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| {{MilestoneLayout|citation=Dr. Gary A. Kildall demonstrated the first working prototype of CP/M
| | == The LP and the 45 == |
| (Control Program for Microcomputers) in Pacific Grove in 1974.
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| Together with his invention of the BIOS (Basic Input Output System),
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| Kildall’s operating system allowed a microprocessor-based computer to
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| communicate with a disk drive storage unit and provided an important foundation for the personal computer revolution.|secured=The plaque is available to the public|gps=801 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
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| GPS: 36.623549,-121.923315|plaque=The plaque is mounted at the edge of the public sidewalk adjacent to a retaining wall surrounding the property.
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| [[File:CPM milestone unveiling.jpg|200px|thumb|right|David Laws and Howard Michel unveil the milestone plaque]] | | [[Image:Vinyl record LP 10inch.JPG|thumb|right|10-inch LP]] |
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| [[File:AppreciationPresentationToDavidLawsByIEEE.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Milestone Dedication Ceremony 25 April 2014, appreciation presentation to David Laws by IEEE]] | | The long playing (LP) record and the 45-rpm disc were two different approaches to high fidelity music, introduced by two different companies in the late 1940s. Since the beginning of the [[Phonograph|phonograph]], most records had played for about two or three minutes. Sometimes [[Mass Producing Records|record companies issued longer recordings on large, 12-inch discs]]. But when the RCA Company began work on an improved disc in the mid-1940s, they stuck to the idea that a record should not have to hold more than one song. In order to make the disc smaller than the 10-inch, 78-rpm discs used since the 1890s, they reduced the speed to 45-rpm and used a much finer groove. This meant that they could pack in more grooves in a smaller space. They used a new plastic material, called vinylite, which resulted in the playing stylus picking up less noise and hiss. World War II interrupted this work, but the new 45-rpm disc and its player were introduced with great fanfare in late 1947. |
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| [[File:CPM milestone dedication.jpg|200px|thumb|right|IEEE members and Naval Postgraduate School Commanders at dedication]] | | At about the same time, CBS Record Company (the successor to [[Columbia Record Company|Columbia Phonograph Company]] established in the early days of the phonograph) introduced its 12-inch, 33 1/3-rpm, long playing record. The development of the LP dates back to 1945, and was the work of CBS research director [[Peter Goldmark|Peter Goldmark]] and other engineers at CBS. It was also made of vinyl plastic, and had very fine grooves, but it was a different size and speed than the 45-rpm and could not be played on the same phonograph without modifications. The LP was not intended to hold short songs like the 45-rpm, but was for classical music, which often ran for 20 minutes or more without a break. |
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| [[File:BrianHallaAndIEEE-President-Elect-HowardMichel.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Brian Halla and IEEE President-Elect Howard Michel]] | | [[Image:Sun Records 45s.jpg|thumb|right|Collection of Sun Records 45s]] |
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| [[File:GaryKildall.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Gary Kildall]]
| | Within a few years, however, most record companies had adopted both the LP and the 45-rpm formats, using the 45-rpm for singles and the LP for classical albums. Engineers easily adapted record players to accommodate both types of discs as well as the older 78-rpm singles. Soon, record companies discovered that the growing popularity of Broadway show tunes and movie soundtracks helped LP sales, because these types of recordings were usually released as sets of discs called albums. These albums (now just a single disc) were so profitable for the record companies that they began releasing more and more popular music on LP rather than as singles. After phasing out the 10-inch, 78-rpm disc around 1958, record companies heavily promoted both the LP and the 45-rpm disc. Sometimes, when songs made famous on the radio were available only on an LP and not a 45-rpm disc, sales of the more expensive LPs could be quite high. The growth of LP sales in the 1960s and 1970s transformed the record business, generating large profits and restoring the industry to the place it had held in the early 1920s before radio was introduced. |
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| [[File:Gary'sChildrenKristinAndScottKildall.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Gary's daughter and son, Kristin and Scott, next to Milestone plaque]]
| | The arrival of the compact disc in the 1980s severely curbed production of LP and 45 discs. Sales of both dropped quickly and most major label record companies stopped releasing them in large amounts by the early 1990s. However, both are still being produced to this day. Vinyl thrives in underground music scenes and niche collector markets, and is still commonly used by DJs for mixing in a live setting. Within the last ten years, vinyl has experienced a minor resurgence in the mainstream, with many of today's top 40 artists issuing their records on vinyl formats with a limited pressing run. |
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| |significance=CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) was the first commercial operating system to allow a microprocessor-based computer to interface to a disk drive storage unit. CP/M played an important role in stimulating the hobbyist personal computer movement of the 1970s. Its ability to support software programs on a wide variety of hardware configurations enabled early use of microcomputer systems from many different manufacturers in business and scientific applications. Microsoft DOS, as licensed to IBM for the original PC, was written to emulate the look and feel of CP/M. Thus, CP/M was the forerunner of the operating systems that now power the majority of the world's computers, and led to the personal computing revolution.
