UNIXPC trivia

[Todd Day]

I was going thru my stuff today and found some sales literature for
our good ol' friend, the UNIXPC, circa 1985.  It's quite a hoot!
True, the UNIXPC was a powerful machine back in '85, but it shows
how far we've really come.

"The AT&T UNIXPC Model 7300 is simply today's most advanced, user-
friendly, and versatile desktop computer system.  It offers the best
of the three worlds of microcomputing: easy-to-use on-screen menu
prompts that you select with a mouse; power and speed that make it
one of the most powerful computers you can buy; plus built-in voice
and data communications so sophisticated, yet easy to use, that you
know only AT&T could bring them to you.  The AT&T UNIX PC - the first
personal computer that has it all and does it all!"

"The AT&T UNIX PC provides you with a friendly interface between
you and its UNIX System V operating system."

Am I the only one who still uses the windowing system?

A picture shows the versatility of the movable monitor.  Another one
shows a UNIXPC in the lab right next to nasty looking chemicals,
attatched to two terminals.  However, they put the picture in backwards,
as the flashing red LED shows up on the right side (the disk drive too)!

"The power means processor speed - 10 MHz of it; loads of built-in
memory - 512k, with possible expansion to 2MB... high speed modem...
Data storage is on a choice of 10- or 20-MB hard disk and 1/2-MB
floppy disk."

It seems that the ad agency dosn't know what unformatted capacity is.
Thank goodness we can go to 4MB RAM and 100s of MBs disk now.

"It uses multiple windows to make multi-tasking easier, so that no
matter what file or kind of work you're doing, an interruption won't
force you to close up shop and start a new file.  Instead, just
select a window for a memo pad, or to make a phone call.  When the
interruption is finished, you can go back to doing wheat you were
doing before - all without missing a beat."

Unless, of course, you open more than 11 windows.

Well, I guess at least one good thing did come out of AT&T
diversification.  I always wondered why AT&T tried to push
something as complicated as UNIX into desktop business applications,
but I guess it kinda makes sense since, of course, they own the
license on UNIX.  Still, I guess we're all lucky this mishmash
of a machine didn't quite make it out in the real world, as
it allowed all of us to make quite a steal on a machine that is
almost perfect for running news and mail leaf nodes.  I think
AT&T would have sold more machines had they targeted at that
market.

Okay, well, that's enough for now.  In a future article, I
will relate tales of the early years of the UNIXPC and my
dad's experience with it at Convergent.  I will also tell
you about the summer I tested keyboards for this beast as
a well paid temporary worker and all about the little known
telephone keyless touchscreen terminal that's supposed
to accompany these machines (and my little trip to Dow
Chemical in Michigan, but that's another story)...

-- 
Todd Day |   todd at ivucsb.sba.ca.us   |  ucsbcsl!ivucsb!todd
	"I believed what I was told, I thought it was a good
	 life, I thought I was happy.  Then I found something
	 that changed it all..."	   --- Anonymous, 2112