S

88004
40

W 0
R E

0
N

D
D

R
Y E

A L
I

GNY = KRI

G R

26139

7298

Our thanks to the following individuals for submi tting
their solutions to Numble 704: C. L. Agrawal, Claymont,
Del.; A. Sanford Brown, Dallas, Tex.; Murray A. Chayet,
Tucson, Ariz.; T. Paul Finn, Indianapolis, Ind.; Barry L.
Gingrich, Endicott, N.Y.; George Gluck, Boulder, Colo.;
Philip R. Hollenbeck, San Leandro, Calif.; Kenneth S.
Johnson, Neptune, N.J.; B. Kruel, Cypress, Calif.; Wm.
Lasher, Greenbelt, Md.; Jud Gilbert, Tallahassee, Fla.;
Lambert J. Simon, Irving, Tex." and Robert R. Weden,
Edina, Minn. Numble 703: T. A. Peters, Nacogdoches, Tex.
Numble 702: H. J. Baitsch, Rostock, Germany.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

liThe House is on Firel l

THE PROFESSION OF INFORMATION ENGINEER

Computers and Automation believes that the profession
of information engineer includes not only competence in
handling information using computers and other means, but
also a broad responsibility, in a professional and engineering
sense, for:
• The reliability and social significance of pertinent
input data;
• The social value of the output results.
In the same way, a bridge engineer takes a professional
responsibility for the reliability and significance of the data
he uses, and the safety and efficiency of the bridge he
builds, for human beings to risk their lives on.
Accordingly, this department of Computers and Automation will publish from time to time, articles and other

information related to socially useful input and output data
systems in a broad sense. To this end we shall seek to
publish here what is unsettling, disturbing, critical - but
productive of thought and an improved and safer "house"
for all humanity, an earth in which our children and later
generations may have a future, instead of facing extinction .
The professional information engineer needs to relate his
engineering to the most important and most serious problems in the world today: war, nuclear weapons, pollution,
the population explosion, and many more.
In this issue, we are publishing an article which contains
a quantitative analysis of nine crisis problems - and a call
for the large-scale mobilization of scientists to implement
proposed solutions.

What We Must Do
John Platt
Research Biophysicist and Associate Director
Mental Health Research Institute
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104

There is only one crisis in the world.
It is the crisis of transformation. The
trouble is that it is now coming upon
us as a storm of crisis problems from
every direction. But if we look quantitatively at the course of our changes in
this century, we can see immediately
why the problems are building up so
rapidly at this time, and we will see
that it has now become urgent for us to
mobilize all our intelligence to solve
these problems if we are to keep from
killing ourselves in the next few years.
The essence of the matter is that the
human race is on a steeply rising "Scurve" of change. We are undergoing a
great historical transition to new levels
of technological power all over the
world. We all know about these
changes, but we do not often stop to
realize how large they are in orders of
magnitude, or how rapid and enormous
compared to all previous changes in
history. In the last century, we have increased our speeds of communication
by a factor of 10 7 ; our speeds of travel
by 10:!; our speeds of data handling by
lOG; ou.r energy resources by 10 3 ; our
power of weapons by lOG; our ability
to control diseases by something like
IO:!; and our rate of population growth
to 10 3 times what it was a few thousand
years ago.
Could anyone suppose that human
relations around the world. would not
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

be affected to their very roots by such
changes? Within the last 25 years, the
Western world has moved into an age
of jet planes, missiles and sateIlites, nuclear power and nuclear terror. We have
acquired computers and automation, a
service and leisure economy, superhighways, superagriculture, supermedicine,
mass higher education,· universal TV,
oral contraceptives, environmental pollution, and urban crises. The rest of the
world is also moving rapidly and may
catch up with all these powers and
problems within a very short time. It
is hardly surprising that young people
under 30, who have grown up familiar
with these things from childhood, have
developed very different expectations
and concerns from the older generation
that grew up in another world.
What many people do not realize
is that many of these technological
changes are now approaching certain
natural limits. The "S-curve" is beginning to level off. We may never have
faster communications or more TV or
larger weapons or a higher level of
danger than we have now. This means
that if we could learn how to manage
these new powers and problems in the
next few years without killing ourselves
by our obsolete structures and behavior,
we might be able to create new and
more effective social structures that
would last for many generations. We
might be able to move into that new

world of abundance and diversity and
well-being for all mankind which technology has now made possible.
The trouble is that we may not survive these next few years. The human
race today is like a rocket on a launching pad. We have been building up to
this moment of takeoff for a long time,
and if we can get safely through the
takeoff period, we may fly on a new
and exciting course for a long time to
come. But at this moment, as the powerful new engines are fired, their thrust
and roar shakes and stresses every part
of the ship and may cause the whole
thing to blow up before we can steer it
on its way. Our problem today is to
harness and direct these tremendous
new forces through this dangerous transition period to the new world instead
of to dest~uction. But unless we can do
this, the rapidly increasing strains and
crises of the next decade may kill us
all. They will make the last 20 years
look like a peaceful interlude.
Several types of crisis may reach the
point of explosion in the next 10 years:
nuclear escalation, famine, participatory
crises, racial crises, and what have been
called the crises of administrative legitimacy. It is worth singling out two or
three of these to see how imminent and
dangerous they are, so that we can
fully realize how very little time we
have for preventing or controlling them.

Take the problem of nuclear war, for
example. A few years ago, Leo Szilard
estimated the "half-life" of the human
race with respect to nuclear escalation
as being between 10 and 20 years. His
reasoning then is still valid now. As
long as we continue to have no adequate
stabilizing peace-keeping structures for
the world, we continue to live under the
daily threat not only of local wars but
of nuclear escalation with overkill and
megatonnage enough to destroy all life
on earth. Every year or two there is a
confrontation between nuclear powersKorea, Laos, Berlin, Suez, Quemoy,
Cuba, Vietnam, and the rest. MacArthur wanted to use nuclear weapons
in Korea; and in the Cuban missile
crisis, John Kennedy is said to have
estimated the probability of a nuclear
exchange as about 25 percent.
The danger is not so much that of
the unexpected, such as a radar error
or even a new nuclear dictator, as it is
that our present systems will work exactly as planned!-from border testing,
strategic gambles, threat and counterthreat, all the way up to that "secondstrike capability" that is already aimed,
armed, and triggered to wipe out hundreds of millions of people in a 3-hour
duel!
What is the probability of this in the
average incident? 10 percent? 5 percent? There is no average incident. But
it is easy to see that five or ten more
such confrontations in this game of
"nuclear roulette" might indeed give us
only a 50-50 chance of living until
1980 or 1990. This is a shorter life
expectancy than people have ever had
in the world before. All our medical
increases in length of life are meaningless, as long as our nuclear lifetime is
so short.
Many agricultural experts also think
that within this next decade the great
famines will begin, with deaths that
may reach 100 million people in densely
populated countries like India and
China. Some contradict this, claiming
that the remarkable new grains and new
agricultural methods introduced in the
last 3 years in Southeast Asia may
now be able to keep the food supply
ahead of population growth. But others
think that the reeducation of farmers
and consumers to use the new grains
cannot proceed fast enough to make a
difference.
But if famine does come, it is clear
that it will be catastrophic. Besides the
direct human suffering, it will further
increase our international instabilities,
with food riots, troops called out, gov42

ernments falling, and international interventions that will change the whole
political map of the world. It could
make Vietnam look like a popgun.
In addition, the next decade is likely
to see continued crises of legitimacy of
all our overloaded administrations, from
universities and unions to cities and
national governments. Everywhere there
is protest and refusal to accept the
solutions handed down by some central
elite. The student revolutions circle the
globe. Suburbs protest as well as ghettoes, Right as well as Left. There are
many new sources of collision and protest, but it is clear that the general
problem is in large part structural
rather than political. Our traditional
methods of election and management no
longer give administrations the skill and
capacity they need to handle their complex new burdens and decisions. They
become swollen, unresponsive-and repudiated. Every day now some distinguished administrator is pressured out
of office by protesting constituents.
In spite of the violence of some of
these confrontations, this may seem like
a trivial problem compared to war or
famine-until we realize the dangerous
effects of these instabilities on the stability of the whole system. In a nuclear
crisis or in any of our other crises today,
administrators or negotiators may often
work out some basis of agreement between conflicting groups or nations,
only to find themselves rejected by their
people on one or both sides, who are
then left with no mechanism except to
escalate their battles further.

The Crisis of Crises
What finally makes all of our crises
still more dangerous is that they are
now coming on top of each other. Most
administrations are able to endure or
even enjoy an occasional crisi~, with
everyone working late together and
getting a new sense of importance and
unity. What they are not prepared to
deal with are mUltiple crises, a crisis of
crises all at one time. This is what happened in New York City in 1968 when
the Ocean Hill-Brownsville teacher and
race strike was combined with a police
strike, on top of a garbage strike, on
top of a longshoremen's strike, all
within a few days of each other.
When something like this happens,
the staffs get jumpy with smoke and
coffee and alcohol, the mediators become exhausted, and the administrators
find themselves running two crises be-

hind. Every problem may escalate because those involved no longer have
time to think straight. What would have
happened in the Cuban missile crisis if
the East Coast power blackout had occurred by accident that same day? Or
if the "hot line" between Washington
and Moscow had gone dead? There
might have been hours of misinterpretation, and some fatally different decisions.
I think this multiplication of domestic and international crises today will
shorten that short half-life. In the continued absence of better ways of heading off these multiple crises, our halflife may no longer be 10 or 20 years,
but more like 5 to 10 years, or less. We
may have even less than a 50-50 chance
of living until 1980.
This statement may seem uncertain
and excessively dramatic. But is there
any scientist who would make a much
more optimistic estimate after considering all the different sources of danger
and how they are increasing? The shortness of the time is due to the exponential and multiplying character of our
problems and not to what particular
numbers or guesses we put in. Anyone
who feels more hopeful about getting
past the nightmares of the 1970's has
only to look beyond them to the monsters of pollution and population rising
up in the 1980's and 1990's. Whether
we have 10 years or more like 20 or 30,
unless we systematically find new largescale solutions, we are in the gravest
danger of destroying our society, our
world, and ourselves in any of a number of different ways well before the end
of this century. Many futurologists who
have predicted what the world will be
like in the year 2000 have neglected to
tell us that.
Nevertheless the real reason for trying to make rational estimates of these
deadlines is not because of their shock
value but because they give us at least
a rough idea of how much time we may
have for finding and mounting some
large-scale solutions. The time is short
but, ,as we shall see, it is not too short
to give us a chance that something can
be done, if we begin immediately.
From this point, there is no place to
go but up. Human predictions are always conditional. The future always
depends on what we do and can be
made worse or better by stupid or intelligent action. To change our earlier
analogy, today we are like men coming
out of a coal mine who suddenly begin
to hear the rock rumbling, but who have
also begun to see a little square of light
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

at the end of the tunnel. Against this
I am an optimist-in that
I want to insist that there is a square of
light and that it is worth trying to get to.
I think what we must do is to start running as fast as possible toward that
light~ working to increase the probability of our survival through the next
decade by some measurable amount.
For the light at the end of the tunnel
is very bright indeed. If we can only
devise new mechanisms to help us survive this round of terrible crises~ we
have a chance of moving into a new
world of incredible potentialities for all
mankind. But if we cannot get through
this next decade~ we may never reach
it.
background~

Task Forces for Social
Research and Development

What can we do? I think that nothing
less than the application of the full
intelligence of our society is likely to be
adequate. These problems will require
the humane and constructive efforts of
everyone involved. But I think they will
also require something very similar to
the mobilization of scientists for solving
crisis problems in wartime. I believe we
are going to need large numbers of scientists forming something like research
teams or task forces for social research
and development. We need full-time
interdisciplinary teams combining men
of different specialties~ natural scientists~
social scientists~ doctors~ engineers~
teachers, lawyers, and many other
trained and inventive minds~ who can
put together our stores of knowledge
and powerful new ideas into improved
technical methods, organizational designs, or "social inventions" that have
a chance of being adopted soon enough
and widely enough to be effective. Even
a great mobilization of scientists may
not be enough. There is no guarantee
that these problems can be solved, or
solved in time~ no matter what we do.
But for problems of this scale and urgency, thjs kind of focusing of our
brains and knowledge may be the only
chance we have.
Scientists~ of course, are not the only
ones who can make contributions. Millions of citizens, business and labor
leaders, city and government officials,
and workers in existing agencies, are
already doing all they can to solve these
problems. No scientific innovation will
be effective without extensive advice
and help from all these groups.
But it is the new science and techCOMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

nology that have made our problems so
immense and intractable. Technology
did not create human conflicts and inequities~ but it has made them unendurable. And where science and technology
have expanded the problems in this
way, it may be only more scientific understanding and better technology that
can carry us past them. The cure for the
pollution of the rivers by detergents is
the use of nonpolluting detergents. The
cure for bad management designs is
better management designs.
Also, in many of these areas, there
are few people outside the research
community who have the basic knowledge necessary for radically new solutions. In our great biological problems,
it is the new ideas from cell biology and
ecology that may be crucial. In our
social-organizational problems, it may
be the new theories of organization and
management and behavior theory and
game theory that offer the only hope.
Scientific research and development
groups of ,some kind may be the only
effective mechanism by which many of
these new ideas can be converted into
practical invention ,and action.
The time scale on which such task
forces would have to operate is very
different. from what is usual in science.
In the past, most scientists have tended
to work on something like a 30-year
time scale, hoping that their careful
studies would fit into some great intellectual synthesis that might be years
away. Of course when they become
politically concerned, they begin to
work on something more like a 3-month
time scale, collecting signatures or trying to persuade the government to start
or stop some program.
But 30 years is too long, and 3
months is too short, to cope with the
major crises that might destroy us in
the next 10 years. Our urgent problems
now are more like wartime problems,
where we need to work as rapidly as is
consistent with large-scale effectiveness.
We need to think rather in terms of a
3-year time scale-or more broadly, a
1- to 5-year time scale. In World War
II, the ten thousand scientists who were
mobilized for war research knew they
did not have 30 years, or even 10 years,
to come up with answers. But they did
have time for the new research, design~
and construction that brought sonar
and radar and atomic energy to operational effectiveness within 1 to 4 years.
Today we need the same large-scale
mobilization for innovation and action
and the same sense of constructive
urgency.

