Core Memory: A Visual Survey of Vintage Computers (Hardcover)

~ John Alderman (Author), (Photographer), Dag Spicer (Foreword) "In the midst of World War II, the world's first programmable, automatic electromagnetic computer was built by a German, civil engineer Konrad Zuse..." (more)
Key Phrases: core memory, Gene Amdahl, Defense Department, World War

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An unprecedented combination of computer history and striking images, Core Memory reveals modern technology's evolution through the world's most renowned computer collection, the Computer History Museum in the Silicon Valley. Vivid photos capture these historically important machines including the Eniac, Crays 1 3, Apple I and II while authoritative text profiles each, telling the stories of their innovations and peculiarities. Thirty-five machines are profiled in over 100 extraordinary color photographs, making Core Memory a surprising addition to the library of photography collectors and the ultimate geek-chic gift.

About the Author

Mark Richards's work has been featured in numerous publications. He lives in Mill Valley, California.

John Alderman, author of Sonic Boom, lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811854426
• ISBN-13: 978-0811854429
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,856 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Trip Down Technology's Memory Lane, June 2, 2007

By	Joe Wikert "[e-mail]" (Fishers, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A coffee table book about technology? Are you kidding me? What an unusual idea...but what an awesome book! My copy arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I couldn't resist flipping through it right away...then I couldn't put it down for another hour.

If you're in any way interested in technology in general and computers in particular you need to check out this book. The photos are gorgeous. I know it sounds funny saying that pictures of computers could be gorgeous, but they really are!

You'll find entries for all the classic systems, from the ENIAC to Google's first production server, and all points in between. The close-up shots of some of the vacuum tube-based systems are truly fascinating, but it was just plain fun to once again see a device you probably haven't set your eyes on for 20 years. A good example is the Commodore 64 and the original Macintosh. The early "portables" are a hoot to see again too, especially the Osborne 1, with a screen so small it looks like a large digital watch display!

This book is going right to my office Monday morning where it will sit on my meeting table for everyone to admire. Chronicle, thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane!

P.S. -- This one's not just for the "over 40 crowd" like me: My 18 year-old son spent the last 30 minutes looking through it and loved it as well. That said, Father's Day is just around the corner, so think about this one if your dad is into technology...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man in the Machine, May 4, 2007

By	Timothy Archibald "Timothy Archibald" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

"Core Memory" was a happy surprise to come across, and a total home run when shared with my family and friends. I feared the book would be a dry catalogue that spoke only to the geek-iest of computer fans. What I found was a book that spoke to everyone: photographer Mark Richards studies these machines with a cold detachment yet still seems to somehow remind us that it is human beings that created these things: anthropomorphic machines, wires that looks like human circulatory systems, computers that look like oddly like faces, sometimes just a dada-ist collection of wires and knobs that don't look functional at all. The text by Alderman grounds everything and makes it accessible to the masses. This book will tie you up for hours, and you'll never look at your laptop the same again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, but...., November 3, 2009

By	Christopher Strong (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

The book is very pretty, and has some *outstanding* photographs of classic machines. If only the selection of machines and printing (at least on my copy) matched the quality of the photos, this would be on my "must by" list.

Newer photo-books like this rely on some special printing techniques to make their images stand out, such as printing a glossy image, with the non-printed portion paper treated to make it flat and bright white. It makes for a stunning presentation when it is done properly.

My book has several pages where the glossy images are scratched, and others where the pages are covered with scratches and dirt. I don't know if my pages sat on the top of a pallet or the presses were just dirty, but it clearly happened before binding, as in some cases, page 64 on the left hand side is very dirty, page 65 on the right is totally clean. The beautiful dust jacket is also badly scuffed up--a book like this should have been shrink wrapped--and the cover dinged. This Chinese-printed book would have been considered a "hurt" at my local press.

On this sort of book, that totally shatters the beauty of it all, and I think I will end up returning it. I considered asking for a replacement, but I am further disappointed by the selection of machines.

There are major companies of the era not even represented here. Not a single Data General machine...I would have expected the "70's photogenic" Nova, or a later machine like a S/150. No Burroughs, no DEC-20...the entire history of DEC reduced to two photos and one closeup of a pdp8 and a glimpse of the boot console panel from a DEC-10.

VAX? What's a VAX? No mention of a VAX here, but the TRS-80 I and 100 get four pages. I *loved* my Model 100, but this is not the place for it.

With a title like "core memory" and a pdp8 on the cover, I expected more early machines, yet the book dedicates six pages to the Apple I/II and four to the Commodore 64.

There is more coverage of the Commodore 64 PC than the entire history of Digital Equipment Corporation. Control Data is limited to a photo of the CDC6600 console, a photo of backplane wiring and two images of a boot switch panel.

Home PC's should really be their own book. But if they wanted to cover home PCs up to 1983, they should have hit "visually iconic" machines like the IMSAI or the Ohio Scientific PCs. How about some classic rare peripherals; the Atari 815 dual disk drive is a 9x9x12" box with nine LEDs in three colors, surely some unique peripherals like this deserve inclusion more than a two-page closeup of the Commodore 64's keyboard.

Now, I would like to mention the wonderful photos of SAGE and Johnniac. Had it not been that the photo of the SAGE light gun was covered with scratches, I would have kept it for SAGE alone. But as I said, in a photo book, damaged photos ruin the whole point.

I spotted a few factual errors and typos in my quick scan of the book, but the major errors are really errors of omission.

Conclusion: If yours is printed correctly and clean, it is a beautiful book and a bargain at the Amazon sale price. But if you are expecting a book primarily about machines running core memory, or minicomputers/mainframes from the 1970s as would be inferred from the cover and the name, you will be disappointed. I am.