From pne at umich.edu Wed May 6 10:42:47 2009 From: pne at umich.edu (Paul Edwards) Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 10:42:47 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> All - I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. I'm looking for suggestions on three things: 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well- written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, but that's very dated now. 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. Thanks for any and all. - Paul ????????????????? Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information School of Information 3078 West Hall University of Michigan 1085 South University Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 (734) 764-2617 (office) (206) 337-1523 (fax) http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090506/e69dd3ac/attachment.html From c.aicardi at ucl.ac.uk Thu May 7 09:46:29 2009 From: c.aicardi at ucl.ac.uk (Christine Aicardi) Date: Thu, 7 May 2009 14:46:29 +0100 (BST) Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself Message-ID: <2385.81.129.217.159.1241703989.squirrel@www.squirrelmail.ucl.ac.uk> Hi I quite like Ted Friedman (2005) 'Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture' -- it is a well-written, very approachable cultural history of the personal computer in the US. Christine Aicardi Department of Science & Technology Studies University College London > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) > on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 > years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well- > written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, > but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's > Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat > inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history > of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered > memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list > of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at > http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription > options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From hauben at columbia.edu Thu May 7 10:46:50 2009 From: hauben at columbia.edu (Jay Hauben) Date: Thu, 7 May 2009 10:46:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself In-Reply-To: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> References: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> Message-ID: Hi Paul, I again recommend as an accessible and still mostly timely book documenting the history of usenet and the internet, Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet, by Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben. In addition to the print edition distributed by Wiley and Sons, there is the online edition at http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/. The book is still being read especially as netizens exercise their voice and power in countries like China, S. Korea, Egypt, and Indonesia. Good luck with your history course. Take care. Jay On Wed, 6 May 2009, Paul Edwards wrote: > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) on > "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well-written and > exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, but that's very > dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's Inventing the > Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat inaccessible for > undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history of the > WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > > > > > > From a.vandormael at skynet.be Fri May 8 03:29:53 2009 From: a.vandormael at skynet.be (Armand Van Dormael) Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 09:29:53 +0200 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] The Silicon Revolution Message-ID: <3CF47D7D68FE4AD5938993DFA71E1CF1@Armand2> Hello everyone, I am finishing a book titled The Silicon Revolution. A preview can be seen on Google by clicking my name or Armand Van Dormael Home Page. Your questions and comments are welcome. Armand Armand Van Dormael 33A Dr?ve de la Meute 1410 Waterloo Belgium www.avandor.net a.vandormael at skynet.be -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090508/3690cee0/attachment.html From gbowker at scu.edu Fri May 8 17:35:49 2009 From: gbowker at scu.edu (Geoffrey C. Bowker) Date: Fri, 08 May 2009 14:35:49 -0700 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself In-Reply-To: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> References: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> Message-ID: <4A04A5B5.8030401@scu.edu> Hi Paul, Good questions all - I'll be interested in the response. Henry Lowood has some nice stuff at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/lowood.html, though I suspect you know this already. Doug Engelbart's demo is on the web. I could set up a skype session with Regis McKenna, who knows SV backwards. There was a Nova or BBC series which I heard good reports on, but I forget the details. Exciting is hard to come by in general though. Laura de Nardis' excellent new work on internet names will not be accessible enough I fear. There's also The Wealth of Networks, though I'm not too attuned to the analysis - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Main_Page. take care, geof Paul Edwards wrote: > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) > on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's > well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the > Valley, but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's > Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat > inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history > of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090508/782fdb45/attachment.htm From thaigh at computer.org Fri May 8 18:40:03 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 17:40:03 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself In-Reply-To: <4A04A5B5.8030401@scu.edu> References: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> <4A04A5B5.8030401@scu.edu> Message-ID: <002f01c9d02d$eea4c010$cbee4030$@org> Hello Paul and others, Good questions. You may find our online syllabus repository to be of interest in course planning. Joe November is currently updating and improving it. http://www.sigcis.org/?q=node/12 Please consider contributing your own syllabus when it is ready. On the PC front there is little to report, which is odd. There's so much that could be written about user groups, dealerships, popular discourse, reconstruction of personal computers for different cultural spaces, gender, technology transfer, etc. Mostly it hasn't been written. However I would recommend Lindsay's chapter on the TRS-80 ("From the Shadows") in the Oudshoorn & Pinch volume How Users Matter. Frank Veraart in the Netherlands and Tom Lean in Manchester have, if I remember correctly, recently completed dissertations on personal computing topics. I do not know if they've published anything suitable in English. (Don't be shy to speak up guys). For a sweeping popular summary of the PC story I'd go with Cringely's Accidental Empires (or chapters from it) over Fire in the Valley, as it's more entertaining but actually very insightful with respect to platform competition, architecture lock in, etc. You'll just have to turn the datedness into a teachable feature and make it do double duty as a primary source. For the Internet, you should definitely check out the new Aspray & Ceruzzi edited MIT Press book The Internet and American Business. http://www.amazon.com/Internet-American-Business-History-Computing/dp/026201 2405. Mostly the book looks at the Internet in use in various fields, with a star studded cast of history of computing contributors. Momentarily eschewing modesty, my own chapter from this book "Protocols for Profit: Web and Email Technologies as Product and Infrastructure" could fit your requirements. It retells the history of web and email technologies from a business history meets STS perspective. I tried to focus particularly on ways in which the legacy of the pre commercial Internet shaped browser and email development in the commercial era. I don't have any special sources and relied on published accounts, mostly newspaper articles, for the actual facts. A draft is online at http://tomandmaria.com/tom/Writing/ProtocolsForProfitDRAFT.pdf. My other chapter, "The Web's Missing Links" looked at the web navigation business (search engines, directories, and portals) from a similar perspective. http://tomandmaria.com/tom/Writing/WebsMissingLinksDRAFT.pdf. However I do encourage you to get the whole book. Don't discount Janet's book. You might not want to assign the whole thing, but I found that the chapter on email and applications stands nicely on its own. Also From: members-bounces at sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces at sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Geoffrey C. Bowker Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 4:36 PM To: Paul Edwards Cc: members at sigcis.org Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself Hi Paul, Good questions all - I'll be interested in the response. Henry Lowood has some nice stuff at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/lowood.html, though I suspect you know this already. Doug Engelbart's demo is on the web. I could set up a skype session with Regis McKenna, who knows SV backwards. There was a Nova or BBC series which I heard good reports on, but I forget the details. Exciting is hard to come by in general though. Laura de Nardis' excellent new work on internet names will not be accessible enough I fear. There's also The Wealth of Networks, though I'm not too attuned to the analysis - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Main_Page. take care, geof Paul Edwards wrote: All - I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. I'm looking for suggestions on three things: 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, but that's very dated now. 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. Thanks for any and all. - Paul ----------------- Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information School of Information 3078 West Hall University of Michigan 1085 South University Ave. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 (734) 764-2617 (office) (206) 337-1523 (fax) http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ _____ _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090508/1dafb5d1/attachment-0001.htm From CeruzziP at si.edu Fri May 8 23:08:29 2009 From: CeruzziP at si.edu (Ceruzzi, Paul) Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 23:08:29 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] books on history of the Internet References: Message-ID: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FCC55AC2@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> Paul E.: It is unfortunate that the price, and heft, of our book on _The Internet & American Commerce_ may discourage its use for courses. However, MIT Press is making it available as a .pdf download--you have to pay, but it is not as much and may be more comfortable for today's generation of students, who are loathe to purchase old-fashioned books. I don't have the URL, but I think you can find it through MIT Press's web site. The book may also be available as an illegal download from a Chinese web site, but I am not going to go there! Talk about a teachable moment. Best, Paul Ceruzzi ________________________________ From: members-bounces at sigcis.org on behalf of members-request at sigcis.org Sent: Fri 5/8/2009 6:41 PM To: members at sigcis.org Subject: Members Digest, Vol 15, Issue 4 Send Members mailing list submissions to members at sigcis.