Priorities: A Crisis Intensity Chart

In any such enterprise~ it is most important to be clear about which problems are the real priority problems. To
get this straight, it is valuable to try to
separate the different problem areas
according to some measures of their
magnitude and urgency. A possible
classification of this kind is shown in
Tables 1 and 2. In these tables~ I have
tried to rank a number of present or
potential problems or crises, vertically,
according fa an estimate of their order
of intensity or "seriousness," and horizontally, by a rough estimate of their
time to reach climactic importance.
Table 1 is such a classification for the
United States for the next 1 to 5 years~
the next 5 to 20 years, and the next
20 to 50 years. Table 2 is a similar
classification for world problems and
crises.
The successive rows indicate something like order-of-magnitude differences
in the intensity of the crises, as estimated by a rough product of the size
of population that might be hurt or
affected, multiplied by some estimated
average effect in the disruption of their
lives. Thus the first row corresponds to
total or near-total annihilation; the second row, to great destruction or change
affecting everybody; the third row~ to a
lower tension affecting a smaller part of
the population or a smaller part of
everyone's life, and so on.
Informed men might easily disagree
about one row up or down in intensity,
or one column left or right in the time
scales, but these order-of-magnitude differences are already so great that it
would be surprising to find much larger
disagreements. Clearly, an important
initial step in any serious problem study
would be to refine such estimates.
In both tables, the one crisis that must
be ranked at the top in total danger and
imminence is, of course, the danger of
large-scale or total annihilation by nuclear escalation or by radiologicalchemical- biological-warfare (RCBW).
This kind of crisis will continue through
both the 1- to 5-year time period and
the 5- to 20-year period as Crisis Number 1, unless and until we get a safer
peace-keeping arrangement. But in the
20- to 50-year column, following the
reasoning already given, I think we
must simply put a big "~" at this level~
on the grounds that the peace-keeping
stabilization problem will either be
solved by that time or we will probably
be dead.
At the second level~ the 1- to 5-year
43

period may not be a period of great
destruction (except nuclear) in either
the United States or the world. But the
problems at this level are building up,
and within the 5- to 20-year period,
many scientists fear the destruction of
our whole biological and ecological balance in the United States by mismanagement or pollution. Others fear political catastrophe within this period, as
a result of participatory confrontations
or backlash or even dictatorship, if our
divisive social and structural problems
are not solved before that time.
On a world scale in this period,
famine and ecological catastrophe head
the list of destructive problems. We will
come back later to the items in the 20to 50-year column.
The third level of crisis problems in
the United States includes those that are
already upon us: administrative management of communities and cities,
slums, participatory democracy, and
racial conflict. In the 5- to 20-year
period, the problems of pollution and

poverty or major failures of law and
justice could escalate to this level of
tension if they are not solved. The last
column is left blank because secon~ary
events and second-order effects will interfere seriously with any attempt to
make longer-range predictions at these
lower levels.
The items in the lower part of the
tables are not intended to be exhaustive.
Some are common headline problems
which are included simply to show how
they might rank quantitatively in this
kind of comparison. Anyone concerned
with any of them will find it a useful
exercise to estimate for himself their
order of seriousness, in terms of the
number of people they actually affect
and the average distress they cause.
Transportation problems and neighborhood ugliness, for example, are listed
as grade 4 problems in the United
States because they depress the lives of
tens of millions for 1 or 2 hours
every day. Violent crime may affect a
corresponding number every year or

two. These evils are not negligible, and
they are worth the efforts of enormous numbers of people to cure them
and to keep them cured--but on the
other hand, they will not destroy our
society.
The grade 5 crises are those where
the hue and cry has been raised and
where responsive changes of some kind
are already under . way. Cancer goes
here, along with problems like auto
safety and an adequate water supply.
This is not to say that we have solved
the problem of cancer, but rather that
good people are working on it and are
making as much progress as we could
expect from anyone. (At this level of
social intensity, it should be kept in
mind that there are also positive opportunities for research, such as the automation of clinical biochemistry or the
invention of new channels of personal
communication, which might affect the
20-year future as greatly as the new
drugs and solid state devices of 20 years
ago have begun to affect the present.)

Table 1. Classification of problems and crises by estimated time and intensity (United States).

Grade

Estimated
crisis
intensity
(number
affected
X degree
of effect)

Estimated time to crisis*

5 to 20 years

1 to 5 years

Total annihilation

Great destruction or
change (physical,
biological, or
political)

Nuclear or
RCBW escalation
Participatory
democracy
Ecological balance

Nuclear or
RCBW escalation
(Too soon)

Communications gap

Other problems-important, but
adequately researched
Exaggerated dangers
and hopes

Military R&D
New educational methods
Mental illness
Fusion power
Mind control
Heart transplants
Definition of death

Military R&D

Noncrisis problems
being "overstudied"

Man in space
Most basic sdenee

Tension producing
responsive change

* If

Political theory and
economic structure
Population planning
Patterns of living
Education
Communications
Integrative philosophy

Large-scale distress

--1

(Solved or dead)

Pollution
Poverty
Law and justice

Administrative
management
Slums
Participatory
democracy
Racial conflict
Transportation
Neighborhood ugliness
Crime
Cancer and heart
Smoking and drugs .
Artificial organs
Accidents
Sonic boom
Water supply
Marine resources
Privacy on computers

Widespread almost
unbearable tension

20 to 50 years

Educational inadequacy

Sperm banks
Freezing bodiesUnemployment
from automation

Eugenics

no major effort is ·-made at anticipatory solution.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Where the Scientists Arc
Below grade 5, three less quantitative
categories are listed, where the scientists begin to outnumber the problems.
Grade 6 consists of problems that many
people believe to oc important but that
are adequately researched ~t the present
time. Military R&D belongs in this
category. Our huge military establishment creates many social problems,
both of national priority and international stability, but even in its own
terms, war research, which engrosses
hundreds of thousands of scientists and
engineers, is being taken care of generously. Likewise, fusion power is being
studied at the $1 DO-million level, though
even if we had it tomorrow, it would
scarcely change our rates of application
of nuclear energy in generating more
electric power for the world.
Grade 7 contains the exaggerated
problems which are being talked about
or .worked on out of all proportion to
their true importance, such as heart

transplants, which can never alIect more
than a few thousands of people out of
the billions in the world. It is sad to
note that the symposia on "social implications of science" at many national
scientific meetings are often on the
problems of grade 7.
In the last category, grade 8, are two
subjects which I am sorry to say I must
call "overstudied," at least with respect
to the real crisis problems today. The
Man in Space flights to the moon and
back are the most beautiful technical
achievements of man, but they are not
urgent except for national display, and
they absorb tens of thousands of our
most ingenious technical brains.
And in the "overstudied" list I have
begun to think we must now put most
of our basic science. This is a hard conclusion, because all of science is so important in the long run and because it
is still so small compared, say, to advertising or the tobacco industry. But basic
scientific thinking is a scarce resource.
In a national emergency, we would sud-

uenly find that a host of our scientific
problems could be postponed for several years in favor of more urgent research. Should not our total human
emergency make the same claims?
Long-range science is useless unless we
survive to use it. Tens of thousands of
our best trained minds may now be
needed for something more important
than "science as usual."
The arrows at level 2 in the tables are
intended to indicate that problems may
escalate to' a higher level of crisis in the
next time period if they are not solved.
The arrows toward level 2 in the last
columns of both tables show the escalation of all our problems upward to some
general reconstruction in the 20- to 50year time period, if we survive. Probably no human institution will continue
unchanged for another 50 years, because they will all be changed by the
crises if they are not changed in advance to prevent them. There will surely
be widespread rearrangements in all our
ways of life everywhere, from our pat-

Table 2. Classification of problems and crises by estimated time and intensity (World).

Grade

Estimated
crisis
intensity
(number
affected
X degree
of effect)

1010

Estimated time to crisis*

1 to 5 years
Total annihilation

Great destruction or
change (physical,
biological, or
political)

Widespread almost
unbearable tension

5.
6.

7.
8.

lOT

1011

Large-scale distress

Nuclear or
RCBW escalation
(Too soon)

Administrative
management
, Need for participation
Group and racial
conflict
Poverty-rising
expectations
Environmental
degradation
Transportation
Diseases
Loss of old cultures

Tension producing
responsive change

Regional organization
Water supplies

Other problemsimportant, but
adequately
researched
Exaggerated dangers
and hopes
Noncrisis problems
being "overstudied"

Technical development design
Intelligent monetary
design

5 to 20 years
Nuclear or
RCBW escalation
Famines
Ecological balance
Development failures
Local wars
Rich-poor gap

Poverty
Pollution
Racial wars
Political rigidity
Strong dictatorships

Housing
Education
Independence
of big' powers
Communications gap
'I

20 to 50 years

~ (Solved or'dead)
Economic structure
and political theory
Population and
ecological balance
Patterns of living
Universal education
Communicationsintegration
t Management of world
- - 1 Integrative philosophy

Eugenics
Melting of ice caps
Man in space
Most basic science

• If no major effort is made at anticipatory solution.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

terns of society to our whole philosophy
of man. Will they be more humane, or
less? Will the world come to resemble a
diverse and open humanist democracy?
Or Orwell's 1984? Or a postnuclear
desert with its scientists hanged? It is
our acts of commitment and leadership
in the next few months and years that
will decide.

Mobilizing Scientists
It is a unique experience for us to
have peacetime problems, or technical
problems which are not industrial problems, on such a scale. We do not know
quite where to start, and there is no
mechanism yet for generating ideas systematically or paying teams to turn
them into successful solutions.
But the compari.son with wartime research and development may not be
inappropriate. Perhaps the antisubma!'ine warfare work or the atomic energy
project of the 1940's provide the closest
parallels to what we must do in terms
of the novelty, scale, and urgency of the
problems, the initiative needed, and the
kind of large success that has to be
achieved. In the antisubmarine campaign, Blackett assembled a few scientists and other ingenious minds in his
"back room," and within a few months
they had worked out the· "operations
analysis" that made an order-of-magnitude difference in the success of the
campaign. In the atomic energy work,
scientists started off with extracurricular
research, formed a central committee to
channel their secret communications,
and then studied the possible solutions
for some time before they went to the
government for large-scale support for
the great development laboratories and
production plants.
Fortunately, work on our crisis problems today would not require secrecy.
Our great problems today are all beginning to be world problems, and scientists from many countries would have
important insights to contribute.
Probably the first step in crisis studies
now should be the organization of intense technical discussion and education
groups in every laboratory. Promising
lines of interest could then lead to the
setting up of part-time or full-time
studies and teams and coordinating
committees. Administrators and boards
of directors might find active crisis research 'important to their own organizations in many cases. Several foundations
and federal agencies already have in46

house research and make outside grants
in many of these crisis areas, and they
would be important initial sources of
support.
But the step that will probably be required in a short time is the creation of
whole new centers, perhaps comparable
to Los Alamos or the RAND Corporation, where interdisciplinary groups can
be assembled to work full-time on solutions to these crisis problems. Many different kinds of centers will eventually
be necessary, including research centers,
development centers, training centers,
and even production centers for new
sociotechnical inventions. The problems
of our time-the $100-billion food
problem or the $100-billion arms control problem-are no smaller than
World War II in scale and importance,
and it would be absurd to think that a
few academic research teams or a few
agency laboratories could do the job.

