Comments on: A picture is worth 50,000 vacuum tubes.

A picture is worth 50,000 vacuum tubes.

BigHeartedGuy — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:51:18 -0800

Possibly the World's First Computer Art? An Atlantic article discusses how in the late 1950s, an anonymous IBM employee made a lady from the pages of Esquire come to life on the screen of a Situation Display Console of a AN/FSQ-7 computer that was part of the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) project.

By: Admiral Haddock

Admiral Haddock — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:02:41 -0800

10 print "va" 20 print "va" 30 print "voom" 40 goto 10 run

By: poe

poe — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:09:58 -0800

I have a computer generated pencil drawing in my house ("The Arctangent") from when my grandfather was in the Navy. The computer in question was one of the last mechanical computers. I consider it some of the earliest computer graphics, depending on how you look at things.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:26:03 -0800

So as usual, porn leads in the vanguard of new media.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:29:44 -0800

But which of those pictures is the porn?

By: tommasz

tommasz — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:29:59 -0800

I believe "Hubba Hubba" is appropriate here.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:37:36 -0800

I consider it some of the earliest computer graphics, depending on how you look at things. I suppose the image in the FPP could be the first piece of computer art shown on a display. Knowing engineers, I have to think there were earlier...experiments...produced via print-outs or plots of some sort.

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:37:40 -0800

Before my time- We had to settle for images printed on a 1403. The one I had was multi-strike, so somewhat more detailed than the CRT image (and sexier than Santa) . Wonder if I still have it.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:48:51 -0800

Every time I read about SAGE, I'm just kinda blown away. On the one hand, it was the first massively distributed computer system, an enormous leap forward for computer science. On the other hand, ICBMs made the whole thing obsolete in a few short years. Interesting fact : SAGE technology was ultimately re-used for air traffic control, and is also the basis for all modern airline reservation systems. A SAGE console (and a few CPUs) is on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, along with working difference engine. Anybody know if any of the SAGE blockhouses are still extant? Or were they all knocked down? I feel like they'd make for awesome museums in and of themselves.

By: oulipian

oulipian — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:28:42 -0800

Someone so needs to Photoshop prototypical light gun guy so that he is playing Duck Hunt.

By: Bummus

Bummus — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:29:32 -0800

Afroblanco: Some SAGE blockhouses still exist, apparently. I think they've mostly been "repurposed." There's one in Madison, Wisconsin, and another one in Duluth, Minnesota.

By: the Real Dan

the Real Dan — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:46:17 -0800

There are some more descriptions of use of the vector scope, from the SAGE archivists. There was computer music and a computer game, in addition to computer pin-up/burlesque art.

By: RobotVoodooPower

RobotVoodooPower — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:10:22 -0800

In Wargames 2, we see the adolescent Joshua coming-of-age as he awkwardly discovers the female form...

By: GenericUser

GenericUser — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:13:17 -0800

oulipian: The Hunting Simulation Display Console

By: Twang

Twang — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:14:39 -0800

No question the 50s were a Fantasyland for defense contractors. Not to mention other human experimenters.

By: Twang

Twang — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:17:18 -0800

Should be noted that by that time, RTTY art (made on radioteletypes) had been around for quite some time ... since it was invented by newswire operators - once paper tape made it possible to create and reproduce the pix and swap them, "online". Commonest were the "cheesecake" and holiday pictures. Since this practice no doubt translated to the military (as it did to radio hams by the 1950s), it's likely (though the picture is too crude to tell) that this is RTTY art.

By: oulipian

oulipian — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:23:25 -0800

The Hunting Simulation Display Console Yes! This is the best. Excellent work!

By: thecaddy

thecaddy — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:44:23 -0800

The Hunting Simulation Display Console Throughout the decades, mankind has been haunted by the enigmatic laughing dog.