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to members-request at sigcis.org You can reach the person managing the list at members-owner at sigcis.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Members digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Introducing myself (Geoffrey C. Bowker) 2. Re: Introducing myself (Thomas Haigh) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 08 May 2009 14:35:49 -0700 From: "Geoffrey C. Bowker" Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself To: Paul Edwards Cc: members at sigcis.org Message-ID: <4A04A5B5.8030401 at scu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Hi Paul, Good questions all - I'll be interested in the response. Henry Lowood has some nice stuff at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/lowood.html, though I suspect you know this already. Doug Engelbart's demo is on the web. I could set up a skype session with Regis McKenna, who knows SV backwards. There was a Nova or BBC series which I heard good reports on, but I forget the details. Exciting is hard to come by in general though. Laura de Nardis' excellent new work on internet names will not be accessible enough I fear. There's also The Wealth of Networks, though I'm not too attuned to the analysis - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Main_Page. take care, geof Paul Edwards wrote: > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) > on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's > well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the > Valley, but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's > Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat > inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history > of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > From petpaju at utu.fi Sat May 9 10:56:05 2009 From: petpaju at utu.fi (Petri Paju) Date: Sat, 09 May 2009 17:56:05 +0300 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Call for ICOHTEC & TICCIH Joint Conference 2010, Reusing the Industrial Past Message-ID: Call for Poster, Papers and Sessions ICOHTEC & TICCIH Joint Conference 2010 Reusing the Industrial Past 10?15 August 2010 Tampere, Finland A Joint Conference between the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) and The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH). The International Association of the Labour Museums (WORKLAB) is a minor partner in the conference. Deadline for Proposals is 16 November 2009. Conference language: English As a joint conference, the primary theme ?Reusing the Industrial Past? is intended to be a broad idea covering various approaches. Clearly, the industrial past is reused whenever old industrial installations are renovated or adapted. There have been many attempts to preserve the most significant aspects of old industrial areas after productive activity has ceased, by giving them a new viable function. However, the idea of reusing the industrial past need not stop there. Old industrial and handicraft technology can also be reintroduced and reused in manufacturing various products or in explaining how they work to the public in exhibitions. Various kinds of ?retroproducts? are now in vogue, while people are looking for alternative technological solutions for plastics, electronics, concrete, artificial chemicals and fertilisers. Knowledge of old technologies is in demand. What technologies do historians suggest could be reused? Manufacturing still has a strong impact on culture, working habits and ethics. The industrial past and obsolete technologies are also present in the way people think and use their language. For instance, ?put the small pulley on? continues to be used as a metaphor in British English for speeding up. Similar examples can be found in other languages as well. For social historians, it would be interesting to discover practices and ethics of factory work that continue to be used in offices and shops today. The culture of work seems to change more slowly than work itself and technology in use. The conference programme will include scientific and plenary sessions, poster presentations, business meetings and general assemblies of the organising societies, excursions, social events such as receptions and the banquet, and pre- and post-conference trips. The premises of the University of Tampere and the historical industrial buildings on the in the City Centrum will serve as conference venues. Conference Subthemes In order to make the conference theme as strong as possible, the programme committees have decided that all papers must fit within one of the following sub-themes (which must be indicated on the proposal). The bullet points under the subthemes are simply examples of topics that fit into the each subtheme. Papers need not deal specifically with a particular bullet point: 1. Nuts and Bolts Keep on Rolling ? Deindustrialisation and restructuring: Threat or opportunity? ? Stubborn technologies: Resistance to change ? Technological outcasts: Products and solutions rejected by consumers ? Technological comeback: Retroproducts and retrodesign ? Reinventing the industrial past: Innovations that never existed ? Legitimising competitiveness: Political and economic actions to support technological image and performance ? Processes in change: Technology of textile manufacturing and papermaking 2. Artefacts and Experiences in Transition: Challenges for Industrial Heritage ? Canonisation of the symbols of industrial revolutions ? Living and dead industrial landscapes ? Regeneration through heritage ? Reuse of industrial environments ? Societal aims for the conservation of industrial heritage ? Adapting technology and reforming industrial heritage ? Contested pasts - the heritage of science, technology and industry in geo-political conflict 3. Social History of Industry ? Reinterpretations of the First Industrial Revolution ? Social history of factory work ? Identities of blue-collar workers and white-collar workers in industry ? People and machines in industrial history ? Masculine machines and female labour: Gender in industry ? Local experiences: changes in work, vanishing employment, emerging opportunities ? Twins astray? Labour history and industrial history ? Serfs of looms and slaves of mobile phones 4. Cultural History of Technology ? Emotions and machines: Adored and hated technologies ? Technological optimism and pessimism ? Company cultures: Breaks and continuity ? Ethics of factory work ? Workers? culture: Legitimising hard work ? Long shadow of history: Influence of the industrial past in our present way of life ? Fossilisation of factory rhetoric in language ? Exploiting images of the industrial past 5. Environmental History of Industrialisation and Deindustrialisation ? Harnessing nature: Environmental exploitation ? Interdependence of energy and mechanisation in the smoke-stack industries ? Smoke-stack industry as an environmental burden ? Environmental heritage of the First Industrial Revolution ? Environmental consequences of deindustrialisation 6. Museums and Industrial Memories ? Collection policies for the industrial era ? New perspectives for exhibiting industrial heritage ? Challenges for museums in the postindustrial society ? Museum architecture in old factories Proposal Guidelines We urge contributors to consider organizing a full session of three or more papers. Individual paper submissions will, of course, be considered. Note: Membership of ICOHTEC, TICCIH, or WORKLAB is not required to participate in the conference. INDIVIDUAL PAPER proposals must include: (1) a 250-word (maximum) abstract in English; and (2) a one-page CV. Abstracts should include the author?s name and email address, a short descriptive title, a concise statement of the thesis, a brief discussion of the sources, and a summary of the major conclusions. Please indicate one of the specified subthemes for your paper. In preparing your paper, remember that presentations are not full-length articles. You will have no more than 15-20 minutes to speak ? depending on the number of speakers in your session ? which is roughly equivalent to 6-8 double-spaced typed pages. Contributors are encouraged to submit full-length versions of their papers after the conference for consideration by ICOHTEC?s journal ICON or TICCIH?s journal Industrial Patrimony. For more suggestions about preparing your conference presentation, please consult the guidelines at the conference web site: http://www.tampere.fi/industrialpast2010. SESSION proposals must include: (1) an abstract of the session (250 words maximum), listing the proposed papers and a session chairperson; (2) abstracts for each paper (250 words maximum); (3) a one-page CV for each contributor and chairperson. Sessions should consist of three or four speakers and may include several sections of three to four speakers each, which might extend over more than one day. We also encourage "untraditional" session or roundtable proposals. POSTER proposals must include (1) a 250-word (maximum) abstract in English; and (2) a one-page CV. Abstracts should include the author?s name and email address, a short descriptive title, a concise statement of the thesis, a brief discussion of the sources, and a summary of the major conclusions. Please indicate one of the specified subthemes for your poster. Proposal submissions The final deadline for all submissions is Monday 16 November 2009. Please submit proposals for papers and sessions via the website of the Tampere conference at http://www.tampere.fi/industrialpast2010. If web access is unavailable, proposals may be sent by fax to ICOHTEC 2010 at: +358 (0) 3 5656 6808. Otherwise they may be sent via regular mail or courier, postmarked not later than 9 November 2009. The mail address is: ICOHTEC 2010 c/o Museum Centre Vapriikki PL 487 Alaverstaanraitti 5 33101 Tampere Finland All questions about the programme proposals should be submitted to the local organizing committee, icohtecticcih2010 at tampere.fi. Queries about the conference venue should be made to the same address. Further information on host organisations: ICOHTEC: http://www.icohtec.org/ TICCIH: http://www.mnactec.cat/ticcih/ WORKLAB: http://www.worklab.dk/ University of Tampere: http://www.uta.fi/english/ Museum Centre Vapriikki: http://www.tampere.fi/english/vapriikki/index.html The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas: http://www.tyovaenmuseo.fi/?q=en ================== Transmitted by Timo Myllyntaus General Secretary of ICOHTEC -- Petri Paju, FT, tutkija, Turun yliopisto -- Ph.D. Researcher, Univ. of Turku http://users.utu.fi/petpaju/ From james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk Sat May 9 11:10:11 2009 From: james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk (James Sumner) Date: Sat, 09 May 2009 16:10:11 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Teaching PC/internet history In-Reply-To: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> References: <7A584FC6-66D5-4FB3-81EE-E85E09A6DEC5@umich.edu> Message-ID: <4A059CD3.30503@manchester.ac.uk> Dear all This is an excellent discussion. Like some of the other contributors, I don't have an answer to the literal question Paul raised. The undergrad teaching pattern here doesn't generally favour studying whole books: I have one wide-ranging required purchase (Campbell-Kelly and Aspray?s _Computer_) supplemented with individual papers or extracts. Most of the book extracts are copied under a licensing deal which allows only one chapter per volume per course, so we have to be quite wide-ranging in our selection. This approach is not ideal for all topics, but for the PC and mass internet I suspect it's the best approach right now. I'd echo Tom Haigh in recommending Lindsay's "From the shadows"; and, for British context, the intelligent pop history in Chapter 3 of Francis Spufford's _Backroom Boys_ (London: Faber 2003). _Accidental