Social Inventions
The thing that discourages many scientists-even social scientists-from
thinking in these research-and-development terms is their failure to realize
that there are such things as social inventions and that they can have largescale effects in a surprisingly short time.
A recent study with Karl Deutsch has
examined some 40 of the great achievements in social science in this century,
to see where they were made and by
whom and how long they took to become effective. They include developments such as the following:
Keynesian economics
Opinion polls and statistical sampling
Input-output economics
Operations analysis
Information theory and feedback
theory
Theory of games and economic
behavior
Operant conditioning and programmed learning
Planned programming and budgeting (PPB)
N on-zero-sum game theory
Many of these have made remarkable
differences within just a few years in
our ability to handle social problems or
management problems. The opinion poll
became a national necessity within a
single election period. The theory of
games, published in 1946, had become
an important component of American
strategic thinking by RAND and the

Defense Department by 1953, in spite
of the limitation of the theory at that
time to zero-sum games, with their dangerous bluffing and "brinksmanship."
Today, within less than a decade, the
PPB management technique is sweeping
through every large organization.
This list is particularly interesting
because it shows how much can be done
outside official government agencies
when inventive men put. their brains
together. Most of the achievements were
the work of teams of two or more men,
almost all of them located in intellectual
centers such as Princeton or the two
Cambridges.
The list might be extended by adding
commercial social inventions with rapid
and widespread effects, like credit cards.
And sociotechnical inventions, like computers and automation or like oral contraceptives, which were in widespread
use within 10 years after they were developed. In addition, there are political
innovations like the New Deal, which
made great changes in our economic life
within 4 years, and the pay-as-you-go
income tax, which transformed federal
taxing power within 2 years.
On the international scene, the Peace
Corps, the "hot line," the Test-Ban
Treaty, the Antarctic Treaty, and the
Nonproliferation Treaty were all implemented within 2 to 10 years after their
initial proposal. These are only small
contributions, a tiny patchwork part of
the basic international stabilization system that is needed, but they show that
the time to adopt new structural designs
may be surprisingly short. Our cliches
about "social lag" are very misleading.
Over half of the major soci<;ll innovations since 1940 were adopted or had
widespread social effects within less
than 12 years-a time as short as, or
shorter than, the average time for adoption of technological innovations.

Areas for Task Forces

Is it possible to create more of these
social inventions systematically to deal
with our present crisis problems? 1
think it is. It may be worth listing a few
specific areas where new task forces
might start.
1) Peace-keeping mechanisms and
feedback stabilization. Our various nuclear treaties are a beginning. But how
about a technical group that sits down
and thinks about the whole range of
possible and impossible stabilization and
peace-keeping mechanisms? StabilizaCOMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

tion feedback-design might be a complex modern counterpart of the "checks
and balances" used in designing the constitutional structure of the United States
200 years ago. With our new knowledge
today about feedbacks, group behavior,
and game theory, it ought to be possible
to design more complex and even more
successful structures.
Some peace-keeping mecha·nisms that
might be hard to adopt today could still
be worked out and tested and publicized, awaiting a more favorable moment. Sometimes the very existence of
new possibilities can change the atmosphere. Sometimes, in a crisis, men may
finally be willing to tryout new ways
and may find some previously prepared
plan of enormous help.
2) Biotechnology. Humanity must
feed and care for the children who are
already in the world, even while we try
to level off the further population explosion that makes this so difficult.
Some novel proposals, such as food
from coal, or genetic copying of champion animals, or still simpler contraceptive methods, could possibly have
large-scale effects on human welfare
within 10 to 15 years. New chemical,
statistical, and management methods for
measuring and maintaining the ecological balance could be of very great
importance.
3) Game theory. As we have seen,
zero-sum game theory has not been too
academic to be used for national
strategy and policy analysis. Unfortunately, in zero-sum games, what I
win, you lose, and what you win, I
lose. This may be the way poker works,
but it is not the way the world works.
We are collectively in a non-zero-sum
game in which we will all lose together
in nuclear holocaust or race conflict or
economic nationalism, or all win together in survival and prosperity. Some
of the many variations of non-zero-sum
game theory, applied to group conflict
and cooperation, might show us profitable new approaches to replace our
sterile and dangerous confrontation
strategies.
4) Psychological and social theories.
Many teams are needed to explore in
detail and in practice how the powerful
new ideas of behavior theory and the
new ideas of responsive living might be
used to improve family life or community and management structures. New
ideas of in{ormation handling and management theory need to be turned into
practical recipes for reducing the daily
frustrations of small businesses, schools,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

hospitals, churches, and town meetings.
New economic inventions are needed,
such as urban development corporations. A deeper systems analysis is urgently needed to see if there is not some
practical way to separate full employment from inflation. Inflation pinches
the poor, increases labor-management
disputes, and multiplies all our domestic
conflicts and our sense of despair.
5) Social indicators. We need new
social indicators, like the cost-of-living
index, for measuring a thousand social
goods and evils. Good indicators can
have great "multiplier effects" in helping to maximize our welfare and minimize our ills. Engineers and physical
scientists working with social scientists
might come up with ingenious new
methods of measuring many of these
important but elusive parameters.
6) Channels of effectiveness. Detailed case studies of the reasons for
success or failure of various social inventions could also have a large multiplier effect. Handbooks showing what
channels or methods are now most
effective for different small-scale and
large-scale social problems would be of
immense value.
The list could go on and on. In fact,
each study group will have its own pet
projects. Why not? Society is at least as
complex as, say, an automobile with its
several thousand parts. It will probably
require as many research-and-development teams as the auto industry in order
to explore all the inventions it needs to
solve its problems. But it is clear that
there are many areas of great potential
crying out for brilliant minds and brilliant teams to get to work on them.

Future Satisfactions and
Present Solutions
This is an enormous program. But
there is nothing impossible about
mounting and financing it, if we, as
concerned men, go into it with commitment and leadership. Yes, there will be
a need for money and power to overcome organizational difficulties and
vested interests. But it is worth remembering that the only real source of
power in the world is the gap between
what is and what might be. Why else
do men work and save and plan? If
there is some future increase in human
satisfaction that we can point to and
realistically anticipate, men will be willing to pay something for it and invest
in it in the hope of that return. In eco-

nomies, they pay with money; in politics, with their votes and time and
sometimes with their jail sentences and
their lives.
Social change, peaceful or turbulent,
is powered by "what might be." This
means that for peaceful change, to get
over some impossible barrier of unresponsiveness or complexity or group
conflict, what is needed is an inventive
·man or group-a "social entrepreneur"
-who can connect the pieces and show
how to turn the advantage of "what
might be" into some present advantage
for every participating party. To get
toll roads, when highways were hopeless, a legislative-corporation mechanism was invented that turned the future
need into present profits for construction workers and bondholders and continuing profitability for the state and all
the drivers.
This principle of broad-payoff anticipatory design has guided many successful social plans. Regular task forces
using systems analysis to find payoffs
over the barriers might give us such
successful solutions much more often.
The new world that could lie ahead,
with its blocks and malfunctions removed, would be fantastically wealthy.
It seems almost certain that there must
be many systematic ways for intelligence to convert that large payoff into
the profitable solution of our present
problems.
The only possible conclusion is a call
to action. Who will commit himself to
this kind of search for more ingenious
and fundamental solutions? Who will
begin to assemble the research teams
and the funds? Who will begin to create
those full-time interdisciplinary centers
that will be necessary for testing detailed designs and turning them into
effective applications?
The task is clear. The task is huge.
The time is horribly short. In the past,
we have had science for intellectual
pleasure, and science for the control of
nature. We have had science for war.
But today, the whole human experiment may hang on the question of
how fast we now press the development
of science for survival.

Reprinted with permission from Scz"ence,
Nov. 28,1969, Vol. 166, pp. 1115-1121.
Copyright 1969 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

Computing and Data Processing Newsletter

Table of Contents

APPLICATIONS

computer Simulates Workings of Inner Ear
IBM Computer Helps Texas Improve Care for
Mentally III and Retarded
Two Isaiahs Proved by Computer
Histories of Cook County Land Tracts Analyzed
by Computer
Library Computer Quietly Changes Tradition
"Instant Insani ty" Fails to Frustrate Computer

49
49
49
50
50
50

EDUCATION NEWS

Educational Film -- "Man's Most Magnificent
Machine" -- Available from DPMA

Digital

51
51
51
51
51
51

Special Purpose Systems

"The Manufacturing Man's Computer" -- Texas
Instruments
Honeywell Banking System -- Honeywell EDP
Professional Information Processor -Medelco Inc.

55
55

Software

BASE (Brokerage Accounting System Elements) -IBM Corporation
Construction Company Cost System -- International Computer Corp.
N/C Lathe Package -- Fordax Corp.
On-Line Management Informntion and Accounting
System -- Computing Corporation International, Inc.
System '70 -- Western Operations, Inc.

55
55
55
55
55

Peripheral Equipment

NEW PRODUCTS

SPC-16 Computer -- General Automation, Inc.
MAC Jr. Computer -- Data Products Division
of Lockheed Electronics
MD708 Minicomputer -- Monitor Data Corp.
XDS Sigma 6 Computer -- Xerox Data Systems
Raytheon 704 Minicomputer -- Raytheon Co.
Two New Computers, Model 5 and Modell -Interdata, Inc.

Disc Memory for Varian 620 Minicomputers -Data Disc Inc.
Computer Memory Systems, Low-Cost and Expandable -- RCA, Memory Products Div.

52
52
52

PortaCom Terminal -- Data Products Corp.
Printer Output Microfilm System -- Advanced
Terminals Inc.
Data Entry Equipment, System 480 -Entrex, Inc.
Data-kap 882 Machine-Source Digital Rfcorder
-- Electronic Laboratories, Inc.
Numerical Readout Displays -- Oppenheimer, Inc.
Optical Character Readers -- VIATRON Computer
Systems Corp.

56
56
56
56
56
56

Data Processing Accessories

Data Interface Test Set
Pulse Communications, Inc.
Table-Top Magnetic Tape Teste.r-Cleaner
Kybe Corp.
Disk Pack Certifier -- Interscan, Inc.

56
57
57

COMPUTER-RELATED SERVICES
Teaching Devices

COMP-U-KIT Computer Logic Lab -- Scientific
Measurements, Inc.
Compu-kee Model 40 Trainer -- Kee, Inc.

52
NEW LITERATURE

Memories

PDM-8, Point-Designed Memory System -- Dataram Corp.
5000 Series Disc Memory System Controllers
Information Data Systems, Inc.

Medical Information System, MIS-l To Be
Available Nationwide

55
55

Careers, Computers and You
Guide to Data Education Films
How to Buy Proprietary Software Products

57
57
57

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

APPLICATIONS

COMPUTER SIMULATES
WORKINGS OF INNER EAR

Dr. Alfred Inselberg, a mathematician at IBM's Los Angeles Scientific Center, has programmed a
computer to simulate the intricate
workings of a portion of the human
ear.
A native of Athens, Greece,
he has been working on the project
since graduate school (eleven years).
Dr. Inselberg has created a mathematical model of the inner ear that
may help specialis ts learn more
about how it works, and might suggest remedies for certain types of
hearing loss.
The simulation has
involved hundreds of thousands of
calculations on an IBM 360/75.
The inner ear (cochlea) is a delicate area and one that is almos t totally inaccessible. Yet the physical structure is well-known. Using

- A model of the inner ear
used in anatomy classes at
the UCLA medical school
the known s truc ture and other available evidenc~ D~ Inselberg built a
program based on a mathematical model
of the inch-long, hair-thin bas ilar
membrane, key part of the cochlea.
Sound waves set the eardrum in
motion. This motion is transmi t ted
by the middle ear to the snailshaped cochlea. When the cochlea's
basilar membrane starts to oscillate,
the motion of the membrane is picked
up by the audi tory nerve and transmi tted to the brain. "For years the
workings of the cochlea were not
well understood," Dr. Inselberg
said. "By simulating its activi ty
in the computer, we were able to
draw some preliminary conclusions."
One conclus ion demons trated that
two separate types of wave motions
- called s tanding and traveling
waves - are present in the membrane.
Physiologists have disagreed for
decades as to which type of wave
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

occurs in the inner ear. The model
also showed that the ear's highfrequency threshold is governed by
membrane properties such as stiffness,
mass distribution and the viscosi ty
of the surrounding fluid; the lowfrequency threshold was only affec ted
by changes in the membrane's length.
'-'We mus t always remember that a
mathematical model can'tbe as precise as the inner ear itself," Dr.
Inselberg cautioned.
Still, our
model seems to be a reasonable
approximation." With more sophisticated techniques, Dr. Inselberg
foresees still better model building
in the future.
IBM COMPUTER HELPS
TEXAS IMPROVE CARE FOR
MENTALLY ILL AND RETARDED

The Texas Department of Mental.
Heal th and Mental Retardation is
us ing an IBM Sys tem/360 MOdel 50 to
help speed up and improve treatment
for Texas' mentally ill and retarded at 20 state institutions.
The agency has almost 12,000 retardates in its special schools and
admits more than 17,000 mental patients to its state hospitals each
year. It also supervises the programs at 27 local-ly operated communi ty MH/MR cen ters throughout the
state. John Kinross-Wright, M.D.,
commissioner of the department,
said,
"We are just beginning to
understand and utilize the very
significant potential of the computer in mental health."
Psychiatrists now receive rapid
patient information that helps them
diagnose illnesses and prescribe
and maintain programs of treatment.
Psychologists receive far greater
information than eveT before about
the numbe~ types and needs of mental retardates in the state's special schools. Soon, the IBM sys tem
will follow each patient from admission until discharge, recording
each step in his treatment program
and through the recovery proces s.
In the past, thoseatthe community
level were often unaware of a patient's release unless he reported
for needed follow-up care on his
own. In the future, when a patient
is ready to go h,ome, his records
automatically will be sent to his
local health center or a community
case worker.
Additionally, the computer system compiles and analyzes a central
list of retardates on a growing
waiting list for admission to state
schools, allowing administrators to
make placements according to greates t
need.
Findings about the numbers
of appl icants from geographic areas
are being used to help select the
locations of special schools still
to be buil t. Lists of patients and

students wi th special ized problems,
such as visual impairment,are provided to other state agencies that
provide services to meet these needs.
TWO ISAIAHS PROVED BY COMPUTER

