Review of CDC. The happy years of a very special IT 'Phenomena'

[Peace Odii]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "CDC. The happy years of a very special IT 'Phenomena'" by Hans Bodmer.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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CDC: The happy years with a spectacular IT 'Phenomena' by Hans Bodmer is a detailed essay on the evolution of different types of computers designed by the CDC from 1964 to 1981. It is also the author's work experiences at the CDC and some of the happenings during that period relating to IT. With a storytelling skill yet an informative technique, Bodmer describes the history of CDC as one of the "bizarre" companies. First, he introduces the first-generation transistor designed by Seymour Cray, one of the founders of CDC. He describes his experiences at BULL, where he worked before his transfer to CDC. Aside from the CDC, various computer companies were also mentioned in the book.

This essay is filled with a lot of information that agrees with the book's primary aim. There is a vivid description of the machines designed by the CDC from one period to another, the problems these machines incurred, and how it was fixed. One of which the author described is the machine with serial number three. The author, who was one of the engineers at Chippewa Falls alongside Seymour Cray (CDC's co-founder), recounted one of the problems faced with the machine and how it affected the staff until it was fixed. It is also intriguing for me that for normal people, the CDC didn't exist at first, and CDC's products were IBM's.

The use of quotes was frequently used by the author, and this is good because it supports the idea in the story he tells, and it will resonate with the readers. Bodmer displays this when he quotes, "Arrogance comes before a fall" (page 67) to explain the tragic happenings that led to the crash of the project UBISCO.

Another endearing aspect is that at the end of every chapter, there is a colorful image to better illustrate a vivid description of the computers and people the author mentioned. This will help the reader register in their minds what some computer devices looked like before the invention of the now easy-access and portable PC.

The many errors in the book made the written content less comprehensive with no cohesion. There was no 'flow' to fully understand the information, as I took a long time to read a sentence to comprehend it due to the omission of words and wrong punctuation. This implies that the book was not well-edited. Also, many computer terms and acronyms were mentioned but not explained. This will limit the full aim of the book, which is to inform the readers about the existence of the CDC. Hence, I rate this book three out of five stars.

I recommend this book to computer literates and readers who are curious about the history of how the world of computer technology came about. This is not to say that the whole history of computers is accounted for in this book, but most of the content in this piece, if not all, is historically proven.

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CDC. The happy years of a very special IT 'Phenomena'
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[Charles Ashinze]

The information within this book is fascinating. Unfortunately, it is marred by the presence of the numerous errors within the book. Reading through your review, I was initially interested in the book but because of the errors I am no longer interested.

[Laney K]

The lack of flow and number of errors seems like a major issue in this otherwise informative book.