Empires_ and _Hackers_ (and, indeed, _Fire in the Valley_) are perhaps most valuable when used selectively and reflexively, pulling out a chapter or two to address both the content and presentation of computer history. Maybe this approach could be extended to first-hand accounts such as _Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer_ (Asheville, NC: WorldComm 1993), or the various (and highly variable) platform-specific histories. Tom Lean, who works on personal computing in the UK, is still preparing publications, but Frank Veraart has an English-language chapter on Basicode across Europe which is new in print -- details to follow shortly. Internet/web: I used Tom Haigh's chapters in the Aspray and Ceruzzi ed vol successfully with my undergrads this year. They will perhaps not enthuse a reluctant student, but they are great for providing engaged students with solid bridges from the world described in the well-established historical literature to the world they know from first-hand experience. In particular, "Protocols for profit" usefully clarifies how much "internet" culture has its roots outside the formal internet (eg, in proprietary content services such as CompuServe). I like to build up the paths-not-taken side by pointing to Ted Nelson, videotex, and Philip Frana?s 2004 _Annals_ piece on Gopher. Lastly, I find that using plenty of primary source material, including documentary video and emulated software, scores well in the "exciting for undergrads" dept. They may start out by laughing at the unfulfilled predictions / meagre technical specs/ notion that anyone would play SpaceWar all night, but some of them get hooked. And points that would be hard to write up become obvious when you show actual footage of an early dial-up user websurfing (if you can find it: I use footage from _The Net_, a 1994 BBC magazine show), or use sample issues to show how _Byte_ changed over a 20-year period. Hope this helps! I'd be interested to hear from any other listmembers teaching in this area. Best James Paul Edwards wrote: > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) on > "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's > well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the > Valley, but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's Inventing > the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat inaccessible for > undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history of > the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From C.A.Finn at Bradford.ac.uk Mon May 11 03:56:22 2009 From: C.A.Finn at Bradford.ac.uk (Christine Finn) Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 08:56:22 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] books on history of the Internet In-Reply-To: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FCC55AC2@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> Message-ID: <1242028582.4a07da2671e8a@webmail.brad.ac.uk> Dear all, For an alt view, can I flag up a title of my own? Artifacts: an archaeologist's year in Silicon Valley (MIT Press, 2001/2). It's used on archaeology/anthro and American history courses, so members might not have seen it. lt looks at the material culture of the tech industry and the changing landscape over 2000 - 2001. There's an extensive further reading list which might be useful. It is reportage, and genuinely written on the run, with photos of lost orchards, bunny suits and old computer ads; it could complement more comprehensive reading, or spark discussion. I've used it to teach American u/grads and high school students, and MA students at Bristol in the UK. For those who missed the dotcom boom, it gives an overview of its more immediate impact. It's still in print but long remaindered so it'll be cheap! Meanwhile, I'm just completing the sequel, researched as a longer tale, and happy to discuss content if that's useful. best wishes, Christine www.journalisted.com/christine-finn http://humanitieslab.stanford.edu/ChristineFinn/106 Dr.Christine A.Finn, FSA Hon. Writer Fellow, J.B.Priestley Library/ Hon. Research Fellow, Dept. of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK. + 44 07980 913795 (UK cell) + 44 (0)1034 372917 ------------------------------------------------------------ This mail sent through IMP: http://webmail.brad.ac.uk To report misuse from this email address forward the message and full headers to misuse at bradford.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------ From sandramols at yahoo.co.uk Mon May 11 08:21:46 2009 From: sandramols at yahoo.co.uk (Sandra Mols) Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 12:21:46 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] History of computing days, FUNDP, Namur, Belgium, 18-19/5/2009 Message-ID: <542481.30388.qm@web25302.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> With apologies for crossposting and for the late notice. Dear colleague, We have the pleasure to invite you to the "Computing History" Day and Workshop of these coming 18-19/5/2009, to be held at the Informatics Faculty, at the University of Namur, Belgium. On the 18th of May, we will have: - A presentation by Gerard Alberts, Professor at the University of Amsterdam on the history of programming and software - A presentation on the Machine Math?matique IRSIA-FNRS, electronic computer built in Belgium (1951-1962), in the Antwerp offices of the Bell Telephone Mfg Cy - And a round table and discussions with Belgian informatics pioneers. The working language of this day will mostly be French. On May 19th the programme includes talks on Belgian science and technology and computing history and time for discussions on computing history in Belgium and the Netherlands and its issues and future perspectives. Working languages for this day will be French and English Further information on these events can be found as attachement and at the following web address: http://www.info.fundp.ac.be/~smo/BCHDays/Alberts&Soft-EU_18052009_v.7_0518+19.pdf Registration for these events is free of charge. With best wishes, Sandra Mols -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090511/66d94971/attachment.htm From thaigh at computer.org Tue May 12 17:30:50 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 16:30:50 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Write biographies for Annals. Message-ID: <012e01c9d348$ec51a710$c4f4f530$@org> Hello everyone, I am writing to encourage you to submit material for the biographies department of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (www.computer.org/annals), which I've been editing since 2002. There is currently no queue of material, giving a great opportunity for people to see their work in print in the near future. You can read all the details at http://www.tomandmaria.com/tom/resources/annalsbiographies.htm But briefly: biographies should be carefully researched, add some new information or perspectives, and be 2,000 to 3,000 words in length. Subjects do not have to be dead, and in fact about half of our subjects are still alive. Researching a good biography is a lot of work, and so I encourage you to think of making a biography an initial or additional publication as part of a broader project. Having done the research on a particular story or institution it is common to learn a lot about the lives of individuals, but often this material is not fully used in the main book or article. You may also find yourself ready to contribute a biography at a relatively early state in the overall project. Biographies can also be peer reviewed on request. (As departmental articles the default is a speedier process where you work directly with me on revisions). This might be particularly attractive to those of you getting your publications counted for tenure or other review processes. Annals is widely indexed, and available at pretty much all research universities via the IEEE Digital Library. Best wishes, Tom Haigh From Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk Wed May 13 05:07:28 2009 From: Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk (Brian Randell) Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 10:07:28 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Fwd: FW: Bletchley Park update Message-ID: >From: Council of Professors and Heads of Computing in UK >universities [mailto:cphc-members at JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Sue >Black >Sent: Tuesday 12 May 2009 22:25 >To: cphc-members at JISCMAIL.AC.UK >Subject: Bletchley Park update > >Dear all, > >Yesterday I spent the day at Bletchley Park with Stephen Fry and >others. I contacted Stephen via Twitter last February after >realising that he was interested in Bletchley Park. > >I have blogged about it here www.savingbletchleypark.org > >Rory Cellan Jones who was with us yesterday has blogged about it >here on the BBC news website: Bletchley Park - the Fry effect > > >In January I took some social media gurus to Bletchley Park to show >them what a wonderful place it is and yesterday Christian Payne took >some fabulous photos which you can see here on his Flickr pages. > > >Stephen Fry has said that he is in for the long haul in terms of >saving Bletchley Park and I believe that his involvement will make a >considerable difference to the public awareness and hopefully >pressure on government to give substantial and sustained funding to >Bletchley Park. > >Thanks again very much to everyone for your supportive messages and >for signing the petition. > >Best regards > >Sue > >-- >Dr Sue Black, Head of Department, University of Westminster, UK. > >Homepage: www.sueblack.co.uk > >Blog: savingbletchleypark.org -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell From petpaju at utu.fi Wed May 13 07:46:30 2009 From: petpaju at utu.fi (Petri Paju) Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 14:46:30 +0300 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] CFP Oral history Summer School - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 Message-ID: <4A0AB316.1010204@utu.fi> Call for Papers - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 "Oral History and Technological Memory: Challenges in Studying European Pasts" Summer School, 10?15 August 2009, University of Turku, Finland See description and details in: http://www.hum.utu.fi/oppiaineet/kulttuurihistoria/memory.html How to apply: Applicants are to send a cover letter, a CV and a motivation letter, addressing the applicant?s interest in the issues related to the topic of the Summer School by May, 27, 2009 to Prof. Hannu Salmi, email: hansalmi(a)utu.fi. They will be informed about acceptance no later than June 1, 2009. Contact For further information, contact Dr. Petri Paju, Dept. of Cultural History, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland, email: petpaju(a)utu.fi. Sponsors * European Science Foundation * Foundation for the History of Technology (the Netherlands) * Research project Using IBM in Europe to Recapture the Lead (Academy of Finland), part of a European consortium Software for Europe (ESF) * Department of Cultural History, University of Turku, Finland From thaigh at computer.org Wed May 13 15:29:09 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 14:29:09 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] CFP Oral history Summer School - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 In-Reply-To: <4A0AB316.1010204@utu.fi> References: <4A0AB316.1010204@utu.fi> Message-ID: <003e01c9d401$179ef900$46dceb00$@org> Following up Petri's email, here?s why you should apply if you're a grad student or post doc. First, Finland is great fun at that time of year. Stays light late, heavy drinking, tasty berries and vegetables, nice weather, deadpan humor. When you're there you'd probably also want to spend some time in Helsinki, and from they have a quick and affordable ferry from there to Tallin