Over the last 150 years there has
been a learned dispute among scholars
as to the exis tence of one or two
Biblical Isaiahs. A Hebrew University doctoral thesis has put a halt
to the disput~ proving two Isaiahs
by means of e lec tronic compu ter
tests.
It is believed to be the
first maj or study to be completed
wi th computer programming in the
field of Biblical research.
Dr. Yehuda Radday (in charge of
Bible teaching in the Department
of General Studies at the Israel
Institute of Technology) recently
obtained his Ph. D. degree a t the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem for
a thesis on research on the uni ty
of the Biblical book of Isaiah.
Prof. Chaim Rabin,
Professor of
Hebrew Language, and Prof. Shemaryahu Talman
Assoc. Professor
of Bible, supervised the research,
which lasted two years.
Abraham Ibn-Bzra, the medieval
Hebrew scholar (d. 1167, Spain),
already had recognized that the
chapters 40-66 of Isaiah might have
been wri t ten by other than the
prophet Isaiah.
An extensive international discussion has existed
among scholars during the last 150
years as to whether or not these
chapters were wri t ten by a later
prophet than the orig inal Isaiah.
The dispute was derived mainly from
historical arguments,but also concerned the author's style and language.
As there was no objective
test,no conclusion could be drawn.
The doctoral thesis ending the
dispute, upsets theories which are
the resul t of the life-long work
of several scholars.
Since 1940, a new element was
added by the development of a scientific study of stylistic features,
which ascertained that certain minor
statistical features such as sentence length are typical for a person and can serve as a hallmark for
his authorship. Yehuda Radday set
ou t on his research proj ec t convinced
that there was only one Isaiah. He
added a completely new dimension to
his pure humanistic approach as a
Bible and language teacher by acquiring a wide mathematical knowledge
while working on his thesis.
His approach was entirely new,
applying 19 of the most modern and
sophis ticated tes ts to the ques tion
of the two Isaiahs. He divided each
of the assumed two Isaiahs into
three parts for a total of six uni ts,
submi t ting each of them to a series
49

of tests. These included length of
words and sentences, frequency and
sequence of parts of speech, as
well as entropy (the degree of orderl ines sin the arrangemen t of
various linguistic features). Among
the tests was one invention by the
doctoral candidate himself the
percentage of words taken from different fields of life such as war,
nature, family, religion, etc.
All these tests were programmed
"for 0) the Hebrew University's
large CDC 6400 computer; (2) a computer in Haifa; and (3) for one in
Achen in Germany.
At the la tter
place, two German phys ici sts advised Dr. Radday on advanced parts
of his study.
The resul t, according to Prof.
Rabin, is "very highly fool-proof".
On every test, chapter 40 onwards
proved to be a sample ofwri ting by
an entirely different person than
chapters 1-4U Although some tests
were more significant than others,
a final summary of all tests by
advanced statistical methods shows
that the probabili ty of the 1st
Isaiah also having wri tten the chapters at tribu ted to the 2nd Isaiah
is 1:100,000.
The 2nd Isaiah, a con temporary
of King Cyrus, is believed to have
lived in the year 530 B.C. and to
have wi tnessed the res toration of
the Temple. The firs t Isaiah probably lived about 200 years earlier.

adapted to but also has helped improve the concept of indi vidual examining units, each operating as a
"Ii t tIe ti tIe company" for spec ific
groups of cus tomers. A typical examining uni t includes a staff of ten
plus three display terminals. Seven
such units now are operating.
LIBRARY COMPUTER QUIETLY
CHANGES TRADITION

Ohio's third largest library,
the Columbus Public Library, has a
computer that is quietly changing
tradition there.
In a small room
on the second floor, surrounded by
some of the library's 900,000 volurnes, an IBM System/360 Model 20
controls circulation of 2.8 million
books per year. The computer helps
provide same-day return to the
shelves of turned-in reading materials
a task which previously
took two or three days.
The system tracks the 70,000
vol urnes borrowed each week from the
library, saving more than 1,500
man-hours weekly.
Heavy circulation, especially in the 17 branches
and five bookmobiles throughout
Franklin County, meant personnel
spent most of their time at this
clerical task.
Most of the timesaving is accomplished through elimination of the old "bOOk-slipping"
process,which involved hand-filing
predated transaction cards.
Now

HISTORIES OF COOK COUNTY
LAND TRACTS ANALYZED
BY COMPUTER

Chicago Ti tIe and Trust Company,
Chicago, Ill., is using a computer
system to analyze the histories of
1.3 million parcels of land in Cook
Count~ The system researches vast
reference files and processes new
data affecting ti tIe status to keep
the files current; the files store
tax, special assessment, court j udgement and other data which could affect ti tIe to land. The system also
prints portions of title insurance
policies.
IBM 2260 visual display terminals
are 1 inked to one of two IBM System/360 Model 40 computers which
retrieves
reference information
from storage on magnetic strips in
a large-capaci ty data cell.
CRT
operators enter the information
through the terminal's keyboard and
edi t the data on the 2260' s display
screen before transmi t ting it to
the computer.
Under the compu ter-ba sed approach,
da ta is reproduced as needed for
ti tIe examination and policy printout.
The new system not only has

"INSTANT INSANITY" FAILS
TO FRUSTRATE COMPUTER

A computer has overcome the
frustrations of "Instant Insanity,"
a popular puzzle that requires the
player to arrange four cubes in a
particular order. Each of the cubes
has red, white, blue and green
sides. The colors are arranged so
that no two blocks are identical.
To determine there are 256 ways of
arriving at one or more unique solutions to the puzzle, a UNIVAC 1108
computer performed 1,207,959,552
calculations
and printed them
on paper - in six minutes and 17
seconds. James E. Renouf, systems
programming manager for Univac's
Data Processing division office in
Oakbrook, Ill., noted that it takes
some people "hours to complete just
one solution".
Mr. Renouf, who arrived at the
solution method wi th the help of
two co-workers, explained that each
cube has 64 possible combinations
of sides. He said there are a total
of 16,777,216 combinations for the
sides.
A number was arbitrarily
assigned to each side of the cube.
"In effect," he said, "we mathematically simulated the problem
(played the game) in the computer.
"Ins tan t Ins an i ty" is manufactured by Parker Bro thers, Inc.,
Salem, Mass.
"We'll be happy to
sol ve any other puzzles they have, "
Mr. Renouf said. "All they have to
do is send them to us."

EDUCATION NEWS
EDUCATIONAL FILM "MANIS
MOST MAGNIFICENT MACHINE"AVAILABLE FROM DPMA

Virginia Geus checks a
computer print-out that lists
the 900,000 volumes on hand
when a book is returned, a sequentially-numbered card is taken from
the book and the book is returned
to the shelf for further use - on
the same day. The data processing
department sorts and re-dates the
cards.
In addi tion, the library also
uses the system for ordering books
from publishers, preparing overdue
notices and registering patrons.
Use of the computer has freed personnel allover the system to provide better, more individual service to patrons.

A 16mm color-sound educational
film abou t the computer and the information processing industry, entitled "Man's Most Magnificent MaChine", has been produced and is
being distributed by Data Processing
Management Association (DPMA). The
professionally produced 20-minute
film is intended for a general,
non-technical audience to further
knowledge and appreciation of the
computer and the EOP industry.
It traces the development of the
computer to its present, diverse and
expanding applications. It explains
in simple language what the computer
is, tells about the people who operate it and discusses the computer's growing influence on American
life.
Among the areas covered in
the film are job opportunities in
the EDP field and the computer's
role of increas ing importance in
industr~ school~ medicin~ finance,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

transportation, the professions and
many other fields.
Pr in ts of the film have been
distributed to regional DPMA division vice presidents, from whom it
can be obtained free of charge for
viewing by local chapter membership and by others interes ted in
the subject (schools, civic, professional, educational, youth and
other organizations).
Prints also are available at
$95 to DPMA chapters, members and
member companies, and $105 to nonmembers, payable in U.S. funds or
equivalent.
There is a $5 review
handling charge which is deduc tible
from purchase price of film. Wri te
to DPMA International Headquarters,
505 Busse Highway, Park Ridge,
Illinois 60068.

NEW PRODUCTS

Digital
SPC-16 COMPUTER
Automation, Inc.

I General

8K 16-bit words of one microsecond
memory and 16 hardware priori ty
interrupts.
The basic system includes 4K words of memory, four
hardware priori ty interrupts and
in tegral power supply.
MAC Jr.
inheri ts an extens i ve library of
proven software and a broad range
of peripheral devices from the
MAC 16 (November 1968) small-scale
computer. The new minicomputer retains mos t of the mul ti-application
features of the original, making
the two computers completely compatible.
MAC Jr. is designed for
smaller sys tem environments providing cost economies attractive to
the quantity OEM user.
(For more information, circle ~42
on the Reader Service Card.)

MD708 MINICOMPUTER
Monitor Data Corp.

Monitor Data's first computer,
the MD708, an 8-bit, 1.6microsecond
general purpose computer, is intended for use as a communications controlle~ translato~ peripheral controller, and other usage requiring
low-cost, programmable computing
powe~ It includes the CPU, a 1024
8-bi t core memory (expandable to 65K
words), power supply, control panel,
and a desk or rack cabinet.

The SPC-16 computer, introduced
at the 1970 Spring Joint Computer
Conference last month, is a compact,
economical H:rbi t machine. Designed
as a dedicated automation computer
for manufacturing and production
environments, the GA SPC-16 also
optimizes laboratory and scientific
data acquisition, data communications, and process and control
automation projects.
The SPC-16 provides both on-line
. and off-line operation, with up to
64 hardware priority interrupts.
The computer uses completely interchangeable Read Only and Read/Wri te
memories, as well as 16 generalpurpose registers. A basic 4K core
memory is field expandable to 32K
in 4K increments, with 960 nanosecond access time to entire 32K
core memory.
ROM, with 480 nanosecond access time, may be expanded
in 512, 1024, or 2048 word increments.
(For more information, circle ~41
on the Reader Service Card.)

MAC JR. COMPUTER
Products Division of
Lockheed Electronics

I Data

The second of the MAC 16 family
of minicomputers, the "MAC Jr."
computer, was announced at the
Spring Joint Compu ter Conference in
Atlantic Ci ty; it also will be shown
to the June IEEE Computer Group in
Washington, D.C., June 16-18. The
Lockheed MAC Jr. has a maximum of
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for JUlle, 1970

The minicompu ter weighs 25 Ibs. ,
occupies 3~" of rack space, and
requires only 170 watts of power.
I/O interfacing and all standard
peripherals are available.
David Green, President of Moni tor
Data, in announcing their firs t compute~ stated the MD708 will be the
lowes t priced general-purpose minicompu ter available today.
It is
des igned and priced for the large
volume user or original equipment
manufacturer.
The complete MD708
will sell for less than $3,000 in
quantities of 25.
(For more information, circle ~43
on the Reader Service Card.)

XDS SIGMA 6 COMPUTER
Xerox Data Systems

The new computer, XDS Sigma 6,
is designed for bus iness appl ications.
Sigma 6 is a medium-size

mul ti-use computer which will be
capable of handling batch, remote
batch, on-line and time-sharing
activities concurrently;
it will
be supported by a number of businessoriented programs including the new
XDS Data Management System (DMS).
Primary hardware charac teris tics
of the Sigma 6 include an input/
output processor capable of handling
up to 48 channels of data concurrently, a memory map for efficient
core utilization,byte-string decimal arithmetic inc luding floating
point, and a communication subsystem
to which a variety of remotelylocated terminals can be attached.
The computer has a dual-access
memory expandable from 131,072 bytes
(32,768 words) to 524,288 bytes
(131,072 wordsl Memory cycle time
is 300 nanoseconds per byte (1. 2
microseconds per word). The compu ter
and its supporting programs are
scheduled for delivery to cus tomers
in the fourth quarter of 1970.
(For more information, circle ~4
on the Reader Service Card.)

RAYTHEON 704 MINICOMPUTER
Raytheon Co.

An improved version of Raytheon's
704 minicomputer was shown last
month at the Spring Joint Computer
Conference held in Atlantic City.
Both cycle time and memory capacity
of the compu ter have been improved.
The new cycle time is 1. 0 microsecond, down from the original
cycle time of 1.5 microseconds.
The memory of the 704 now is expandable to 32,000 words, double the
previous upper limit.
The new 704 is fully compatible
with Raytheon Computer's more than
400 programs and subrou tines. Capabili ty of the computer includes
74 instructions, word andbyte manipulation, a real-time automatic
priority interrupt system, direct
inpu t and outpu t to the cen tral
processing unit, and four addressable hardware registers.
The 704
also includes real-time clock, hardware multiply and divide, highspeed direct memory access, and
other options.
(For more information, circle ~45
on the Reader Service Card.)