| | == Your Surest Selling Job == |
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| The major challenge that Kildall had to overcome in the development of CP/M was the design and debugging of the “complex electronics ... to make the diskette drive find certain locations and transfer data back and forth”. The following recollections are abstracted from pages 53-55 of "Computer Connections", an unpublished autobiography that he wrote and distributed to friends and family in 1994. "Memorex ... had come up with the new "floppy disk" to replace IBM punched cards. I stared at that damn diskette drive for hours on end ... trying to figure a way to make it fly. I tried to build a diskette controller … but I, being mainly hardware inept … couldn’t get my controller to work. So I built an operting (sic) system program ... I called it CP/M [but] I just couldn't figure out how to make that damn disk drive work. Out of frustration, I called my good friend from the University of Washington, John Torode. He designed a neat little microcontroller and after a few months of testing that microcontroller started to work. We loaded my CP/M program from paper tape to the diskette and "booted" CP/M from the diskette, and up came the prompt *. This may have been one of the most exciting days of my life."|features=Before Kildall’s development of CP/M, computer manufacturers provided proprietary applications software that worked only on their own hardware. All programs had to be written from the ground up to operate on each unique machine configuration. CP/M was initially designed to work on the Intel 8080 microprocessor and allowed computer systems built by any manufacturer who used that chip to run applications programs written by third-party suppliers. CP/M introduced a new element of competition into the computer marketplace that stimulated rapid growth in the use of low-cost systems in business, industry and academia and eventually in the home. According to Kildall, “CP/M was an instant success. By 1980, DRI had sold millions of copies of CP/M to manufacturers and end-users.”|references=See supporting materials below|support=Kildall’s autobiography “Computer Connections” notes on page 55 that he solicited the help of John Torode in 1974. He gives no specific date but recalls that “This was in the late afternoon and … John and I retired to have a Chinese dinner in Pacific Grove”. E-mail correspondence from John, dated June 24, 2013, places the time frame as follows: “My wife and I concur that it was probably after our wedding on June 22 1974, but before we moved to Chicago (she worked for Bell Labs) in the fall”.
| | {{#widget:YouTube16x9|id=DOBeEb8ZY2s</youtube> |
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| Kildall’s own public account of the history of CP/M was published in Dr Dobbs Journal in 1980:
| | Late 1940s advertisement for new RCA Victrola. |
| THE EVOLUTION OF AN INDUSTRY: ONE PERSON'S VIEWPOINT, "Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia", Vol.5, No.1, (January 1980) (number 41), page 6-7
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| [http://www.retrotechnology.com/dri/CPM_history_kildall.txt]
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| Numerous popular accounts of the history of CP/M have been published in newspaper and magazine articles and in books, as well as online. Most of them focus on the fictitious story that DRI lost out to Microsoft on the IBM PC operating system decision because Kildall had taken the day off to go flying. Kildall refutes this story in “Computer Connections” but it is probably most eloquently recounted in Harold Evans’ book on U.S. pioneers and innovators “They Made America.”
| | [[Category:Engineering and society|Records]] [[Category:Leisure|Records]] [[Category:Music|Records]] [[Category:Consumer electronics|Records]] [[Category:Audio systems|Records]] [[Category:News|Records]] |
| Harold Evans, “They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to the Search Engine” (2004) ISBN 0-316-27766-5 [http://www.sirharoldevans.com/library_madeamerica.html]
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| Steve Ham and Jay Greene, “The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates,” Bloomberg Business Week, 24 October 2004. [http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-10-24/the-man-who-could-have-been-bill-gates]
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| Online only sources
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| CP/M and Digital Research Inc. (DRI) Web pages [http://retrotechnology.com/dri/]
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| CP/M [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M]
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| Gary Kildall Special (Video) [http://archive.org/details/GaryKild]
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| A Short History of CP/M [http://web.archive.org/web/20011011083003/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/5711/history.html]
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| Gordon Eubanks Oral History (Computerworld 2000) [http://www.cwhonors.org/archives/histories/Eubanks.pdf]}}
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| == Dedication Ceremony ==
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| <youtube>HO6IPpL0y8g</youtube>
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| The dedication of the IEEE Milestone generated some wonderful coverage for IEEE and technical history. The Monterey, California NPR station KAZU-FM posted the following story by Krista Almanzan: "Recognizing the Legacy of Pacific Grove Inventor Gary Kildall." Included with this story is an audio clip that was broadcast three times on 24 April 2014 (the day before the dedication). Almanzan sums up part of Gary Kildall's legacy as: ''Kildall, who passed away in 1994, has often been referred to "as the man who could have been Bill Gates," if not for one missed opportunity. But those who knew him best hope Friday's dedication will begin to change that legacy.'' Recognizing the Legacy of Pacific Grove Inventor Gary Kildall http://kazu.org/post/recognizing-legacy-pacific-grove-inventor-gary-kildall