which is also lovely. Second, the instructor lineup includes me and Tom Misa. Gerard Alberts is one of the organizers, Perti will obviously be there, and a meeting of the SOFT-EU project (http://www.science.uva.nl/history-of-computing/research/object.cfm/9B32BEE5-1321-B0BE-68D5DB731A41800C) is being held in conjunction with the summer school. So it's a great fit for people with history of computing interests and I'm hoping to see some of you there. Third, they have some money. That should probably have been point #1. It says http://www.hum.utu.fi/oppiaineet/kulttuurihistoria/memory.html "Residential costs will be covered for all participants. A limited budget is available for a contribution to travel costs. The application must include a request for such assistance, including the amount." Transatlantic travel is cheaper than in recent years thanks to the global economic collapse. If coming from the US you might find the best bet is a cheap flight to London and then a separate ticket on a budget airline after a few days sightseeing. And of course oral history is a good thing to know about, and an increasingly popular activity in the history of computing as we're often dealing with the recent past. Tom -----Original Message----- From: members-bounces at sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces at sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Petri Paju Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 6:47 AM To: sigcis Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] CFP Oral history Summer School - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 Call for Papers - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 "Oral History and Technological Memory: Challenges in Studying European Pasts" Summer School, 10?15 August 2009, University of Turku, Finland See description and details in: http://www.hum.utu.fi/oppiaineet/kulttuurihistoria/memory.html How to apply: Applicants are to send a cover letter, a CV and a motivation letter, addressing the applicant?s interest in the issues related to the topic of the Summer School by May, 27, 2009 to Prof. Hannu Salmi, email: hansalmi(a)utu.fi. They will be informed about acceptance no later than June 1, 2009. Contact For further information, contact Dr. Petri Paju, Dept. of Cultural History, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland, email: petpaju(a)utu.fi. Sponsors * European Science Foundation * Foundation for the History of Technology (the Netherlands) * Research project Using IBM in Europe to Recapture the Lead (Academy of Finland), part of a European consortium Software for Europe (ESF) * Department of Cultural History, University of Turku, Finland _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From CeruzziP at si.edu Fri May 15 13:02:04 2009 From: CeruzziP at si.edu (Ceruzzi, Paul) Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 13:02:04 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] History of Personal Computers Message-ID: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC01762610@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> Paul Edward's query about books on the history of personal computers was bouncing around in the back of my mind for a while, until I went to my files & found my notes on a very interesting book: "Blue Magic: the People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal Computer." Authors: James Chposky & Ted Leonsis. New York: Facts on File 1988. Yes, the same Ted Leonsis who now owns the Washington Capitals hockey team, which made a run for the Stanley Cup and is by far the hottest professional team in DC. Leonsis is easily one of the most popular people in DC right now, and for a good reason. If only the owners of the Washington Redskins, Wizards, and Nationals could write about computer history... Paul E. Ceruzzi National Air & Space Museum MRC 311; PO Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202-633-2414 From sm2campb at uwaterloo.ca Fri May 15 13:07:49 2009 From: sm2campb at uwaterloo.ca (Scott Campbell) Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 13:07:49 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] History of Personal Computers In-Reply-To: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC01762610@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> References: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC01762610@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> Message-ID: I think a nice corollary to this story would be "if only more computer historians could own professional hockey teams..." Scott Campbell Associate Director, Centre for Society, Technology and Values University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 519-888-4567 x35635 sm2campb at uwaterloo.ca http://eng.uwaterloo.ca/~sm2campb On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 1:02 PM, Ceruzzi, Paul wrote: > Paul Edward's query about books on the history of personal computers was > bouncing around in the back of my mind for a while, until I went to my > files & found my notes on a very interesting book: > > "Blue Magic: the People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal > Computer." > Authors: James Chposky & Ted Leonsis. New York: Facts on File 1988. > Yes, the same Ted Leonsis who now owns the Washington Capitals hockey > team, which made a run for the Stanley Cup and is by far the hottest > professional team in DC. Leonsis is easily one of the most popular > people in DC right now, and for a good reason. > > If only the owners of the Washington Redskins, Wizards, and Nationals > could write about computer history... > > Paul E. Ceruzzi > National Air & Space Museum > MRC 311; PO Box 37012 > Washington, DC 20013-7012 > 202-633-2414 > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members > From joelwest at ieee.org Fri May 15 13:37:26 2009 From: joelwest at ieee.org (Joel West) Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 10:37:26 -0700 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] History of Personal Computers Message-ID: I agree the crossover success of Ted Leonsis is remarkable. In between he was vice chair of AOL. He sold Redgate Communications to AOL in 1993, which is presumably where he made enough to buy his own hockey team. On the Left Coast, our equivalent is Michael Moritz, who wrote the best book** on Apple ever (Little Kingdom). He then became a VC at Sequoia Capital, betting on Google, Yahoo and PayPal. In 2007, Forbes put him #1 on their "Midas Touch" list http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/99/biz_07midas_Michael-Moritz_1YIC.html So far he hasn't bought a hockey team (Wikipedia prints the rumor he's going to buy a Wales soccer club). However, he did give $50m to Christ Church, Oxford. Joel Joel West http:/www.JoelWest.org/blogs Associate Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship College of Business, San Jose State University ** I used all the Apple histories in my dissertation. Little Kingdom is the definitive story of the Apple II era. While Infinite Loop (Mike Malone) is the best book about the 1990s, there are several other books that have similar detail, even if the interpretation is not as accurate. On 1:02 PM -0400 5/15/09, Ceruzzi, Paul hath said: >Paul Edward's query about books on the history of personal computers was >bouncing around in the back of my mind for a while, until I went to my >files & found my notes on a very interesting book: > >"Blue Magic: the People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal >Computer." >Authors: James Chposky & Ted Leonsis. New York: Facts on File 1988. >Yes, the same Ted Leonsis who now owns the Washington Capitals hockey >team, which made a run for the Stanley Cup and is by far the hottest >professional team in DC. Leonsis is easily one of the most popular >people in DC right now, and for a good reason. > >If only the owners of the Washington Redskins, Wizards, and Nationals >could write about computer history... > >Paul E. Ceruzzi >National Air & Space Museum >MRC 311; PO Box 37012 >Washington, DC 20013-7012 >202-633-2414 > From G.Alberts at uva.nl Fri May 15 18:19:16 2009 From: G.Alberts at uva.nl (Alberts, G.) Date: Sat, 16 May 2009 00:19:16 +0200 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] ICHST 2009 Budapest coming up Message-ID: <153B413D3A9E054784CC218A3E719A51A65E7E@kwek.ic.uva.nl> ICHST, Budapest, July 28-August 2, 2009 Today the programme for the International Congress for History of Science and Technology in Budapest was released to its participants The website does not have the full program yet http://www.conferences.hu/ichs09/ There are many intereresting sessions and symposia, a number of them directly related to History of Computing. As one may expect on big conferences, these are scheduled largely overlapping The program has standard themes T1-T40 and submitted Symposia S1-S96 each lasting between 1 and 6 two-hour timeslots. Here are the sessions: July 28, 3 slots S 58, Iron curtains and immaterial instruments - The circulation of Software and Computer Science in Cold War Europe July 28-29, 5 slots S 35, History of Numerical Tables - the second meeting on history of exact sciences along the silk road July 29, 2 slots S 72, 60 Years of Cybernetics and Information Theory - Ideas, Artefacts and Instruments August 1, 1 slot T09-10, Computing Sciences and the Internet in the Contemporary Period August 1, 4 slots S45, The Antikythera Mechanism and its place in the history of science, technology and ideas Plus a number of most interesting sessions on on technology in context, on Cold War, on instruments, e.g. July 28, 2 slots S 71, Instrumentalizing Social Practice - Socializing Instrumental Practice Gerard Alberts -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090516/69e7b1a6/attachment.htm From jwcorta at us.ibm.com Sat May 16 15:14:51 2009 From: jwcorta at us.ibm.com (James Cortada) Date: Sat, 16 May 2009 14:14:51 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Help Please In-Reply-To: <20090210082303.BJA50293@mpmail2.jmu.edu> References: <20090210082303.BJA50293@mpmail2.jmu.edu> Message-ID: I am running into difficulty getting my hands on numbers that tell us how many people were working on, inventing, using computers in the USA in the 1940s. Does anybody have any data on this matter that I can use? Or point me specifically to where it is at? I will settle even for data on specific places, like Philadelphia, Boston, New York. Thanks. Dr. Jim (James) W. Cortada IBM Institute for Business Value 2917 Irvington Way Madison, WI 53713 USA jwcorta at us.ibm.com 608-270-4462 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090516/09fa9d80/attachment.html From grier at gwu.edu Sat May 16 16:42:09 2009 From: grier at gwu.edu (David Alan Grier (gwu)) Date: Sat, 16 May 2009 16:42:09 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Help Please In-Reply-To: References: <20090210082303.BJA50293@mpmail2.jmu.edu> Message-ID: <6426821B-1BA3-40FA-9646-7F0B2514DA47@gwu.edu> Jim In UPenn, these figures are in the Associate Dean's files. I would guess that they are in the same place at Harvard and MIT as the associate dean controls manpower and budget reporting. I'vemlookes at the Philly record and was surprised at how small the number seemed to be. A useful benchmark is the number of attendees at the November 1945 Harvard/MIT computing conference. The list of attendees is in MTAC. I recall it to be 83. David Grier Current associate dean for international affairs Former associate dean for engineering George Washington university. Sent from my iPhone On May 16, 2009, at 3:14 PM, James Cortada wrote: > I am running into difficulty getting my hands on numbers that tell > us how many people were working on, inventing, using computers in > the USA in the 1940s. Does anybody have any data on this matter that > I can use? Or point me specifically to where