UNIVAC I

    

     Today in 1951 the first UNIVAC 1 debuted.

     In 1978 at Dickinson College we had a computer room with an IBM mainframe and terminals for end users. As memory serves the scene was fairly similar to the one pictured below.

     The room had ultra air-conditioning which was great in the summer and a delight to me because my family had only recently replaced its fans for a central air-conditioner. The other special part about the room was that it was open 24 hours a day. The door had a little window and you had to appeal either verbally or visually to whomever was in the room to let you in. After a few visits it wasn't a problem to earn your status as one who saw the future and this was IT!

     I was studying the BASIC programming language in the spring of 1978. We used to write in pencil the arcane flows which would produce the examples our professor asked for. I was worried at the time that I couldn't keep up with the pace of innovation, as newer languages were being developed and proclaimed the one to know. I asked a learned professor of physics what he thought and he gave me the best advice on the subject of computer languages, which I still repeat today and receive silent nods of acceptance from people who weren't even born when he uttered the words.

     A little background: Professor T. Scott Smith had a Princeton and NASA pedigree. His other claim to fame was that his introduction to Astronomy was taken by more students than any other class at Dickinson. It wasn't because it was easy, but because he was funny as well as very informative. His advice to me was that newer computer languages would always be based upon BASIC. Every time I do a deep dive into a language now I think about the words of Professor Smith. Of course, he was right! I see those simple words I used to write in pencil like IF and THEN and wonder what I was ever concerned about. The 4 year residential Liberal Arts education is still paying dividends. It makes me sorry that it has become so expensive and now completely inaccessible to a new generation of younger students.

      T. Scott Smith first appeared in my life at the Freshman Banquet on I believe the first or second day of school in 1977. He was cordially introduced by then College President Sam Banks. The beard was only a glimmer in his mind but he did possess a fine mustache. The first thing I remember after the introduction was him getting up on the table located on a dais in the front of the cafeteria. He looked around and pulled up his pants so we could all see his socks didn't match. He then told us we would remember nothing about this day except for the fact he stood on a table and showed you his mismatched socks. There was probable some explanation as to why it didn't matter whether your socks match, but I have long since forgotten.