25th Anniversary of the Personal Computer" 4195

Anne & Lynn Wheeler

Fun! -- but of course the salient difference is that the Lisp Machine was designed to be used that way (and only that way) from the get-go.

I have located the very place where I first encountered the term "personal computer" applied to the Lisp Machine (which may also be where I first encountered the term "personal computer" in any context): MIT AI Memo 444, August 1977, "LISP Machine Progress Report by the Lisp Machine Group"

"The Lisp Machine is a personal computer. Personal computing means that the processor and main memory are not time-division multiplexed, instead each person gets his own. The personal computation system consists of a pool of processors, each with its own main memory, and its own disk for snapping. When a user logs in, he is buttigned a processor, and he has exclusive use of it for the duration of the session. When he logs out, the processor is returned to the pool for the next person to use. This way, there is no compebreastion from other users for memory; the pages the user is frequently referring to remain in core, and so swapping overhead is considerably reduced. Thus the Lisp machine solves a basic problem of time sharing Lisp systems."

You betcha! 24 bits of address space ought to be enough for anyone...

-- Roland HutchinsonÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWillÊplayÊviolaÊdaÊgambaÊforÊfood.

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