it is at? I will settle > even for data on specific places, like Philadelphia, Boston, New York. > > Thanks. > > > Dr. Jim (James) W. Cortada > IBM Institute for Business Value > 2917 Irvington Way > Madison, WI 53713 USA > jwcorta at us.ibm.com > 608-270-4462 > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ > and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From heide.lpf at cbs.dk Sun May 17 02:57:45 2009 From: heide.lpf at cbs.dk (Lars Heide) Date: Sun, 17 May 2009 08:57:45 +0200 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Help Please References: <20090210082303.BJA50293@mpmail2.jmu.edu> <6426821B-1BA3-40FA-9646-7F0B2514DA47@gwu.edu> Message-ID: <5C265E69B914434EBD9CEAAB2DD9804E26E84FCDF3@EXCHANGE01.hhk.dk> Jim, My observations from the Eckert-Mauchly and ERA files at Hagley supports David's observations. However, I was only able finding useful numbers here and there. Lars Heide Copenhagen Business School -----Original Message----- From: members-bounces at sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces at sigcis.org] On Behalf Of David Alan Grier (gwu) Sent: 16. maj 2009 22:42 To: James Cortada Cc: members at sigcis.org Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Help Please Jim In UPenn, these figures are in the Associate Dean's files. I would guess that they are in the same place at Harvard and MIT as the associate dean controls manpower and budget reporting. I'vemlookes at the Philly record and was surprised at how small the number seemed to be. A useful benchmark is the number of attendees at the November 1945 Harvard/MIT computing conference. The list of attendees is in MTAC. I recall it to be 83. David Grier Current associate dean for international affairs Former associate dean for engineering George Washington university. Sent from my iPhone On May 16, 2009, at 3:14 PM, James Cortada wrote: > I am running into difficulty getting my hands on numbers that tell > us how many people were working on, inventing, using computers in > the USA in the 1940s. Does anybody have any data on this matter that > I can use? Or point me specifically to where it is at? I will settle > even for data on specific places, like Philadelphia, Boston, New York. > > Thanks. > > > Dr. Jim (James) W. Cortada > IBM Institute for Business Value > 2917 Irvington Way > Madison, WI 53713 USA > jwcorta at us.ibm.com > 608-270-4462 > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ > and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk Wed May 20 04:09:59 2009 From: james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk (James Sumner) Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 09:09:59 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] New collection on (IT and other) standardization: History of Technology vol 28 Message-ID: <4A13BAD7.8050503@manchester.ac.uk> Dear all Listmembers may be interested in a new collection, edited by myself and Graeme Gooday (Leeds), entitled "By whose standards? Standardization, stability and uniformity in the history of information and electrical technologies". This is Volume 28 of the annual series _History of Technology_ (series editor: Ian Inkster), and carries a 2008 date. Alongside several chapters on electrical engineering and related topics, there are pieces by Laura DeNardis (Yale) on the post-IPv4 Internet addressing controversy; Frank Veraart (TU Eindhoven) on Basicode, the Dutch-originated lingua franca for hobbyist computing, used for radio software transmission in 1980s Europe; and myself on the roles of compatibility in the development of proprietary and PC-compatible microcomputer formats. Another contributor who will be familiar to many on this list is Andrew Russell (Stevens), who's also worked on IP/OSI issues -- his chapter here is from rather earlier in his research period, looking at AT&T's drastic standards-focused reaction to the 'telephone slug' racket in the 1920s. Full contents below. A preprint of the volume introduction, which is also intended as a a survey of relevant literature on standards and technological negotiation, is online at The volume's available now from Continuum. The international standing of the pound sterling being what it is, purchasers may be best served by going through the UK outlet: order page via . The US order page is at . All comments welcome. Best regards James --- History of Technology Volume 28 Special Issue: By whose standards? Standardization, stability and uniformity in the history of information and electrical technologies ISBN: 9780826438751 Table Of Contents Introduction: does standardization make things standard? James Sumner and Graeme Gooday IPv6: standards controversies around the next-generation Internet Laura DeNardis Standardization across the boundaries of the Bell System, 1920-1938 Andrew L Russell Morality, locality and 'standardization' in the work of British consulting electrical engineers, 1880-1914 Stathis Arapostathis Perceptions, standardization and closure: the case of artificial illumination Chris Otter Standards and compatibility: the rise of the PC computing platform James Sumner Basicode: co-producing a microcomputer Esperanto Frank Veraart Battery birds, 'stimulighting' and 'twilighting': the ecology of standardized poultry technology Karen Sayer --- From thaigh at computer.org Wed May 20 14:04:13 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 13:04:13 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Deadline June 1 - Grad student travel funding for SHOT & SIGCIS Workshop Message-ID: <006a01c9d975$63deb2f0$2b9c18d0$@org> Hello everyone, Here's a reminder of two things. First, SHOT has travel funding to help the needy attend its annual meeting. Preference is given to graduate students giving a paper or commenting, but funding may also be available for post docs and travelers from outside the US, Canada, and Western Europe. http://www.historyoftechnology.org/awards/travelgrants.html. The deadline for applications is soon - JUNE 1. You have to be a SHOT member to apply. Second, SIGCIS has supplemental travel funds for graduate students presenting on history of computing topics. We hope to make at least two awards of around $300 each. SHOT's application procedure is already rather complicated, and in the interests of fairness and convenience we decided to coordinate with the SHOT committee so that our funds complement the main awards. The full details on our award scheme, the Michael S. Mahoney/MIT Press Graduate Student Travel Awards, are available at http://www.sigcis.org/?q=travelaward. But basically you apply via SHOT with the full details but additionally send your name, paper title, and affiliation to secretary at sigcis.org. Participants in SIGCIS sponsored sessions will receive priority but we'll also try to balance things to support people for whom the regular SHOT fund can provide little or no money. There's a twist to this. As I mentioned before, SIGCIS is holding its own workshop in conjunction with SHOT this October. It will be a full day event on the Sunday (October 18). Because we're disorganized slackers the CFP still didn't go out yet, though it should arrive in the next two days. We'd like to get lots of graduate students participating, and are calling for a session on dissertations in progress (feedback on dissertation proposals) and for pre-circulation of works in progress (including draft chapters). So grad students interested in the workshop and in the SHOT and SIGCIS funding possibilities will need to keep an eagle eye out for the CFP, pounce on it, and get their abstracts to us by May 28 so we can do a lightning fast review process in time for them to apply for the travel funding. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you leave everything to the last minute anyway, right ;-). The travel grants are supported in part by donations to the SIGCIS Mahoney Fund. See details and a list of current donors at www.sigcis.org?q=mahoney. They are also supported by cash donations at the annual business meeting and by the proceeds of the book auction, including a large contribution of books from MIT Press. Tom From arussell at jhu.edu Wed May 20 14:21:13 2009 From: arussell at jhu.edu (Andrew Russell) Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 14:21:13 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] New collection on (IT and other) standardization: History of Technology vol 28 In-Reply-To: <4A13BAD7.8050503@manchester.ac.uk> References: <4A13BAD7.8050503@manchester.ac.uk> Message-ID: <4846C13A-F0A5-4BBF-A6FB-3EC25204AA24@jhu.edu> (I just sent this to the Mercurians list - Andrew Butrica forwarded James's SIGCIS post - and thought I would also post it here) Following James Sumner's lead, I have also posted a 'preprint' of my piece at http://arussell.org/papers/Russell_HoT_28_preprint.pdf I am embarrassed to find that I failed to acknowledge an enlightening conversation with Sheldon Hochheiser, who helped me understand the evolution of AT&T's coin-operated telephones. Andy Russell On May 20, 2009, at 4:09 AM, James Sumner wrote: > Dear all > > Listmembers may be interested in a new collection, edited by myself > and Graeme > Gooday (Leeds), entitled "By whose standards? Standardization, > stability and > uniformity in the history of information and electrical > technologies". This is > Volume 28 of the annual series _History of Technology_ (series > editor: Ian > Inkster), and carries a 2008 date. > > Alongside several chapters on electrical engineering and related > topics, there > are pieces by Laura DeNardis (Yale) on the post-IPv4 Internet > addressing > controversy; Frank Veraart (TU Eindhoven) on Basicode, the Dutch- > originated > lingua franca for hobbyist computing, used for radio software > transmission in > 1980s Europe; and myself on the roles of compatibility in the > development of > proprietary and PC-compatible microcomputer formats. > > Another contributor who will be familiar to many on this list is > Andrew Russell > (Stevens), who's also worked on IP/OSI issues -- his chapter here > is from rather > earlier in his research period, looking at AT&T's drastic standards- > focused > reaction to the 'telephone slug' racket in the 1920s. Full contents > below. > > A preprint of the volume introduction, which is also intended as a > a survey of > relevant literature on standards and technological negotiation, is > online at > intro.pdf> > > The volume's available now from Continuum. The international > standing of the > pound sterling being what it is, purchasers may be best served by > going through > the UK outlet: order page via . The > US order page > is at . > > All comments welcome. > Best regards > James > > --- > History of Technology Volume 28 > Special Issue: By whose standards? Standardization, stability and > uniformity in > the history of information and electrical technologies > ISBN: 9780826438751 > > Table Of Contents > > Introduction: does standardization make things standard? > James Sumner and Graeme Gooday > > IPv6: standards controversies around the next-generation Internet > Laura DeNardis > > Standardization across the boundaries of the Bell System, 1920-1938 > Andrew L Russell > > Morality, locality and 'standardization' in the work of British > consulting > electrical engineers, 1880-1914 > Stathis Arapostathis > > Perceptions, standardization and closure: the case of artificial > illumination > Chris Otter > > Standards and compatibility: the rise of the PC computing platform > James Sumner > > Basicode: co-producing a microcomputer Esperanto > Frank Veraart > > Battery birds, 'stimulighting' and 'twilighting': the ecology of > standardized > poultry technology > Karen Sayer > --- > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/ > pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at > http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk Thu May 21 02:00:43 2009 From: james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk (James Sumner) Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 07:00:43 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Associate Professor, History and philosophy of mathematics and computer science, Aarhus University, Denmark Message-ID: <4A14EE0B.8060903@manchester.ac.uk> Crossposted from mersenne, with Usenet-era apologies for duplication... