Evan on Engineering Software

Last week, I posted a note that Dr. Patrick Hanratty was trying to find a home for an old mid-70's vintage Tektronix 4014 graphics terminal that he no longer needs. 

I heard from the Computer History Museum, and they already have a Tek 4014 in their collection.  They don't, however, have the documentation for it, and so they asked if Dr. Hanratty would be willing to donate that.  I talked to him today, and he's agreed to do so. (Actually, he has some other documentation that the museum would probably love to get their hands on, including  the original manuals for the IBM 650, which he got when he worked at Convair in the mid 1950s.)

So, the status on the 4014 is that, if a home can't be found for it before next Tuesday, Dr. Hanratty will probably strip its circuit boards of gold, then scrap it.. (Did I mention that Dr. Hanratty is also an amateur gold prospector?  He's one of the few true renaissance men I've met in my life.)

What's the moral of the story?  I think it's probably that people often prefer their history to be stored in books, photographs, web sites, and wikis, rather than in museums and warehouses.

If you'd like to read about the history of the CAD industry, visit www.cadhistory.net, the website hosting David Weisberg's excellent book, The Engineering Design Revolution:The People, Companies and Computer Systems That Changed Forever the Practice of Engineering.

I was fortunate enough to be able to work with David at Cyon Research.  Reading this book has given me a new appreciation for the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the CAD industry.  He was there nearly from the start, and saw the technology transform from a few exotic and expensive projects hidden in university labs, to the powerful systems that most people take for granted today.

Incidentally, Chapter 15 of David's book is dedicated to Dr. Hanratty and his company.  As he says, "No history of the CAD/CAM industry would be complete without an in-depth discussion about Dr. Patrick Hanratty and his software company, Manufacturing and Consulting Services (MCS). In many quarters, Hanratty is considered the 'father of CAD/CAM.'"