TWO NEW COMPUTERS, MODEL 5
AND MODEL 1 I Interdata, Inc.
The new Model 5 is a third gen':!ration general purpose ForegroundBackground computer, according to
Ronald A. Paterson, Vice President
Marketing, for Interdata, "which
produces more real-time programming
power per dollar than any other
computer available today".
It is
the most powerful In terdata computer
51

made, he added. Privileged instructions separate the supervis ing modes,
and protect an unbugged background
program from destroying an operating foreground.
Model 5 will be
offered in four configurations with
memory from 8KB of core for the
Model 5/1 to 32KB with the 5/4. A
complete line of peripheral equipment is available.
The Model 1 is designed for spec ific applications such as industrial
and process control functions. Memory for the Model 1 is expandable
in blocks of 2K x 8 bi ts, to a maximum of 16K bytes.
The Model 1
includes 43 bas ic ins truc tions plus
Auto Indexing features; buil t-in
test and skip options,
4 direct
memory access channel capability,
and built-in 1.0 millisecond realtime clock.
A replaceable ReadOnly-Memory is available as an
option; a magnetic tape cartridge
and other plug-compatible peripheral
equipment is offered.
(For more information, circle #46
on the Reader Service Card.)

Special Purpose Systems

CRU printed circuit cards.
(For more information, circle #47
on the Reader Service Card.)

such as pI acing a patient on a soft
diet at a specific time, or canceling an equipment rental.
(For more information, circle #49
on the Reader Service Card.)

HONEYWELL BANKING SYSTEM /
Honeywell EDP
This low-cost, disk-oriented system has been des igned especially
for commercial banks with deposits
of $25 mi Ilion to $lOO-mi Ilion.
The new banking sys tern includes the
Model 115 central processor, Type
172 disk drives and a full complement of disk-oriented applications
packages for demand depos i t accoun ting, MICRentr~ savings accounting,
installment loan accounting, and
proof and transit.
The Honeywell bank ing sys tern not
only handles the regular banking
routines, but also can be used for
general accounting work.
Monthly
rental cost of the computer includes
software, applications packages,
systems support and bank employee
training under Honeywell's package
pricing policy; expansion to the
larger Series 200 compu ters to keep
pace wi th bank growth is eas ily
accomplished.
(For more information, circle #48
on the Reader Service Card.)

Teaching Devices

COMP-U-KIT COMPUTER LOGIC
LAB / Scientific Measurements, Inc.
In COMP-U-KIT, a new Computer
Logic Laboratory, all connections
are made tty patching between points
on actual logic diagrams. The lab,
buil t around 7400-series integrated
circui ts, is modular and expands
indefinitely. A book entitled 'An

liTHE MANUFACTURING MAN'S
COMPUTER" / Texas Instruments
A new process control computer
has been designed specifically for
manufacturing applications.
Described as "The Manufac turing Man's
Compu ter", the new Texas Ins trumen ts
system (designated Model 960) utilizes a new, single-bit addressing
capability which requires less memory than standard arithmetic computers.
Among the applications
for which the 960 was designed are
discrete control of machine tools
and assembly machines, instrument
and system control, superVIsIon
and moni toring of discrete event
and continuous-flow operations.
The
"Communica tions
Reg is ter
Unit", or "CRU", is the key to the
computer's flexibility.
CRU provides the most economical interface
to accommodate a wide variety of
application-oriented devices.
As
many as 4096 input and 4096 output
lines may be handled by a single
960 computer.
Each I/O line may
be addres sed independen tly, or up
to 16 lines may be addressed together as a conventional channel.
Fundamentally, the 960 computer
is a processor designed to manipulate bits, fields, and words. The
core memory has a one microsecond
microsecond memory cycle time, 400
nanosecond acces's time, and a capaci ty from 4096 to 65,536 words of
16 bits.
Inexpensive interfacing
is ac.complished through plug-in,

PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
PROCESSOR / Medelco Inc.
The new programmed-format comthe Professional Information
Processor (P.I.P.), is designed to
utilize the data input and output
devices of Medelco' s Total Hospi tal
Information System (T.H.I.S.); but
unlike T.H.1.S., which functions as
an administrative tool, P. LP. deals
with medical information.
pute~

P.I.P. stores patient medical
information, quickly retrieves that
information on demand, and reminds
hospital personnel to perform certain procedures pertaining to the
pa tients.
Two advantages of the
P. 1. P. over stand-alone computers
are: (1) it is automatic; there is
no need to prepare data for input.
Orders sent through T.H.1.S. terminals are routed to P. 1. P. ins tan tly
and automatically.
Resul ts from
automatic test equipment also are
fed automatically to P.1.P. (2) It
utilizes the output devices of
T.H.1.S. to send messages instantly
and automatically to any point in
the hospi tal where they are needed.
The device can trigger controls
on standing orders, such as providing automatic notification in
pharmacy of when to prepare uni tdose medication for a specific patient at a specific hour. It also
can automatically order the start
or stop of any patient routine

Introduction to Computer Logic'
(wri tten specifically for COMP-UKIT) provides thorough coverage of
computer logic by leading the user
through a series of learning-oriented
experiments.
Advanced books also
will be available. The product is
sui table for use in high school,
college, or industry, and can be
used individually, for informal
training, or for formal classes.
(For more information, circle #50
on the Reader Service Card.)

COMPU-KEE MODEL 40 TRAINER /
Kee, Inc.
A bas ic trainer for mul ti access
computer terminal operations, the
Compu-kee Model 40 simulates all
the maj or func t ions of a compu ter
terminal. This new training sys tern
enables a company to train employees
in keyboard and procedural skills
wi th no tie-up of on-line equipment.
The system is completely selfadministered and·self-paced by the
student; requires little supervision;
no professional instruction; and is
easily programmed for any mul ti
access computer system.
Components of the Model 40 include a program console wi th lighted
display panel, an in tegra ted punched
tape reader and corresponding keyboard unit.
The console and keyboard configurations are changeable.
In addition to serving as a training
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

tool for compu ter terminal training,
the wide variety of available keyboard configurations also make it
useful in teaching keyboard skills
in teletype,keypunch, typing, calculating machines, etc.
(For more information, circle ~51
on the Reader Service Card.)

second. Also available as optional
equipment arewrite lockout switches
which inhibi ts wri ting to blocks of
8 tracks and an inert gas atmosphere
for industrial environments.
(For more information, circle ~53
on the Reader Service Card.)

DISC MEMORY FOR VARIAN 620
MINICOMPUTERS / Data Disc Inc.
Memories

PDM-8, POINT-DESIGNED
MEMORY SYSTEM / Dataram Corp.
Another standard core memory
system, the PDM-8 m, has been added
to Dataram's proprietary 1 ine of
foint ~esigned ~emory systems. The
newest system has an eight microsecond cycle and a capacity of
180 x 18 bi t words. It is specifically for use as a low-cos t buffer
memory in keypunch-to-tape and highspeed printer applications.
The

The Model 1703 Disc-Memory System
was developed exclusively for Varian
minicomputers.
The memory system
is available in four capacities
from 32,768 words to 262,144 words.
Low capacity systems can easily be
field-expanded wi thout danger of
data loss.
The new disc-memory
systems may be used instead of
additional core memory in many
appl ica tions.
The 1703 plugs directly into the computer.
(For more information, circle ~54
on the Reader Service Card.)

COMPUTER MEMORY SYSTEMS,
LOW-COST AND EXPANDABLE /
RCA, Memory Products Div.

entire system is plugged into two
standard (6 3/8" x 8" overall)
stacked PC boards for integral
equipment mounting and wiring. Two
models are offered: the PDM-8/ A is
for decimal address; and, the PDM-8/B
is for binary address.
(For more information, circle ~52
on the Reader Service Card.)

5000 SERIES DISC MEMORY
SYSTEM CONTROLLERS /
Information Data Systems, Inc.
The 5000 Series Disc Memory
System Controllers is available in
two models: one for use wi th the
Interdata Model 3, and one for the
Da ta General Nova Compu ter.
The
controller systems utilize IDS,
Inc. 's standard 7000 Series Disc
Memory units, which offer capacities up to 2.4 million bits with
an average access time of 16.5
milliseconds.
The con troller for the Interdata
machines stores up to 256K, 8 bi t
words expandable in groups of 32K
words, wi th a word transfer rate
of 150K words per second.
The
systems for the Nova computers store
up to 128K, 16 bi t words expandable
in groups of 16K words, wi th a word
transfer rate of 75K words per
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

A new line of low-cost, expandable compu ter memory sys terns from
RCA are des igned for use as main
memory or expans ion memory un i ts for
minicomputers, da ta buffering devices, and for specialized industrial
processor applica tions.
The new
systems have planar construction
utilizing large PC boards.
The
basic unit is of modular construction, expandable in 4K increments
from 4K to 32K wi th word lengths
from 8 to 18 bits and a cycle time
of one microsecond. Other features
of the new RCA memory line are 7400
series T2L logic in terface, standard
operating modes of clear/write,
read/regenera te and read/modify/wri te
plus "byte" operation.
(For more information, circle ~55
on the Reader Service Card.)

Software

BASE (Brokerage Accounting System
Elements) / IBM Corporation, White
Plains, N. Y. / a group of computer
programs des igned to help brokerage house~ solve back-office paperwork problems; the programs
can generate up to 75 timely reports that reflect the status of
purchases, sales, stock records,
dividends, transfers, customer
statements and "fails". The system can be used wi th System/360
Model 30 or larger wi th a minimum
of 64,000 bytes of core storage
and operating under the Disk Operating System. It is scheduled
to be available under a license

agreement the second quarter of
1971 at a monthly charge of $800.
(For more information, circle ~56
on the Reader Service Card.)
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY COST SYSTEM /
In terna tiona 1 Compu ter Corpora t ion,
Washington, D.C. / a series of
integrated modules designed to
maintain all financial information
required for construction firms.
The system can easily be adapted
by any of the building trades.
Customer may lease any·or all of
the modules of the sys tern. Originally designed for a small Honeywell 200 Series Computer, the
system now is available also for
the IBM System/360 Model 30.
(For more information, circle tt: 57
on the Reader Service Card.)
N/C LATHE PACKAGE / Fordax Corp.,
Long Beach, Cal if. / a general
lathe package said to be the first
available on a minicomputer. Designed to prepare numerical control tapes for lathes, the package
consists of a series of commands
for inputting dimensional information to the computer, specifying
cutter path and controlling operation of the program.
Control
commands and machine tool control
commands allow the programmer to
control program operation and
tailor the part program to a specific machine tool.
(For more information, circle ~58
on the Reader Service Card.)
ON-LINE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
/
Computing
Corporation International, Inc.,
Englewood, Colo. / provides online management information and
accounting in a conversational
manner.
Management may inquire
into the system from a Teletype
or CRT terminal to retrieve information and generate up-to-date
reports. The package is designed
for a wide variety of on-line
computer systems such as the IBM
360/50, the PDP-IO, the GE 400
and 600 series, etc. The price,
including complete installation
and setup, is $60,000.
(For more information, circle ~59
on the Reader Service Card.)
SYSTEM '70 / Western Operations,
Inc., San Francisco, Calif. / a
mutual fund shareholder accounting
system which provides complete
integration of all areas of shareholder accounting, support personnel and compu te operations. There
are extensive controls and audi ts
through all phases;clerical procedures are simple and easy-tolearn. Written primarily in COBOL,
it can be processed on an IBM
System/360-40 with 128,000 bytes
of core storage, (3) 2311 disk
drives, and (5) tape drives.
(For more information, circle ~60
on the Reader Service Card.)
55

Peripheral Equipment
PORTACOM TERMINAL /
Data Products Corp.

A portable compu ter-cornmunications terminal has been develop~d
for the medical communi ty. The new
interactive terminal,called PortaCom, can be hand carried in an attache case anywhere -- from physicians office to office, hospi tal to
hospi tal.
Some typical PortaCom
applications include gathering clinical statistics during surveys,
computer-assisted medical recordskeeping at mobile nursing stations,
and on-the-spot inventories of drugs
and medical suppl ies in hospi tal
annexes.
PortaCom produces full-page computer printout with up to three
carbon copies. For instant computer
access, it has its own built-in
acoustic coupler.
It needs only
a standard power outlet and a telephone to begin operating. PortaCom
has a standard ASCII keyboard and
is Teletype compatible.
(For more information, circle u61
on the Reader Service Card.)

competitive with many COM systems.
The lower speed allows easy stacking
of forms at the beginning of a run,
followed by higher speeds to maximize throughput for a given form.
The variable speed allows the copier to handle all types of forms.
(For more information, circle u62
on the Reader Service Card.)
DATA ENTRY EQUIPMENT,
SYSTEM 480 / Entrex, Inc.

System 480 is primarily for preparing computer input, and is designed to replace existing keypunch
and key-to-tape methods. The maj or
difference between the new sys tern
and other methods is the simplici ty
of operation. Intended to eliminate
the user's problems, System 480 is
operator-oriented -- the equipment
". .. not only talks to compu ters at
electronic speeds, but also talks
to its operators in their language
by displaying information in English on television-like screens."