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Associate Professor, History and philosophy of mathematics and computer science, Aarhus University, Denmark Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 18:19:31 +0200 From: Hanne Andersen Reply-To: Hanne Andersen To: MERSENNE at JISCMAIL.AC.UK *Associate Professor in history and philosophy of mathematics and computer science * Department of Science Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark (http://www.ivs.au.dk) invites applications for a permanent position as Associate Professor beginning January 1, 2010. The Department of Science Studies forms part of the Faculty of Science, and is responsible for research and education in history and philosophy of science. The Department seeks a historian or philosopher of mathematics and/or computer science with significant publications and research interest within the fields of history and philosophy of mathematics and computer science broadly conceived. The requirements for a successful application are an strong record of research and teaching within history and/or philosophy of mathematics and computer science, and the ability to teach in English or Danish. Experience with academic administration and fund raising is desirable. Duties will include instruction at the undergraduate and postgraduate level within the fields of history and philosophy of mathematics and computer science, preferably including mandatory courses in philosophy of mathematics and computer science for undergraduate students in mathematics and computer science. The Department offers courses in philosophy of science for all science programmes. All courses are based on extensive use of historical and contemporary cases, and faculty members from the Department collaborate on developing the course format. The new Associate Professor is expected to participate actively in the strategic development of the departments research focus on studies of contemporary science. The Department is interested in developing new teaching initiatives in science studies. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in all aspects of the Department's activities and to be present on a daily basis. Applications must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching qualifications and management experience, all in 4 copies (see http://www.nat.au.dk/default.asp?id=7842&la=UK for the recommended level of detail). If the applicant wants other material to be considered in the evaluation (publications and other documentation of research and teaching qualifications, as well as management experience) such material must be clearly specified and must either be enclosed in hardcopy (3 copies) or must be available electronically. The Faculty refers to the Ministerial Order No. 92 of 15.02.2008 (http://science.au.dk/default.asp?id=7839&la=UK) on the appointment of teaching and research staff at the universities under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of Professional Unions. Applications should be addressed to The Faculty of Science, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, Building 1520, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, and marked 212/5-292. The deadline for receipt of all applications is July 1, 2009, at 12,00 noon. For more information please contact the head of the department Keld Nielsen, Department of Science Studies, Building 1110, CF Moellers Alle, DK-8000 Aarhus C., Denmark; phone +45 8942 3540; e-mail: keld.nielsen at ivs.au.dk, or vice head of department Hanne Andersen, phone +45 8942 3514; e-mail: hanne.andersen at ivs.au.dk /Aarhus University offers a good and inspiring education and research environment for 35,000 students and 8,500 members of staff, who produce academic results of a high international standard. The budgeted turnover for 2009 amounts to EUR 700 million. The university's strategy and development contract are available at www.au.dk./ From NOVEMBER at mailbox.sc.edu Fri May 22 16:42:23 2009 From: NOVEMBER at mailbox.sc.edu (NOVEMBER, JOSEPH) Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 16:42:23 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Call For Papers: Michael Mahoney And The Histories of Computing(s) Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Michael Mahoney And The Histories of Computing(s) SIGCIS History of Computing Workshop in Memory of Michael S. Mahoney Sunday, October 18, 2009, Hilton Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA The Society for the History of Technology's Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS - www.sigcis.org) welcomes submissions for "Michael Mahoney And The Histories of Computing(s)," a daylong workshop on the history of computing in memory of historian Michael S. Mahoney. In keeping with Mahoney's broad historical perspective, we encourage submissions not only about computers themselves but also about the technologies and knowledge systems into which computers have been embedded as well as the societies in which they are used. Contributions directly related to Mahoney's work are welcome but not required. The keynote speaker, William Aspray, will discuss Mahoney's contribution to the development of the history of computing. The workshop will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on Sunday, October 18, 2009. It will occur on the final day of the annual SHOT meeting with sessions in the morning and afternoon. SHOT has reserved that day for SIG events and therefore the workshop will not overlap scheduled sessions and most other SHOT functions. It will be held at the same site as the SHOT meeting. SIGCIS encourages scholars of all levels and affiliations to participate. Organized sessions and individual papers are both welcome. In keeping with the conference theme contributions that address historiographic issues or situate work within a particular history of computing are particularly welcome. Individual contributions can fit one of a variety of formats. 1. Traditional 20 to 25-minute presentations followed by a question and answer session with the SIGCIS community. In this case a one-page abstract (maximum 400 words) will be reviewed and included in the electronic conference program. Abstracts should address the paper's topic, argument, evidence used, and contribution to the existing literature. A full version of the paper should be sent to the session commentator at least a week prior to the meeting. 2. Dissertation proposals. We hope to include a dissertations in progress session, in which individuals will present their ongoing dissertation work and seek feedback from the history of computing community. In this case submit an abstract of your dissertation proposal. The full proposal will be included in the electronic conference program if accepted. Participants will be encouraged to read this prior to the session. You will have five to ten minutes to introduce the material, leaving the bulk of time available for discussion. 3. Works in progress. This is your chance to receive informal and expert discussion of draft dissertation chapters, journal articles, or book chapters. Submit a one-page abstract (maximum 400 words) including discussion of the current state of the work and any specific kinds of feedback you are seeking. If your proposal is accepted you will need to supply the draft for discussion by 1 October for inclusion in the electronic program for the workshop. You will have five to ten minutes to introduce the material, leaving the bulk of time available for discussion. 4. Proposals in other formats are also welcome. For example round table discussions, demonstrations of software of interest to historians of computing, or "author meets critics" sessions. SHOT presenters are encouraged to apply but must present material significantly different from that presented in the main conference program. Submission Procedures Individual submissions should be made at http://www.sigcis.org/?q=workshop09a, and must include: 1. an abstract or dissertation proposal as described above. Paste this text into the web submission form. 2. a one-page curriculum vitae, including current e-mail addresses as a Microsoft Word or PDF document. Upload this via the web submission system. Use the filename AuthorLastName_vita. For example Smith_vita. Proposals for complete sessions should be made at http://www.sigcis.org/?q=workshop09b, and must include: 1. The name of the session and the names, email addresses and paper titles of the presenters, organizer, chair and commentator (if applicable) 2. a one-page description (maximum 400 words) of the session that explains how individual papers contribute to an overall theme 3. an abstract for each presenter in the form described above 4. for the each presenter and other participants (including commentator if used) a one-page curriculum vitae. Compile as one Word or PDF document and upload via the web submission system. Questions should be addressed to Joseph November [november(at)sc.edu] who is serving as program committee chair for the workshop. The deadline for proposals is June 22, 2009. Notifications will be sent by June 29, 2009. If you are a graduate student seeking travel funding please submit ASAP for expedited review because the SHOT deadline for funding is June 1. Workshop Organizers Joseph November, Program Committee Chair Jeffrey Tang, Local Arrangements Chair Brent Jesiek, Internet Infrastructure Thomas Haigh, SIG Chair -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090522/e2df81a0/attachment.htm From heide.lpf at cbs.dk Sun May 24 15:12:42 2009 From: heide.lpf at cbs.dk (Lars Heide) Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 21:12:42 +0200 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Invitation to Workshop on "IT in Shaping Organizations", 8-9 June 2009 Message-ID: <5C265E69B914434EBD9CEAAB2DD9804E26E8683C85@EXCHANGE01.hhk.dk> INVITATION TO WORKSHOP at Centre for Business History, Copenhagen Business School IT in Shaping Organizations 8-9 June 2009 This workshop discusses the role of IT in shaping business practices and organizations, how different ways or fashions emerged of organizing jobs and businesses and how this should be analyzed. It will be based upon presentations of selected cases across trades and countries, and two invited discussants will initialize the discussions. Information technology started entering business organizations in the early twentieth century, as corporate bureaucracies were established to harvest the advantages of scale and scope in big companies. Computers entered businesses since the late 1950s and provided greatly improved technical possibilities, but it proved complicated to establish a fruitful interaction between people, organization, and technology. Several ways or fashions emerged of organizing jobs and businesses but not a single best way across trades and countries. Information technology became an essential component in shaping business since the 1960s and, consequently, business history studies need to pay more attention it. Possible yields from studying the role of IT in business organizations can be seen from JoAnne Yates' study of the United States life insurance industry and from the work of a group of historians studying IT in banking. In contrast most business history studies of businesses for the last 50 years note the emergence of computers, but they do not analyze their role in shaping business practices and organizations. Organizer: Lars Heide, Centre for