Computing Facilities

Department of Horticultural Science - History

by Nancy Brill

Computer Network Changes

• 1979: Walk to computing center to type and read in computer cards
• 1981: Dialup modem (0.3 kbs) to communicate with mainframe computer
  • 1983: Dialup modem (1.2 kbs) to communicate with mainframe computer
  • 1985: Dialup modem (2.4 kbs) to communicate with mainframe computer
  • 1986: Dialup modem (9.6 kbs) to communicate with mainframe computer
• 1987: First local area network (Appletalk, bus type)
  • Series connections caused problems for everyone when a single connection failed
• 1987: First laser printer added to Mac network (Laserwriter II, 300 dpi)
• 1991: First electronic mail
  • Bus network changed to star network for better reliability
• 1992: First file server added to network for file exchange
• 1994: Color printer and slide scanner added to network; dial-in service added (connect to local area network from home or field)
• 1995: Slide printer added to network

Computer Hardware Changes

• 1979: Mainframe computer; access using card punch, card reader
• 1980: Mainframe computer; access using dumb terminals
• 1981: Northstar with S100 bus, floppy disk drive, monochrome monitor, keyboard and dot matrix printer (first microcomputer in Horticultural Science)
  • Some data storage: cassette tape
• 1981: Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II
  • 8" floppy (0.1 Mb), 0.032 Mb RAM, RS (2 MHz)
• 1982: IBM PC (proposed as the departmental standard)
  • 5.25" floppy (0.2 Mb), 0.064 Mb RAM, Intel (4.77 MHz)
• 1983: Apple Lisa (purchased by JC Raulston for arboretum use)
  • 5.25" floppy (0.4 Mb), 0.128 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1984: Apple Macintosh (purchased by computing center for general use)
  • 3.5" floppy (0.4 Mb), 0.128 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1990: Data storage was Syquest 40 Mb 5.25" removable hard disk cartridges (fragile)
• 1993: Data storage was Syquest 128 Mb 3.5" rewriteable magneto-optical disks

Macintosh Microcomputer Changes

• 1983: Apple Lisa
  • 5.25" floppy (0.4 Mb), 0.128 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1984: Apple Macintosh 128
  • 3.5" floppy (0.4 Mb), 0.128 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1985: Apple Macintosh 512
  • 3.5" floppy (0.8 Mb), 0.512 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1986: Apple Macintosh Plus
  • 3.5" floppy (1.4 Mb), 1 Mb RAM, Motorola 68000 (8 MHz)
• 1987: Apple Macintosh II
  • 3.5" floppy (1.4 Mb), 1 Mb RAM, Motorola 68020 (16 MHz)
• 1988: Apple Macintosh IIx
  • 3.5" floppy (1.4 Mb), 2 Mb RAM, Motorola 68030 (16 MHz)
• 1989: Apple Macintosh IIci
  • 3.5" floppy (1.4 Mb), 4 Mb RAM, Motorola 68030 (25 MHz)
• 1990: Apple Macintosh Portable
  • 3.5" floppy (1.4 Mb), 4 Mb RAM, Motorola 680C0 (25 MHz)
• 1991: Apple Macintosh Quadra 950
  • CD-ROM (600 Mb), 16 Mb RAM, Motorola 68040 (25 MHz)
• 1992: Apple Macintosh Powerbook
  • CD-ROM (600 Mb), 16 Mb RAM, Motorola 68C30 (25 MHz)
• 2002: Apple PowerMac G4
  • CD/DVD-RW (4700 Mb), 2048 Mb RAM, Motorola G4 (2x1250 MHz)