The POM system, designated ATI
Formscopier Model 1000, consists
essentially of an input tray for
stacking fan fold forms, a sprocket
drive for carrying forms through the
copier, a rotary camera with dual
lens, and a receiving output tray
for collecting copied forms.
The
operator places printed forms on
the inpu t tray, threads the lead
sheet through the copier, and stands
by while forms are microfilmed.
Copied forms stack automatically in
the receiving tray.
The Formscopier handles printer
hard copy output data at a rate adj ustable between 15 and 56 inches
per second with automatic exposure
con trol. The top speed corresponds
to a photo rate of 20,000 lines per
minute (assuming six printed lines
to the inch) and may be considered
56

NUMERICAL READOUT DISPLAYS /
Oppenheimer, Inc.

A new incandescent display offers
small size (0.02 sq. in.) and high
visibility, even in sunlight. The
display can be directly driven from
I.C. logic circui try, or an optional
B.C.D. decoder may be used. The decoder also permi ts varying the display brightness.
Because of the
availabili ty of standard and custom
configurations, the display can be
adapted to many different applications, including O.E.M. uses. Applications include navigational systems displays, DME sys terns, tes t
equipment and computer products.
(For more information, circle u65
on the Reader Service Card.)
OPTICAL CHARACTER READERS /
VIATRON Computer Systems Corp.

PRINTER OUTPUT MICROFILM
SYSTEM / Advanced
Terminals Inc.

A new output microfilm system
(a forms copier that automatically
transfers computer printer output
data from continuous fan fold forms
onto microfilm) offers computer
users a way to get into high-speed
microfilming wi thou t cornmi t ting tens
of thousands of dollars. The system
is not as sophis ticated as COM (Computer Output Microfilm), but it goes
far beyong slow, tedious hand filming.
The ATI system represents a
concept that the company calls POM,
or Printer Output Microfilm.

The recorder weighs only 10 pounds
and measures 9" x 10" x 4~".
(For more information, circle u64
on the Reader Service Card.)

System 480 has it's own computer
and disk; it controls up to 64
Data/Scope keystations. The Data/
Scope has a 480 character display.
Input preparation applications for
the Sys tern 480 include insurance
companies, banks, hospitals, government agencies, and many others.
(For more information, circle u63
on the Reader Service Card.)
DATA·KAP 882 MACHINE·SOURCE
DIGITAL RECORDER / Electronic
Laboratories, Inc.

The da ta-kap® Recorder records
numeric data directly from cash
registers, calculators, and other
bus ines s machines which have an
electro-mechanical matrix. The 882
recorder may be free-s tanding, or
mounted directly to cash registers
and large office machines via a
universal mounting plate. Data input is directly from the office machine through a plug-in connector
to the machine.
Data is recorded in BCD, EBCDIC,
or ASCII format, 32 characters per
inCh, even parity, on standard computer-grade 150-mil4-track magnetic
tape cassette.
Cassette capacity
is up to 200,000 numeric characters.

VIATRON's new line of low priced
optical charac ter readers makes optical character reading (OCR) available to even the smallest business
or professional organization. The
new readers (priced at least 10 times
less than OCR devices now available)
recognize a proprietary new charac ter
set which can be typed by any s tandard office typewri ter or printer.
According to Dr. Edward M. Bennett,
President of VIATRON, this new character set, which he referred to as
VIAFONT, is expected to become the
standard of the industry wi thin five
years because of its overwhelming
economic advantages.
The new readers all interface wi th
VIATRON's System 21, Model 2111 data
terminal through a standard data
channel. Data read by the OCR can
be recorded on VIATAPE cartridges or
converted direc tly to punched cards
or computer compatible tape.
One
OCR model reads typed data from
paper documents as small as a credi t
card or as large as an 11" business
form. Another reads typed da ta from
anyone of six lines on a standard
punch card. Lowest cost VIATRON OCR,
the OCR-6lOl, reads information typed
on standard one inch paper tape.
(For more information, circle u66
on the Reader Service Card.)

Data Processing Accessories
DATA INTERFACE TEST SET /
Pulse Communications, Inc.

Model 505 Data Interface Test Set
allows data terminal users to secCOMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

tionalize trouble between the terminal and its associated modem (data
set). This test set provides both
access and control at all the leads
of the RS-232 Interface Connector
which is the demarcation line between the data set and the terminal
equipment. With this test set any
connec tor lead can be opened or
closed, and any control signal such
as carrier on, da ta set ready or
request-to-send can be simulated.
Indicator lamps, on the test set,
provide signal station information.
The Test Set's simplici ty allows
users of limi ted technical skill to
correctly isolate faults to either
the data set or the terminal. The
equipment also can be a very useful
tool to even highly skilled maintenance personnel.
(For more information, circle ~67
on the Reader Service Card.)
TABLE-TOP MAGNETIC TAPE
TESTER-CLEANER / Kybe Corp.

The TMS-70 (for .rape Management
.§.ystem) , a table-top device, combines the functions of computer magnetic tape testing, cleaning imd
precision rewinding. TMS-70 is des igned primarily for users of small
and medium-sized tape-oriented computer systems. The low-cost device

The Certifier distinguishes between the various types of errors
-- missing bits, shifted bits, and
extra bits.
A light comes on to
iden tify miss ing bi ts or extra bi ts
on a pack while Nixie tubes show
actual track error location. A
complete disk pack profile may be
printed out on an optional printer
to give the operator the exact condition of a particular disk pack.
(For more information, circle ~69
on the Reader Service Card.)

COMPUTER-RELATED SERVICES
MEDICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM,
MIS-l TO BE AVAILABLE
NATIONWIDE

A compu terized sys tern to improve
communication and reduce manual informa tion handling in hospi tals was
demonstrated recently at El Camino
Hospital in Mountain View, Calif.
Developed by Lockheed Information
Systems (a part of Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.), Sunnyvale,
Calif., the Medical Informa tion System, called MIS-I, enables nurses,
other hospital personnel and physicians to communicate directly with
computers. MIS-l accumulates, processes and displays, on reques t,
medical information related to a
patient' s hospital stay (starting
at the admissions office and continuing until the patient's discharge).
The system automatically handles
medical orders, reports, charges,
requisitions, nurses notes, patient
care plans and other information
required
information now produced manually.

can process a 2,400-foot reel of
magnetic tape in les s than five
minutes.
First shipments are expected this month.
(For more information, circle ~68
on the Reader Service Card.)
DISK PACK CERTIFIER /
Interscan, Inc.

Series 1100 Disk Pack Certifier
has been designed to assure computer
operators that memory information
magnetically stored on their 6 and
11 inch high disk packs can be relied upon to be accurate.
This
third generation certifier can distinguish between "soft" (marginal)
and "hard" (minimum acceptable)
errors.
The user may adj us t the
certifier to his own standards or
to the cri tical standards of In terim
Federal Specification W.D. 0001489
GSA-FSS dated December 1, 1969.

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

The picture shows a radiology
technician a't El Camino Hospi tal
listening to a doctor's tape recording of X-ray resul ts which she feeds
into a video terminal for immediate
transmission to the attending physici an. In MIS-I, two bas ic communica tion devices are used by the medical professionals.
One is the
video terminal consisting of a conventional television screen, a light
pen and a typewriter keyboard; the
other is a silent, ink-j et printer.
The Lockheed system, soon to be
available nationwide, is being of-

fered ini tially to hospi tals in the
San Francisco Bay area. The northern California systems will be
served by a Lockheed computer complex located in Mountain View, the
same center tha t presently supports
the MIS-l prototype at El Camino.
(For more information, circle #70
on the Reader Service Card.)

NEW LITERATURE
CAREERS, COMPUTERS AND YOU, a new
12-page booklet prepared by the
National Better Business Bureau
(NBBB) and the American Federation
of Information Process ing Societies (AFIPS).
One section is
devoted to maj or job categories
-- the duties of each posi tion,
educational or training requiremen ts, and any special skills
needed. Other sections cover the
growth of the computer field, a
basic description of data processing, methods for self-evaluation
of interest and aptitude, general
salary information, sources of
education and training, and a lis t
of ten recommended guidelines for
evaluating private schools.
A
copy of "Careers, Compu ters and
You" may be obtained by sending
twenty-five cents (25¢) to the
National Better Business Bureau,
230 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y.,
10017. The booklet also is available in bulk quantities.
GUIDE TO DATA EDUCATION FILMS, a
M-page, 8!2 x 11, paper-covered
reference volume, has been compiled by Dr. Mary Robek of Eastern
Michigan Universi ty and is published by the Society of Data
Educators.
The volume contains
detailed descriptions
of 550
films, including where each can
be rented or purchased, rental
fee if any, running time, and
recommended level of usage. Films
were selected on the bas is of
their value in classroom and
training si tuations; mos t have
been released since 1960.
(For more information, circle #71
on the Reader Service Card.)
HOW TO BUY PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE
PRODUCTS, a 63-page booklet published by International Computer
Programs, Inc. The subj ec t matter
covers:
the present status of
the software industry, guidelines
(and a checklist) for evaluating
a software package, the accounting
and tax implications of software,
and, legal aspec ts of purchasable
software. The booklet is priced
at $4.50 per copy; bulk rates are
available.
(For more information, circle ~72
on the Reader Service Card.)

NEW CONTRACTS
Lear Siegler, Inc., Instrument
Div .. Grand Rapids. Mich.
Honeywell Data Systems Div.,
Minneapolis, Minn.

Data Input Devices, Derry, N.H.

Manufacture of digital encoders

$9.7 million

Department of Defense

$8,084,716

Control Data Corp., Minneapolis, Minn.

Mass. Institute of Technology,
Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington,
Mass.

Informatics, Inc., Sherman
Oaks, Calif.

National Aeronautics & Space
Administration (NASA)

Digital communications systems to link
Defense Contract Administration Service
(DCAS) headquarters and selected Contract
Administration Offices in computer net to
seed defense contract data
Dual CDC 6600 systems; one system will be
installed at the Lincoln Labs; the other,
at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the
Marshall Islands where it will be connected
to radar systems
A one year continuation of the operation of
NASA Scientific and Technical Information
Facility in College Park. Md.
Continuation of data processing services
at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Classified electronic components
Components for cathode ray tube display
terminals
Continued production of the TT558/G High
Speed Page Printer which is used in conj unction with military communication systems
Handling entire data processing operation
currently maintained by Budget Industries
Development and prototype production of
computer peripheral equipment for use in
a pilot order processing system
To build and test twenty high-reliability
units of the AN/PPS-( ) Battlefield Survei llance Radar
Control Data 3100/3300 system to process
racetrack betting information and calcu~
late dividends on winnirtg tickets
Core memory stacks to be used in new
Nixdorf 800 and 900 series computers
Core memories to be used in Marconi Elliott
900 series computers
Solid state video display units for use
in Viatron's System 21
Technical assistance in support of the
National Military Command System
Digital tape drives for the new Singer
System Ten business computer
Spare parts in support of the AN/APX-76
Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) Interrogator Set
Core memory stacks to be incorporated' in
Data General's Nova and SuperNova computers
One-hundred Key tape devices for preparation
of some 3.5 million agricultural census
forms for computer processing
High-speed modems to provide the data
transmission links for the airline's
international seat reservation system
CartriFile magnetic tape units

$3.2 million

Building thirty BIP (Balloon Interrogation
Package) Systems, a key element in NIMBUS
D/IRLS Global' Weather Forecasting Syi; tem
Model 2000 Series mini-printers to be used
in conjunctign with HP's digital computers
CR-95 military memory systems for a submarine sonar program

$700,000+

A grant for meeting first-year operational
expenses of the non-profit computer utility

$102,500

Computing and Software, Inc.,
Los Angeles, Calif.
Sanders Associates, Inc.
Nashua. N.H.
Infoton, Inc., Burlington,
Mass.
General Instrument Corp.,
Electronic Systems Div.,
Hicksville. N. Y.
Computer Dimensions, Inc.,
Dallas, Texas
Ferranti-Packard Ltd., Electronics Div., Toronto,
Ontario. Canada
General Instrument Corp.,
Electronic Systems Div.,
Hicksville, N. Y.
Control Data Corp., Minneapolis, Minn.

U.S. Navy, Naval Electronic
Supply Office
Na tional Semiconduc tor Co., Inc.

Ampex Corp., Culver City,
Calif •

Nixdorf Computer AG West
Germany
Marconi Elliott Computer Systems Ltd .. Great Britain
Viatron Computer Systems Corp.,
Bedford, Mass.
Defense Communications Agency

Motorola Inc." Franklin Park,
Ill.
Computer Sciences Corp., Los
Angeles. Calif.
Ampex Corp., Culver City,
Calif.
Hazeltine Corp., Little
Neck,.N.Y.

U.S. Army
Budget Industries, Inc.,
Los Angeles, Calif.
Spiegel Inc., Chicago, Ill.
U.S. Navy, Naval Electronic
Systems Command
The Royal Turf of Thailand

Friden Division of the Singer
Co •. San Leandro. Calif.
Department of the Navy

Ampex Corp., Culver City,
Cal if.
Honeywell Data Products Div.