Business History, CBS Secretary: Jens-Christian S?rensen, Centre for Business History, CBS Registration by Tuesday, 2 June 2009 to Jens-Christian S?rensen, e-mail: jcs.lpf at cbs.dk Registration is gratis. Program: Monday 8 June 2009 12.00: Lunch. Location TBA 13.30 - 18.00 afternoon session (coffee break 15.30-16.00) Chair: Lars Heide Commentator: Nathan Ensmenger, University of Pennsylvania, USA Lars Heide: Welcome to the Workshop. Torkil Clemmensen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark National and organizational styles in user interface design Jacob N?rbjerg, CBS The Quest for High Maturity, in a non-IDEAL world Robert Austin, Copenhagen Business School, DK. Research Commentary: Weighing the Benefits and Costs of Flexibility in Making Software. Toward a Contingency Theory of the Determinants of Development Process Design Lau Guldbrandt Dalgaard and Frederik Homann, Copenhagen Business School, DK. TexasPoker: Business Opportunities in the Shadow of Google 19.00: Dinner at CBS. Location TBA Tuesday 9 June 2009 09.00 - 12.00: Morning session Chair: TBA Lars Heide, Copenhagen Business School Punched Cards in German Management of Resources in the Second World War Commentator: David E. Nye, University of Southern Denmark Bernardo Batiz-Lazo, University of Leicester, UK >From cash machine to ATM: The development of on-line, real-time systems in British and Swedish savings banks, c.1967-1985 Commentator: Nathan Ensmenger, University of Pennsylvania, USA Joakim Appelquist, VINNOVA, Stockholm, SE Technical and Organizational Change in the Swedish Banking Sector 1975-2003 Commentator: Nathan Ensmenger, University of Pennsylvania, USA 12.00: Lunch 13.30 - 18.00 afternoon session (coffee break 15.30-16.00) Chair: TBA Commentator: David E. Nye, University of Southern Denmark Jonathan Aylen, Manchester University, UK. "You've got to roll with it": radical adoption of computers and changes to managerial routines at Llanwern steelworks, South Wales Gustav Sj?blom, Chalmars University of Technology, Sweden Computers in business - the Swedish way? Timo Leimbach, Karlsruhe, Germany. >From the flow of material to the flow of information - the challenge of computer systems and the development from MRP to ERP between1960s and 1990s Jeffrey Yost, University of Minnesota, USA The Evolving US Computer Services Industry as a Lens into Understanding Organizational Boundaries of IT Operations, 1955-1980 Lars Heide Associate Professor, Dr. merc. Centre for Business History Copenhagen Business School Porcelanshaven 18A DK-2000 Frederiksberg DENMARK Tel: +45 3815 3027 Mob: +45 2383 4840 Fax: +45 3815 3635 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090524/1823dc91/attachment.htm From u.hashagen at deutsches-museum.de Tue May 26 06:28:26 2009 From: u.hashagen at deutsches-museum.de (Ulf Hashagen) Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 12:28:26 +0200 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Invitation to a (German-speaking) workshop on the history of computing at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, 10. July 2009, on the occassion of the 65. birthday of Hartmut Petzold Message-ID: ?Rechnende Maschinen? Ein Kolloquium zum 65. Geburtstag von Hartmut Petzold Deutsches Museum 10. Juli 2009, 9.30 ? 19.30 Uhr Programm Er?ffnung: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Heckl (Deutsches Museum) Einf?hrung: Dr. Ulf Hashagen (Deutsches Museum) 1. Sitzung: Von Rechenmeistern, Rechenger?ten und Rechenmaschinen (9.30-13.00 Uhr) Sitzungsleitung: Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler (Deutsches Museum) a) Prof. Dr. Menso Folkerts (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen): Das Verh?ltnis zwischen Rechenmeistern und Universit?tsmathematikern im sp?ten 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. b) Prof. Dr. Joachim Fischer (Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung M?nchen): Analoge Rechenger?te und -maschinen. c) Prof. Erhard Anthes (PH Ludwigsburg): Zur Einf?hrung des logarithmischen Rechenstabes im deutschen Bildungswesen. 2. Sitzung: zur Entwicklung des ?Computing? (14.30-17.30 Uhr) Sitzungsleitung: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wengenroth (TU M?nchen) a) Dr. Ulf Hashagen (Deutsches Museum): Rechnen f?r die Wissenschaft: ?Scientific Computing? im deutschen Wissenschaftssystem. b) Dr. Gerard Alberts (Universiteit Amsterdam): Metaprogrammierung: Zum historischen Begriff der Software. c) PD Dr. Rudolf Seising (European Centre for Soft Computing): Vom Harten Rechnen zum Soft Computing. 3. Sitzung: R?ckblicke und Ausblicke (18.00.-19.30 Uhr) Sitzungsleitung: Dr. Oskar Blumtritt (Deutsches Museum) a) Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Hellige (Universit?t Bremen): Die Aktualit?t von Hartmut Petzolds Sozialgeschichte des Computing. b) Dr. Hartmut Petzold (Deutsches Museum): 20 Jahre mechanische und elektronische Informationstechnik im Deutschen Museum. Ein kurzer R?ckblick. Schlusswort: Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler (Deutsches Museum) Anschlie?end: Abendessen (20.00 Uhr) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Veranstaltungsort: Deutsches Museum, Bibliotheksbau, Seminarraum der Institute Anmeldung: Bitte per E-Mail anmelden bei Frau Andrea Walther mit dem Hinweis: O F?r das Kolloquium O F?r das Abendessen E-Mail-Adresse: a.walther at deutsches-museum.de Tel.: 089-2179280 (vormittags) Organisation: Forschungsinstitut des Deutschen Museums (Dr. Ulf Hashagen, Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler) in Verbindung mit der GI- Fachgruppe ?Informatik- und Computergeschichte? der Gesellschaft f?r Informatik (Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Hellige, Univ. Bremen) ------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Ulf Hashagen Deutsches Museum Forschungsinstitut f?r Technik- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte Museumsinsel 1 80538 M?nchen Germany Tel.: +49 (0)89-2179-453 Fax.: +49 (0)89-2179-239 Email: u.hashagen at deutsches-museum.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/attachments/20090526/0a194550/attachment-0001.htm From clk267 at nyu.edu Tue May 26 15:49:25 2009 From: clk267 at nyu.edu (Carolyn Kane) Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 14:49:25 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] About: Carolyn Kane Message-ID: <5aa8c9840905261249n590ff7c5n731b9753fc24a92b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sigcis, I have just joined the list and I would like to introduce myself: Carolyn Lee Kane is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University where she is currently writing her dissertation on ?Synthetic Color: Electronic Signal Processing & The Reconfiguration of Perception at the End of the Twentieth Century.? This project investigates the role of electronic, computer generated color in electronic art made from the post-war period through the present. Her research fields include philosophy, aesthetics, and new media history and theory. For more information: https://files.nyu.edu/clk267/public/ Best, Carolyn -- Carolyn Lee Kane PhD Candidate Media, Culture, and Communication 239 Greene St. 7th Floor New York University clk267 at nyu.edu https://files.nyu.edu/clk267/public/ From james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk Wed May 27 03:05:10 2009 From: james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk (James Sumner) Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 08:05:10 +0100 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] IT history at BSHS 2009 Message-ID: <4A1CE626.9010006@manchester.ac.uk> Dear listmembers The annual conference of the British Society for the History of Science is in Leicester at the beginning of July. Not so much computing or IT as in 2008 (and I have my eighteenth-century hat on this time), but you may wish to note Session 11 on technologies and users, featuring Tom Lean and Ian Martin, and Sandra Mols in Session 8. More generally, the twentieth century is particularly well represented this year. Anyone interested should note that the deadline for reduced-rate registration is very close (Saturday 30 June). --- The 2009 BSHS Annual Conference will take place at Stamford Hall, University of Leicester, from Thursday 2 - Saturday 5 July 2009. The conference programme includes parallel themed sessions, plenary lectures, education and outreach activities, and a conference dinner at the National Space Centre. Full details, including provisional programme and online registration form, are available at . --- Best James From thaigh at computer.org Wed May 27 09:43:45 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 08:43:45 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] SIGCIS Workshop - Grad student travel funding deadline approaches Message-ID: <005a01c9ded1$2b953660$82bfa320$@org> Hello everyone, It was great to see the CFP for the very first SIGCIS workshop go out last week. We already have a lot of interest, and the team is working hard to make sure that it is memorable for the right reasons. Although the theme is "Mike Mahoney and the Histories of Computing(s)" this encompasses pretty much any history of computing topic - so don't feel put off if your work does not directly relate to Mahoney. This is the first SIGCIS workshop, but we hope it will become an annual event and eventually fill the need for a regular international academic meeting in the history of computing to supplement the various national and special topic workshops that come and go. As mentioned earlier, the deadline for SHOT and SIGCIS graduate student travel funding applications is approaching. (Reminder: details are at http://www.sigcis.org/?q=node/55. Apply to SHOT via http://www.historyoftechnology.org/awards/travelgrants.html but send an email to secretary at sigcis.org asking for consideration for our supplemental funds). To help graduate students interested in the workshop we are offering expedited review of proposals if they are received by the end of TOMORROW, Thursday May 28. You will hear back in time to meet the deadline for funding applications. We're particularly interested in submissions of work in progress and dissertations in progress. The dissertations in progress session is an idea copied from the Business History Conference, where I personally found it very useful. You would pre circulate an actual or draft dissertation proposal and then make a short presentation with lots of time for discussion back and forth on framing, sources, organization, possible issues, etc. This might be particularly valuable in history of computing since you probably have between one and zero experts in the field on the faculty in your graduate program. So benefiting from the early input of a group of specialists could greatly strengthen the dissertation and draw your attention to ideas, resources and previous work you might otherwise miss. The works in progress session would also be very suitable for graduate students, as you can get helpful and immediate feedback on a chapter or draft article. We can only run these sessions if we get enough submissions to fill them, and I'm keen to see the workshop take advantage of its more intimate and friendly scale so do things that would be impossible in the larger context of the main conference. So please do consider contributing to them. Tom Haigh www.tomandmaria.com/tom From thaigh at computer.org Wed May 27 09:49:42 2009 From: thaigh at computer.org (Thomas Haigh) Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 08:49:42 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] URL for workshop submission and details Message-ID: <005b01c9ded1$fe03c1c0$fa0b4540$@org> Further to the last message, If you are now fired up to submit for the workshop, but can't find last week's message never fear. Details and URLs for online submission are at