Background
During the late 1950s English Electric embarked on two major computer projects. Firstly, as a result of a long-standing technical arrangement with the RCA company of America, English Electric built a version of the RCA501 computer which was known as the KDP10 (KDP for Kidsgrove Data Processing). This was a machine intended for commercial data processing applications, with fixed length instructions, but powerful capabilities for processing variable-length numeric and alpha-numeric data. The KDP10 was first delivered in 1961, after which it was upgraded and re-designated in 1964 as the KDF8; about ten machines were sold.
The second large computer to emerge from development work at Kidsgrove was the KDF9, primarily designed for scientific work.
One KDF8 was installed at the Kidsgrove (Staffordshire) site of The English Electric Company's computer bureau. Over the years, and a succession of mergers, this organisation became English Electric Leo Marconi, {EELM}, International Computing Services Limited {ICSL}, and finally under a joint arrangement between ICL and Barclay's Bank, Baric). The description following describes this machine and its use.
Read more about this topic: English Electric KDF8
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)