Data General Corp., Southboro,
Mass.
U.S. Bureau of Census

Racal-Milgo Ltd., England

Lufthansa

Tri-Data Corp., Mountain
View. Calif.
General Instrument Corp.,
Electronic Systems Div.,
Hicksville. N. Y.
Data Products Corp., Woodland
Hi lls. Calif.
Raytheon Co., Submarine Signal
Div., Portsmouth, R.I.

Teradyne, Inc., Boston, Mass.

Middle Atlantic Educational
and Research Center (MERC),
Lancaster, Pa.
International Computaprint
Corp., Fort Washington, Pa.

NASA
Hewlett-Packard Co., Cupertino. Calif.
Lockheed Electronic's Data
Products Div., Los Angeles,
Calif.
Independence Foundation of
Philadelphia
U.S. Dept. of Commerce

Shipping Research Services
A/S (Ltd.), Oslo Norway

Chantiers Navals de la Ciotat

Applied Dynamics Computer
Systems, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Reed Institute, Portland, Ore.

7 million
(approximate)

$5,035,000
$4.9+ million
$4,229,488

$2.5+ million
$2.1 million
$2+ million
$1.5 million
(approximate)
$1.5 million
(approximate)
$1.4 million
(approximate)
$1.3 million
$1. 25 mill ion
$1.1 million
$1.1 million
$1,093,000
$1+ million
$1 million
(approximate)
$750,000+
$750,000

$600,000+
$500,000+

Preparation of a Full Text Computer Data
Base for the U.S. Patent Office which plans
to use the data base for the direct support
of internal Patent Office operations
Delivery and installation of AUTOKON, a
corr.p ter program system for design and construction purposes in shipbuilding industry
AD/FIVE analog/hybrid computer system; will
be interfaced wi th Nova computer for use in
teaching liberal arts students basic math,
chemistry and physics
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

NEW INSTALLATIONS

Burroughs B500 system

Zondervan Publishing Co., Grand
Rapids, mch.

Burroughs B3500 system

American Data Services, Inc.,
Portland. Ore.
Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co., Harrisburg, Pa.

Control Data 3300 system

Lurgi, Frankfurt, Germany
Shearson, Hammill & Co., Inc.
New York, N. Y.

Control Data 3500 system
Control Data 6400 system

Secretaria de Hacienda, Mexico
City, Mexico
(2 systems)
Bell Telephone Company of Canada,
Ltd., Montreal, Quebec

Control Data 6600 system

Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales
(CNES), Bratigny, France

Digital Equipment PDP-lO

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me.
Manchester University, Reading,
Berkshire, England

GE-1l5 system
Honeywell Model 125 system

IBM System/3

Chicago Specialty Mfg. Co.,
Skokie, Ill.
Metropolitan Pathology Laboratories
Inc., Hackensack, N.J.
Bon Voyage Travel Agency, Evanston, Ill.
Century Products, Inc., Cleveland,
Ohio
Hollingsworth Solderless Terminal
Co •• Phoenixville. Pa,
Jacob Levy & Bros., Inc., Louisville. Ky.
Lingo Lumber Co., Dallas, Texas

IBM System/360 Model 65

Atar Computer Systems, Inc.,
Canoga Park, Calif.

IBM System/360 Model 85

McDonnell Automation Co., St.
Louis, Mo.

NCR Century 100 system

Berger Langmoen A/S, Brumunddal,
Norway

RCA Spectra 70/55 system

Carte Blanche, Los Angeles, Calif.

UNIVAC 9200 system

Bush Brothers & Co., Dandridge,
Tenn.
Friends Univ., Wichita, Kans.
McArthur Dairy, Florida

UNIVAC 9400 system

Retail Store Employee's Union,
Local 782. Kansas City. Mo.
Maruei Dept. Store. Nagoya. Japan
State of Rio de Janeiro, Computer
Center, Niteroi, Brazil
(3 systems)
(I system)

XDS Sigma 7 system

Datalogics, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio

UNIVAC 9300 system

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Order processing, accounts receivable and payable,
payroll and mailings
(system valued at over $340.000)
Expanding computer services; initial use for processing general service bureau work
General ledger and cost accounting systems, external
and internal statistical requirements, and policy
writing and rating
Solving engineering problems; facilitating design
and construction of plants and equipment worldwide
A Brokerage Control System; provides order matching and confirmation of stock market transactions
(system valued at almost $2.5 million)
Handling budgetary functions of the Mexican
government
Use in forecasting future telephone network needs,
communications research projects and analysis
(system valued at nearly $2 million)
All scientific and administrative computing needs
of CNES (the French counterpart of NASA)
(system valued at $5.7 million)
Administrative, research, and instructional needs;
also contract computing services to area schools
Control of 3 analog computers, computer-aided
design, general-purpose time sharing, and computation in school's control systems center
(system valued at $400.000)
Initial use in order processing and invoicing; will
add sales forecasting and analysis later
Use with 2 AGA autochemists to print reports, collate and separate normal from abnormal results (an
autochemist machine performs 21 chemical tests on
blood samples)
Accounting jobs for 10 area offices, processing
air lines' reports on tickets, and for large
commercial accounts
Inventory control, payroll, accounts receivable and
payable. commission statements. sales analyses
Data processing chores previously handled by
accounting machines
Computerizing entire accounting operation
Long range sales forecasting, sales analyses, and
a variety of accounting tasks
Travel agent common automated reservation system;
will give selling agents automated access to reservations systems of participating domestic and
foreign airlines, hotels and car rental firms. When
communications computer (July) and second IBM 360/65
(fall) are installed Atar will have real-time, online capability with complete backup
(system valued at $2.5 million)
Commercial data processing services; data sent to
it over nationwide telecommunications network from
68 smaller computers and data transmission devices
(system valued at nearly $12 million)
Computerizing accounting operation of firm's parquet
plant; timber accounting and production control for
remaining divisions will be added later
Billing and credit card accounting; replaces two
second generation computers
(system valued at $1.6 million)
Sales analysis, payroll preparation, general
accounting
Administrative and business applications as well
as student training
Route/driver settlement, wholesale billing, ice
cream inventory. marketing reports. payroll. etc.
Dues billing, master record maintenance and
ma il ing lis t
Merchandise control and billing
A number of state government departments; applications include: banking; processing of property,
school and turnover taxes; payroll preparation for
all of the state employees
(systems valued at about $1.5 million)
Expansion of computer services; will enab~e firI!1_ to
offer remote batch-processing and will also permit
expanding throughout Southern Ohio and several
bordering states
59

MONTHLY COMPUTER CENSUS
Neil Macdonald
Survey Edi tor
COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION
The following is a summary made by COIIPUTERS AND AUTOMATION of reports and estimates of the number of general purpose electronic digital computers manufactured and installed, or to be manufactured and on
order. These figures are mailed to individual computer manufacturers
from time to time for their information and review, and for any updating or comments they may care to provide. Please note the variation
in dates and reliability of the information. Several important manufacturers refuse to give out, confirm, or comment on any figures.

The following abbreviations apply:
(A)
C
(D)
E
(N)

Our census seeks to include all digital computers manufactured anywhere. We invite all manufacturers located anywhere to submit information for this census. We invite all our readers to submit information that would help make these figures as accurate and complete as
poss ib Ie.

(R)

Part I of the Monthly Computer Census contains reports for United
States manufacturers. Part II contains reports for manufacturers
outside of the United States. The two parts are published in alternate months.
SUMMARY AS OF
DATE OF
NAIIE OF
NAME OF
FI RST
MANUFACTURER
COMPUTER
I NSTALLAT I ON
Part II. Ranufacturers Outslae Onltea States
A/S Norsk Data Elektronikk
NORD 1
8/68
Oslo, Norway
NORD 2
8/69
(A) (Jan. 1970)
A/S Regnecen t ra 1en
GI ER
12/60
Copenhagen, Denmark
RC 4000
6/67
(A) (Jan. 1970)
Elbit Computers Ltd.
Elbit-100
10/67
Hai fa, I s rae 1
(A) (Jan. 1970)
GEC-AEI Automation Ltd.
Series 90-2/10/20
New Parks, Leicester, England
25/30/40/300
1/66
(R)
S-Two
3/68
(Jan. 1969)
130
12/64
3/64
330
-/65
959
1010
12/61
1040
7/63
CON/PAC 4020
CON/PAC 4040
5/66
corl/PAC 4060
12/66
International Computers, Ltd. ( I CL)
At 1as I & 2
1/62
London, England
Deuce
4/55
(A)
KDF 6 - 10
9/61
(rlarch 1970)
KDN 2
4/63
Leo I, 2,
-/53
Mercury
-/57
o ri on 1 & 2
1/63
Pegasus
4/55
S i ri us
-/61
-/64
503
12/60
803 A, B,
1100/1
-/60
1200/1/2
-/55
1300/1/2
-/62
1500
7/62
2400
12/61
1900-1909
12/64
Elliott 4120/4130
10/65
System 4-30 to 4-75
10/67
Japanese Mfrs.
(N) (March 1970)Marconi Co., Ltd.
Chelmsford, Essex, Eng 1and
(A) (Jan. 1970)
Saah Aktiebolag
Linkoping, Sweden
(A) (Jan. 1970)
Siemens
t1un i ch, Germany
(A)
Ularch 1970)

(S)
X

authoritative figures, derived essentially from information
sent by the manufacturer directly to COMPUTERS AND
AUTOMATION
figure is combined in a total
acknowledgment is given to DP Focus, Marlboro, Mass., for
their help in estimating many of these figures
figure estimated by COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION
manufacturer refuses to give any figures on number of installations or of orders, and refuses to comment in any
way on those numbers stated here
figures derived all or in part from information released
indirectly by the manufacturer, or from reports by other
sources likely to be informed
sale only, and sale (not rental) price is stated
no longer in production
information not obtained at press time

15. 1970
AVERAGE OR RANGE
OF MONTHLY RENTAL
$ (000)

~IAY

2.0
4.0

(s)

2.3-7.5
3.0-20.0
4.9

NUMBER OF INSTALLATIONS
In
Outs ide
In
U. S.A.
U. S.A.
World
0
0

20
2

10
3

0
0

39
8

1
6

120

(S)

65.0
10-36
10-24
20.0

5.0
0.9
4.0
6.0
23.0
3-54
2.4-11.4
5.2-54

6
7
58
1
59
13
17
30
22
16
83

3/66
10/67

1:36.0-1:66.0
1:22.0-1:42.5

021
022
0220
301
302
303
304
305
306
2002
3003
4004s
4004/15/16
4004/25/26
4004/35

12/62
5/68
4/69
11/68
9/67
4/65
5/68
11/67

7.6
13.4
9.8
0.75
1.3
2.0
2.8
4.5
6.5
13.5
13.0
4.0
5.0
8.3
11.8

6/59
12/63
10/65
1/66
2/67

(S)
(S)

13
1
2
9
I
8
1
0
9
5
6
7
58
I
59
13
17
30
22
16
83
22
68
196
110
4
1289
142
115

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

68
196
110
4
1233
151
105

4136

C
C
C
Total:
564
800

0
0

37
17

9
12

0
0
0

37
15
1

37
15
1
20
24
69
43
5'1

Various models
t1y ri ad I
Myri ad II

NUMBER OF
UNFILLED
ORDERS

41
38
1
89
34
147

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

10
10
C
C
C
C

C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

NAME OF
~1ANUFACTURER

Siemens (cont'd)

USSR

(In
(t-lay

1969)

NAME OF
COl1PUTER

4004/45
4004/46
4004/55

DATE OF
FI RST
INSTALLATION

7/66
4/69
12/66

AVERAGE OR RANGE
OF MONTHLY RENTAL

$ (000)
19.8
34.0
25.8

NUMBER OF INSTALLATIONS
Outside
In
In
World
U.S .A.
U.S.A.

