TX-2
{{Short description|Early transistorized computer}}
{{About|the computer|the Texas district|Texas's 2nd congressional district|the successor to the TX1 London taxicab|TXII}}
{{Computer
| name = TX-2
| image = TX-2 mod top.jpg
| caption = Circuit module from the TX-2
| developer = MIT Lincoln Laboratory
| family = TX
| releasedate = {{Start date|1958}}
| predecessor = TX-0
}}
The MIT Lincoln Laboratory TX-2 computer was the successor to the Lincoln TX-0 and was known for its role in advancing both artificial intelligence and human–computer interaction. Wesley A. Clark was the chief architect of the TX-2.{{cite book |title = Biomedial Computing, Digitizing Life in the United States |author = Joseph November |chapter = The LINC Revolution |page=144 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2012}}
Specifications
The TX-2 was a transistor-based computer using the then-huge amount of 64K 36-bit words of magnetic-core memory. The TX-2 became operational in 1958.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iU-AQAAIAAJ&q=%22TX-2%22+1958|title=Computers and People|date=1961|publisher=Berkeley Enterprises|pages=312|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4YlDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22TX-2%22+1958&pg=PA131|title=The Machine in the Ghost: Digitality and Its Consequences|last=Boast|first=Robin|date=2017-03-15|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=9781780237879|pages=131–132|language=en}} Because of its powerful capabilities, Ivan Sutherland's revolutionary Sketchpad program was developed for and ran on the TX-2.Reilly, Edwin D. (2003) [https://archive.org/details/milestonesincomp0000reil/page/261 Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology] Greenwood Publishing Group {{ISBN|9781573565219}} pg 261Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004) [https://books.google.com/books?id=BDboJQJvUq8C&pg=PA66 Architecture's New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-aided Design] MIT Press {{ISBN|9780262112840}} pg 66 One of its key features was the ability to directly interact with the computer through a graphical display.Naughton, John (1999): A brief history of the future: the origins of the internet, London, p. 71
The compiler was developed by Lawrence Roberts while he was studying at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=Roberts G. |date=June 1963 |title=Machine perception of three dimensional solids |url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/11589 |journal=PhD Thesis |pages=82}}
Relationship with DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation was a spin-off of the TX-0 and TX-2 projects. The TX-2 Tape System was a block addressable 1/2" tape developed for the TX-2 by Tom Stockebrand which evolved into LINCtape and DECtape.
Role in creating the Internet
Dr. Leonard Kleinrock developed the mathematical theory of packet networks which he successfully simulated on the TX-2 computer at Lincoln Lab.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2 TX-2 documentation at bitsavers.org]
- [https://www.pcmag.com/news/363724/meet-the-professor-who-was-there-when-the-internet-was-turne Interview with UCLA's Dr. Leonard Kleinrock]
Category:One-of-a-kind computers
Category:Transistorized computers
{{compu-hardware-stub}}