Australia's first computer

Charles Richmond

There was an article in one of the popular trade mags in the mid 1970's (it may have been Datamation) about the 20th anniversary of the G-15. IIRC they included some reprints of contemporary documentation when it was announced and I don't recall whether this was in the contemporary documentation or the accompanying article but there was reference to it being the first personal computer or at least first computer which could be justified for personal (professional, of course, not home or hobby) use. Quite some years ago I tried to locate this article without success. I received quite a few different trade mags at the time.

IIRC the sale price of the basic machine was around $50K US so it was inexpensive as mid 50's computers went. I recall reading that a popular use of them was geological studies in that companies searching for oil would use them to analyze seismic data (charges would be set off on the surface and then the reflected sound waves would be recorded). Apparently it was cost effective to be dedicated for this use whereas other machines were not. Considering that the thing was so slow it seemed by watching the console lights you could watch it execute individual instructions (PC was pointer to drum address) it likely would have to be "dedicated". A weirdly fun machine none the less and if it hadn't been for a PDP-8 sitting in the same room with it, it would have been the first computer I actually got to use myself (whereas the main machines I had access to required card or RJE TTY job submission). I recall when the PDP-8 was introduced in the mid 1960's, a basic machine was priced at $18K US. When the PDP-8-s (the "s" standing for slow :-) was announced a year or two later at $10K US it became the "price leader" (I have most of a PDP-8-s stashed in my crawl space).

I have a G-15 plug in module (a flip flop I think) in my stash of computer (and other old) stuff on display in my family room and hang it on my Christmas tree each year as an ornament too :-)

Chris AN GETTO$;DUMP;RUN,ALGOL,TAPE $$