NUMBER OF
UNFI LLED
ORDERS

130

3
14
Total:
230

BES~1 4
BESM 6
MINSK 2
MINSK 22
MIR
NA I R 1
ONEGA 1
ONEGA 2
URAL 11/14/16

C
C
C
C

C
C
C
C
C

and others
Tota 1:
6000

C
Tota 1:
2000

CALENDAR OF COMING ,EVENTS
June 8-9, 1970: CAP Spring Membership Meeting, Computer Users
Group of Honeywell's Computer Control Div., Statler Hilton Hotel,
Washington, D.C. / contact: Ted Nelson, Sanders Associates, Inc.,
95 Canal St., Nashua, N.H. 03060
June 8-10, 1970: International Conference on Communications (IEEE),
San Francisco Hilton Hotel, San Francisco, Calif. / contact: A. M.
Peterson, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif. 94025
June 9-10, 1970: Grenoble Workshop on Microprogramming, Mathematiques Appliquees, CEDEX 53, 38 - Grenoble-Gare, France / contact: Guy G. Boulaye and Jean P. Mermet, Mathematiques Appliquees, CEDEX 53, 38 - Grenoble-Gare, France
June 10-12, 1970: 1970 Summer Computer Simulation Conference,
Denver Hilton Hotel, Denver, Colo. / contact:. Donald Lusty, 1970
SCSC Registration Chairman, c/o Electronic Associates Inc., 2120
So. Ash St., Denver, Colo. 80222
June 15-16, 1970: Conference on Solid State in Industry, (IEEE), Statler-Hilton Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio / contact: A. J. Humphrey, Technical Program Chairman, The Reliance Electric & Engrg. Co., 24701
Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44117
June 16-18, 1970: Computer Group Conference and Exposition (IEEE),
Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C. / contact: Bob O. Evans
or Donald E. Doll, IBM Federal Systems Div., 18100 Frederick Pike,
Gaithersburg, Md. 20760
June 16-18, 1970: Conference on Computers in the Undergraduate
Curricula, The Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa / contact: Brooks
Booker, Center for Conferences and Institutes, The Univ. of Iowa,
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
June 18, 1970: Ninth Annual Technical Symposium, Washington, D.C.
Chapter ACM, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Md. /
contact: General Chairman, 1970 Symposium Committee, Washington, D.C. Chapter ACM, P.O. Box 6228, Washington, D.C. 20015
June 18-19, 1970: 29th Management Conference of ADAPSO, Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C. / contact: ADAPSO, 551 Fifth
Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017
June 20-24, 1970: RCA Computer User's Association, Atlantic City,
N.J. / contact: RCA Information Systems Div., Route 38, Cherry
Hill, N.J. 08034
June 22-23, 1970: Eighth Annual Conference, ACM Special Interest
Group for Computer Personnel Research, Center for Continuing
Education, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md. / contact: Robert
A. Dickmann, The Johns Hopkins Univ., Applied Physics Lab., 8621
Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, Md. 20910
June 22-24, 1970: Data Processing Supplies Association, Spring General Meeting, The Olympic Hotel, Seattle, Wash. / contact: Data
Processing Supplies Association, 1116 Summer St., P.O. Box 1333,
Stamford, Conn. 06904
June 23-26, 1970: DPMA International Data Processing Conference and
Business Exposition, Olympic and Washington Plaza (co-headquarter
hotels), seminars and exposition at Seattle Center, Seattle, Wash. I
contact: Data Processing Management Association, 505 Busse Hwy.,
Park Ridge, III. 60068
June 24-26, 1970: 11th Joint Automatic Control Conference (JACC),
G~orgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga. / contact: Prof. Eugene
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

Harrison, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University,
Clemson, S.c. 29631
June 29-30, 1970: Conference on Optimisation Techniques in Circuit
and Control Applications, Institution of Electrical Engineers, Savoy
Place, London, WC2, England / contact: Manager, Conference Department, lEE, Savoy Place, London, WC2, England
June 29-July 1, 1970: SIAM 1970 National Meeting, Univ. of Denver,
Denver, Colo. / contact: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 33 South 17th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103
July 15-17, 1970: Primer Congreso Argentino de Instruccion Programada, Pedagogia Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina / contact: Professora Luisa Kohen, Via monte 430, piso 1°, Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Aug. 18-21, 1970: International Conference on Microelectronics, Cir.
cuits & Systems Theory, Univ. of New South Wales, Kensington,
Sydney, Australia / contact: Jt. Conf. Secretariat, IREE, Australia,
Box 3120, GPO, Sydney, 2001 Australia
Aug. 24·28, 1970: IFIP World Conference on Computer Education,
Amsterdam, Netherlands / contact: A. A. M. Veenhuis, SecretaryGeneral, IFIP Conference Computer Education 1970, 6, Stadhouderskade Amsterdam 13, Netherlands
Aug. 25-28, 1970: Western Electronic Show & Convention (WESCON),
Biltmore Hotel, Sports Arena, Los Angeles, Calif. / contact: WESCON, 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005
Aug. 31, 1970: Fifth Annual ACM Urban Symposium, New York Hilton Hotel, New York, N.Y. / contact: Paul R. DeCicco, ACM Urban
Symposium Chairman, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 333 Jay St.,
New York, N.Y. 11201
Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 1970: American Society of Civil Engineers, Fifth
Conference on Electronic Computation, Purdue University, Lafayette,
Ind. / contact: Robert E.Fulton, Mail Stop 188-C Structures Research
Division, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. 23365
Sept. 1·3, 1970: 25th National Conference, Association for Computing
Machinery, New York Hilton, New York, N.Y. / contact: Sam Matsa,
ACM '70 General Chairman, IBM Corp., 410 E. 62nd St., New York,
N.Y. 10021
Sept. 2·4, 1970: The Institution of Electrical Engineers (lEE) Conference
on Man-Computer Interaction, UK National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, England / contact: Roger Dence, lEE Press Office,
Savoy Place, London WC2, England
Sept. ,14·24, 1970: 1970 FID (International Federation for Documenta.
tion) Conference and International ConfJress on Scientific Informa·
tion, Buenos Aires, Argentina / contact: U.S. National Committee for
FlO, National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C. 20418
Sept. 17·18, 1970: Computer Science and Statistics Symposium, sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the ACM, University of California, Irvine, Calif. / contact: Dr. Mitchell O. Locks, C-E-I-R Professional Services Div., Control Data Corp., 6060 W. Manchester, Los
Angeles, Calif. 90045; or Dr. Michael E. Tarter, Assoc. Prof., Dept.
of Mathematics and Dept. of Medicine, University of California,
Irvine, Calif. 92664

Sept. 22-24, 1970: The Computers and Communications Conference
(IEEE), The Beeches, Rome, N.Y./ contact: Jerold T. McClure, Conference Chairman, P.O. Box 182, Rome, N.Y. 13440
Sept. 22-24, 1970: Univac Users Association Fall Conference, Roosevelt
Hotel, New Orleans, lao / contact: User ~roup Relations, Univac
Division, Sperry Rand Corp., P.O. Box 500, Blue Bell, Pa. 19422
Oct. 5-9, 1970: Computer 70-International Computer Exhibition,
Olympia, london, England / contact: M. F. Webster, leedex limited,
100 Whitechapel Road, london, E.1., England
Oct. 7-9, 1970: American Production and Inventory Control Society
13th Annual International Conference, Ohio Convention Exposition
Center, Cincinnati, Ohio / contact: APICS National Office, Suite 504,
Watergate Bldg., 2600 Virginia Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037
Oct. 11-15, 1970: 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Information Science (ASIS), Sheraton Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa.! contact: ASIS 1970 Convention Chairman, Dr. Eugene Garfield, Institute
for Scientific Information, 325 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Oct. 12-13, 1970: Sixth National Data Processing Conference of the
Information Processing Association of Israel, Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel,
Tel Aviv, Israel/contact: S. Shalish, Chmn., Information Processing
0
Association of Israel, P.O.B. 3009, Jerusalem, Israel

ADVERTISING INDEX
Camwil Products, Inc., 835 Keeaumoku;" Honolulu,
HI 96814 / Page 62 / Richard T. Clarke Co.
Computer Consultants (International) Limited, GPO
Box 8, Llandudno, Wales, G. B. / Page 64 / Computer Signal Processors, Inc., 209 Middlesex
Turnpike, Burlington, MA 01893 / Page 2 / Ingalls
ASSOCiates, Inc.
Computers and Automation, 815 Washington St., Newtonville, MA 02160 / Pages 3 and 63 / -

REPORT FROM GREAT BRITAIN

(Continued from page

23 )

Competitive Pressure
Add to that the fact that launch in the UK simultaneously
with anything new in the U.S. is becoming automatic and
there you have the whole problem - ICL is just big enough
to start holding its own in Europe, but commands only half
its own home market and has to face up to sharp competition from every other manufacturer except RCA and
Philips.
It is hard to imagine an American company at home
faced with simi lar problems.
Indeed, the above figures do not reveal the true seriousness of the situation, black as they are. The proportion of
domestic-made equipment supplied to the home market is
likely to go on falling till 1972, at which time half the
installations of any type of computing equipment put into
UK users' premises will be brought in from overseas.
Pundits at the Ministry of Technology say that from then
on the position will improve because the Scottish plants of
Burroughs will be turning out disc systems for Europe wh ile
NCR's Century line, also in Scotland, will be in full
operation for destinations outside North America.
The position will improve, all things being equal. But if
I CL goes under as a result of the immense competitive
pressures on it, then the position will turn into a complete
disaster for a fumbling, bumbling Government policy.

Ted Schoeters
Stanmore, Middlesex
England

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
Rates for Classified Ads: 90¢ per word - minimum, 20 words.
capitals - no charge. Ads must be prepaid

First line all

Send copy to: Computers and Automation, 815 Washington Street, Newtonville,
Mass. 02160.
FOR

Special Type Heads
Prepared for IBM
Selectric Equipment
Camwil provides an unlimited number of changes on existing IBM and
Camwil type heads for Selectric
type~riters, Composers, accounting
machines and computer terminals.
These changes can be made in any
font style applicable to the Selectric medium.
We also mold new type heads to
your specified formats or you may
choose from our stock of molded
type heads which includes computer and teletype codes, foreign
languages, chemical and library formats.
Designate No. 20 on Reader Service Card

CAMWIL, INC.
835 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
62

SALE

32K CONTROL DATA 3300
COMPLETE COMPUTER SYSTEM
Manufacturer's Maintenance
Also Extensive Software
for Petroleum & Mineral
Exploration Data Processing
Write: Box 403
Computers and Automation
815 Washington Street
Newtonville, Mass. 02160

Lorain County Community College is
looking for a creative man to work on
a well-automated campus with faculty
and administration in the Academic
Division. This person must have experience in schools and be prepared

to serve the functions of systems analyst, programmer, and operator.
CAl, test banks, learner assessment,
research techniques, and item analysis are among the areas in which he
will work.
Apply to: Dr. Herbert E. Humbert
Director
Learning Resources
1005 N. Abbe Road
Elyria, Ohio 44035

GEORGE S. McLAUGHLIN
ASSOCIATES, INC.
will buy or sell your used
System/360, 1400, or 7000 Series
201-273-5464
785 Springfield Avenue
Summit, New Jersey 07901

COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for June, 1970

YOU ARE INVITED TO ENTER OUR

~
COMPUTER ART CONTEST
the special feature

of the August,

1970 issue of

The winning entry will appear on the cover
of our August issue - more than 25 entries
will be published inside. The 1969 first
prize winner, "Circus", is shown here at
the left.

CIRCUS

Tom Childs
GUIDELINES

FOR

ENTRY

1. Any interesting and artistic drawing, design or sketch made by a
computer (analog or digital) may be entered.

2. Entries should be submitted on white paper in black ink for best
reproduction. Color entries are acceptable, but they may be
published in black and white.
3. Entries should be limited in size to 12!" by 17".
4. Each entry should be accompanied by an explanation in three or
four sentences of how the drawing was programmed for a computer,
the type of computer used, and how the art was produced by the
computer.
There are no formal entry blanks; any letter submitting and describing
the entry is acceptable. We cannot undertake to return artwork, and we
ask that you not send originals.
Deadline for receipt of entries in our office is July 2, 1970.

Passport To Computer Reality

Admit the Bearer to all

World Computer Pioneer
ACTIVITIES

in LLANDUDNO, WALES, G.B.
COMPUTER SCHOOL

Pier Pavilion, Llandudno, 8th & 9th July, 1970

·1

SPECIAL COMPUTER EXHIBITION

Winter Gardens, Uandudno, 6th to 10th July, 1970
MOON COMPUTER,& SPACE MATERIAL EXHIBITION

Drill Hall, Llandudno, 20th June to 31 st July, 1970
, Price £105 or $250
Ticket No.

1058

Reserved Seat No.1

L-

'.:3:Z

THIS AUTHORITY IS FREELY TRANSFERABLE AND WILL NOT BE REPLACED IF LOST

COME AND LISTEN;
LEARN FACTS
AT FIRST HAND;
DISCUSS THEM WITH
WORLD COMPUTER
PIONEERS:
BERKELEY - USA
E'CKERT - USA
EDWARDS - GB
FILIPAZZI - ITALY
HARG REAVES - GB
HOPPER - USA
LECLERC - FRANCE
RABINOVITCH - USSR
THOMPSON - GB
ZUSE ~ GERMANY

Applications for School enrol ments should be made by letter to:

COMPUTER CONSULTANTS' (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED
G.P.O. BOX 8, LLANDUDNO, ·'G.B.
Cables: "Computers, Llandudno."

Telephone: Enfield 7185; Llandudno 75171; Deganwy 84234.

School Fee: 100 guineas or 250 U.S.A. Dollars, non-residential inclusive of material
..'.
and reports. .

Source Exif Data:

File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.3
Linearized                      : No
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 4.2.1-c043 52.372728, 2009/01/18-15:56:37
Producer                        : Adobe Acrobat 9.1 Paper Capture Plug-in
Modify Date                     : 2009:03:24 20:23:43-07:00
Create Date                     : 2009:03:24 20:23:43-07:00
Metadata Date                   : 2009:03:24 20:23:43-07:00
Format                          : application/pdf
Document ID                     : uuid:a15ceed5-d641-4eb3-ac0b-bba80cc483e0
Instance ID                     : uuid:d120f5e5-f1c7-4b73-b8b4-ee69475fb73b
Page Layout                     : SinglePage
Page Mode                       : UseNone
Page Count                      : 60

EXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools

197006

197006 197006

Navigation menu

Versions of this User Manual:

Views

Navigation