www.sigcis.org/?q=workshop09 Brent leveraged our fancy Drupal content management system to make a very nice online interface for the meeting. The regular deadline is June 22. Tom From nix.pura at gmail.com Thu May 28 15:50:18 2009 From: nix.pura at gmail.com (Mai Sugimoto) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 04:50:18 +0900 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] About: Mai Sugimoto Message-ID: Dear Sigcis members, I joined the list several months ago but I did not introduce myself yet, so I would like to do it now: I am Mai Sugimoto, a Ph.D student of Kyoto University in Japan. I have been studying about Claude Shannon, and recently I began to do research about Calvin Mooers. I would like to reassess the achievement of Shannon. Also I am interested in what electorical engineering people thought about "information" during 1940s and 1950s. Now I am doing my dissertation research at Charles Babbage Institute till the end of this August. Best, Mai Sugimoto ----- Mai Sugimoto Ph.D Student, Program of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University, Japan nix.pura at gmail.com From nix.pura at gmail.com Thu May 28 15:57:47 2009 From: nix.pura at gmail.com (Mai Sugimoto) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 04:57:47 +0900 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Question about von Neumann papers Message-ID: Dear Sigcis members, I have questions about "Urtext Edition" of these historical papers: 1) John von Neumann, "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" 2) Arthur W. Burks, Herman H.Goldstine, John von Neumann, "Preliminary Discussion of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computing Instrument" Recently my colleague and I are doing translation of these papers into Japanese for publication. In order to make the translation as correct as possible, we are looking for the version that is the closest to the original one. About 1), we are using this version so far: http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003-08-TheFirstDraft.pdf It seems that this version is a finely edited one. Does anyone have the original typescript of this paper? Or does anyone know where the typescript is? About 2), we are using 'A.H.Taub, ed: John von Neumann Collected Works' and also referring this version stored at U. of Michigan: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/3972 Does anyone have some information on other version of this paper? I would really appreciate any kind of information about them. Thank you. Mai ----- Mai Sugimoto Ph.D Student, Program of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University, Japan nix.pura at gmail.com From evan at snarc.net Thu May 28 16:44:27 2009 From: evan at snarc.net (Evan Koblentz) Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 16:44:27 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Question about von Neumann papers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4A1EF7AB.5060601@snarc.net> > > 1) John von Neumann, "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" ... does anyone know where the typescript is? I saw an original a few weeks ago. It's in the Aberdeen Proving Ground records, which are stored in Georgia. But the NARA people kindly had it shipped to their Philadelphia location so I could examine other contents of the boxes. (The web site lists Philly as the primary record-holding location, but that's obsolete.) From grier at gwu.edu Thu May 28 20:10:45 2009 From: grier at gwu.edu (David Alan Grier) Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 20:10:45 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Question about von Neumann papers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mai, Bil Aspray may have other ideas about these papers. I would point you to his book of von Neumann papers in the Babbage Series. There is a draft of the First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC in the Library of Congress. It is in Herman Goldstine's hand. In my last correspondence with him, Goldstine claimed that it was the original copy. I have not done the work to see how much it differs from the mimeographed version. David On May 28, 2009, at 3:57 PM, Mai Sugimoto wrote: > Dear Sigcis members, > > I have questions about "Urtext Edition" of these historical papers: > > 1) John von Neumann, "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" > 2) Arthur W. Burks, Herman H.Goldstine, John von Neumann, "Preliminary > Discussion of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computing > Instrument" > > Recently my colleague and I are doing translation of these papers into > Japanese for publication. In order to make the translation as correct > as possible, we are looking for the version that is the closest to the > original one. > > About 1), we are using this version so far: > http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003-08-TheFirstDraft.pdf > It seems that this version is a finely edited one. > Does anyone have the original typescript of this paper? > Or does anyone know where the typescript is? > > About 2), we are using 'A.H.Taub, ed: John von Neumann Collected > Works' and also referring this version stored at U. of Michigan: > http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/3972 > Does anyone have some information on other version of this paper? > > I would really appreciate any kind of information about them. > Thank you. > > Mai > > ----- > Mai Sugimoto > Ph.D Student, Program of Philosophy and History of Science, > Kyoto University, Japan > nix.pura at gmail.com > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ > and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From CeruzziP at si.edu Fri May 29 13:39:40 2009 From: CeruzziP at si.edu (Ceruzzi, Paul) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 13:39:40 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report Message-ID: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC0176263D@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> There is a copy of the EDVAC Report in the rare book room of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. I collected it from the Bureau of Standards (now NIST), and it has Sam Alexander's name stamped on it. Most of the other materials from the NBS collection went to the Charles Babbage Institute, where they have been catalogued. I believe that would also include other von Neumann reports you would be interested in. I have to warn you that the report is fragile and has to be handled with extreme care. It was reproduced by a process similar to mimeograph, which used a flimsy type of paper that is easily torn. One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were made in 1945, and of them, how many survive. Paul E. Ceruzzi National Air & Space Museum MRC 311; PO Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202-633-2414 From evan at snarc.net Fri May 29 13:55:51 2009 From: evan at snarc.net (evan at snarc.net) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 17:55:51 +0000 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report Message-ID: <900492153-1243619732-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-934645079-@bxe1060.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> >>> One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were made in 1945 How many do we already know of? 1. Smithsonian 2. L. of C. 3. NARA (Aberdeen records in Georgia) 4. presumably NARA / ENIAC records in Maryland 5. Mauchly archive @ Penn? I've been there a few times recently but don't recall if it includes the EDVAC report, as I was there for other documents From grier at gwu.edu Fri May 29 14:09:01 2009 From: grier at gwu.edu (grier) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 14:09:01 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report In-Reply-To: <900492153-1243619732-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-934645079-@bxe1060.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> References: <900492153-1243619732-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-934645079-@bxe1060.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> Message-ID: <8C293697-FAE0-4EC2-B033-66EBBF84D2A4@gwu.edu> And there is a further question. There are spirit copies of the report in green ink and copies with blue (or purplish) ink. Are they identical? On May 29, 2009, at 1:55 PM, evan at snarc.net wrote: >>>> One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were >>>> made in 1945 > > How many do we already know of? > > 1. Smithsonian > 2. L. of C. > 3. NARA (Aberdeen records in Georgia) > 4. presumably NARA / ENIAC records in Maryland > 5. Mauchly archive @ Penn? I've been there a few times recently but > don't recall if it includes the EDVAC report, as I was there for > other documents > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ > and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members From hemmendd at union.edu Fri May 29 15:22:13 2009 From: hemmendd at union.edu (David Hemmendinger) Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 15:22:13 -0400 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report In-Reply-To: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC0176263D@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> References: <39E881CB59D4454295FDDDA5605EE7FC0176263D@SI-ECL01.US.SINET.SI.EDU> Message-ID: <20090529192213.7BB26B6938D@athena.union.edu> I have a photocopy of the report; its cover page matches the one that Michael Godfrey published in the 1993 Annals, with the Edvac contract number W-670-ORD-4926, and dated June 30, 1945. It's stamped "Moore School of Elec. Eng. Library". It has numerous lacunae in internal and external references. E.g. on p. 2, the end of sec 1.3 has "This point will receive closer consideration subsequently, in particular in" and the end of 1.4 has "(Cf. .)" The back page (after the unnumbered p. 101) has a list of due dates starting Jan 5, 1962. Can anyone tell me anything more about the origin of this version? Is it a copy of the original? Godfrey's introduction to his Annals version mentions that Goldstine said that his archives at Hampshire College had a copy of the manuscript. The online list of the archive contents includes only the Report itself with the June 30 date -- might this be another original? Thanks, David Hemmendinger hemmendd at union.edu Computer Science Dept. http://athena.union.edu/~hemmendd Union College +1 518 388 6319 Schenectady, NY 12308 FAX: +1 518 388 6789 From rws at umn.edu Sun May 31 18:14:40 2009 From: rws at umn.edu (rws) Date: 31 May 2009 17:14:40 -0500 Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report In-Reply-To: <900492153-1243619732-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-934645079-@bxe1060.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> References: <900492153-1243619732-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-934645079-@bxe1060.bisx.prod.on.blackberry> Message-ID: Worldcat lists another at Princeton. On May 29 2009, evan at snarc.net wrote: >>>> One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were made in >>>> 1945 > >How many do we already know of? > >1. Smithsonian >2. L. of C. >3. NARA (Aberdeen records in Georgia) >4. presumably NARA / ENIAC records in Maryland > 5. Mauchly archive @ Penn? I've been there a few times recently but don't > recall if it includes the EDVAC report, as I was there for other > documents >_______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list > of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at > http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription > options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members > -- Robert W. Seidel History of Science, Technology and Medicine Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 151 Amundson Hall University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455