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| On 2 May 2014 (one week after the dedication) NPR stations throughout California broadcast an audio clip that included comments from the dedication and unveiling ceremonies by IEEE President-Elect Howard Michel and Gary Kildall's daughter Kristin. "Pacific Grove Inventor Finally Honored for Creating First PC Operating System" http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201405020850/a
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| See also http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/ieee-recognizes-gary-kildall-for-pioneering-computer-operating-system
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| == Further Reading ==
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| [http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/gary-kildall-40th-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-the-pc-operating-system/ Gary Kildall and the 40th Anniversary of the Birth of the PC Operating System" by David Laws, Computer History Museum Semiconductor Curator] | |
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| [https://www.facebook.com/KildallLegacy Legacy of Gary Kildall Facebook page] | |
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| [http://ithistory.org/blog/?p=2071 "Gary Kildall Legacy": IT History Society Blog by Alan Weissberger]
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| [http://www.ece.umd.edu/courses/enee759m/papers/wharton1994-kildall.pdf Gary Kildall Obituary by John Wharton] | |
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| [http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-history/groundbreaking-operating-system-is-named-an-ieee-milestone IEEE The Institute: Groundbreaking Operating System Is Named an IEEE Milestone] | |
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| [http://www.ieee.org/about/history_center/newsletter/ieee_history_center_newsletter_95.pdf IEEE History Center newsletter coverage of CP/M Milestone (p. 3)]
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| == Map ==
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| {{#display_map:36.623549, -121.923315~ ~ ~ ~ ~The CP/M Microcomputer Operating System, 1974|height=250|zoom=10|static=yes|center=36.623549, -121.923315}}
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The LP and the 45
The long playing (LP) record and the 45-rpm disc were two different approaches to high fidelity music, introduced by two different companies in the late 1940s. Since the beginning of the phonograph, most records had played for about two or three minutes. Sometimes record companies issued longer recordings on large, 12-inch discs. But when the RCA Company began work on an improved disc in the mid-1940s, they stuck to the idea that a record should not have to hold more than one song. In order to make the disc smaller than the 10-inch, 78-rpm discs used since the 1890s, they reduced the speed to 45-rpm and used a much finer groove. This meant that they could pack in more grooves in a smaller space. They used a new plastic material, called vinylite, which resulted in the playing stylus picking up less noise and hiss. World War II interrupted this work, but the new 45-rpm disc and its player were introduced with great fanfare in late 1947.
At about the same time, CBS Record Company (the successor to Columbia Phonograph Company established in the early days of the phonograph) introduced its 12-inch, 33 1/3-rpm, long playing record. The development of the LP dates back to 1945, and was the work of CBS research director Peter Goldmark and other engineers at CBS. It was also made of vinyl plastic, and had very fine grooves, but it was a different size and speed than the 45-rpm and could not be played on the same phonograph without modifications. The LP was not intended to hold short songs like the 45-rpm, but was for classical music, which often ran for 20 minutes or more without a break.
Collection of Sun Records 45s
Within a few years, however, most record companies had adopted both the LP and the 45-rpm formats, using the 45-rpm for singles and the LP for classical albums. Engineers easily adapted record players to accommodate both types of discs as well as the older 78-rpm singles. Soon, record companies discovered that the growing popularity of Broadway show tunes and movie soundtracks helped LP sales, because these types of recordings were usually released as sets of discs called albums. These albums (now just a single disc) were so profitable for the record companies that they began releasing more and more popular music on LP rather than as singles. After phasing out the 10-inch, 78-rpm disc around 1958, record companies heavily promoted both the LP and the 45-rpm disc. Sometimes, when songs made famous on the radio were available only on an LP and not a 45-rpm disc, sales of the more expensive LPs could be quite high. The growth of LP sales in the 1960s and 1970s transformed the record business, generating large profits and restoring the industry to the place it had held in the early 1920s before radio was introduced.
The arrival of the compact disc in the 1980s severely curbed production of LP and 45 discs. Sales of both dropped quickly and most major label record companies stopped releasing them in large amounts by the early 1990s. However, both are still being produced to this day. Vinyl thrives in underground music scenes and niche collector markets, and is still commonly used by DJs for mixing in a live setting. Within the last ten years, vinyl has experienced a minor resurgence in the mainstream, with many of today's top 40 artists issuing their records on vinyl formats with a limited pressing run.
Your Surest Selling Job
{{#widget:YouTube16x9|id=DOBeEb8ZY2s</youtube>
Late 1940s advertisement for new RCA Victrola.
