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Further reading □ 11. Overview of 198112. PR13. ICL - Three Rivers14. SERC15. ICL under Wilmot16. Decision time
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ACDSingle User SystemsPERQ HistoryPart III
ACDSingle User SystemsPERQ HistoryPart III
ACL ACD C&A INF CCD CISD Archives
Further reading

11. Overview of 1981
12. PR
13. ICL - Three Rivers
14. SERC
15. ICL under Wilmot
16. Decision time

1981

12. PERQ PUBLIC RELATIONS

12.1 Plan of Action

In December 1980, a meeting was held with ICL to discuss the set of actions required once the two PERQ systems arrived. The aim was for a major PERQ presentation to ICL senior management before April 1981 with inauguration of the product soon after.

Both PERQs would be installed at RAL with demonstration facilities available to both ICL and SRC. One system would be stripped completely down by ICL engineers on arrival to get a complete idea of the parts cost and assembly time.

The SERC Demonstration Room: Ian Benest and Carol Barnes

The SERC Demonstration Room: Ian Benest and Carol Barnes
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

RAL agreed to use Colin Prosser from the DCS team and Tony Williams from the ICF team to work with ICL staff in developing a joint set of demonstrations.

Watching the unpacking: Bill Sharpe, Colin Prosser, Tony Williams, Ian Benest, and ICL people

Watching the unpacking: Bill Sharpe, Colin Prosser, Tony Williams, Ian Benest, and ICL people
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

Display Boards giving details of the PERQ and the Distributed Computing environment in which it fitted were to be produced. Additional Public Relations activities included a set of slides produced by ICL and a video produced by RAL.

Display Board: Role in SRC Research

Display Board: Role in SRC Research
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

12.2 PERQ Arrival - 21 January 1981

A large number of people crowded into the room while we unpacked the system that had been ordered 18 months earlier. The wooden packing case added by the Embassy was difficult to open. It had been bolted down with 4 inch nails some of which had gone right through the Three Rivers packing and into the PERQ itself. Securing screws for both the disc and the card cage had fallen out. As a result, the cards had one corner almost completely destroyed. There was also a great deal of superficial damage to the body work.

Charlie Portman watching Bob Hopgood open the Embassy box

Charlie Portman watching Bob Hopgood open the Embassy box
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

PERQ Damage (see Gallery for many more photos)

PERQ Damage (see Gallery for many more photos)
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

There was a general view that it would take a while to repair. However, the advantage in having ICL development engineers present soon became apparent. In a very short time, the system was up and running. Wires were re-soldered, the disc realigned (and later replaced). This particular system spent a great deal of time moving around the UK and Europe doing demonstrations and is still working today.

This first PERQ still exists in the storage facility at RAL (2005).

12.3 Demonstrations

Between January and March, a number of demonstrations were developed for the presentation to ICL directors. These included a simulated office automation environment based on a multiple window paradigm (similar to what later appeared on the Macintosh), some rapid movements of information to demonstrate the graphics power of the system (this included a program for moving the relative positions of ICL directors in the hierarchy!), a pre/post processor for ICL 2900/DAP calculations and the use of the editor. This together with Three Rivers demonstration from SIGGRAPH 80 gave an impressive demonstration of the PERQ's capabilities.

SIGGRAPH 80 Demonstration

SIGGRAPH 80 Demonstration
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

SIGGRAPH 80 Demonstration

SIGGRAPH 80 Demonstration
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

SRC (60 cycle) and ICL (50 cycle) PERQs

SRC (60 cycle) and ICL (50 cycle) PERQs
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

12.4 Visitors

Between 18 March 1981 and 21 August 1981, the PERQ was demonstrated to well over 100 different people from government, industry and academia.

After the initial presentations to ICL Directors on 18 March and 20 March 1981, the ICF Committee, Computing and Communications Sub Committee, and the DCS Panel were each given presentations.

PERQ Visitors: Arnold Jewitt and Colin Hayley (ICL), 18 March, Malcolm Sabin and Owen Mills

PERQ Visitors: Arnold Jewitt and Colin Hayley (ICL), 18 March, Malcolm Sabin and Owen Mills
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

PERQ Visitors: Peter Aylett and Doug Cormish (ICL), 20 March, Alistair MacFarlane and Colin McGreavy (ICF), Ed Fredkin (Three Rivers), Roger Newey (GEC)

PERQ Visitors: Peter Aylett and Doug Cormish (ICL), 20 March, Alistair MacFarlane and Colin McGreavy (ICF), Ed Fredkin (Three Rivers), Roger Newey (GEC)
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council

For the Nuclear Physics Board, demonstrations were given to CERN, the Chairman of the Board, and Central Office Staff.

For the Science Board, demonstrations were given to the Chairman of the Science Board Computing Committee, (Owen Mills), Professor Murrell, Brian Davies from Daresbury, SNS and Laser Divisions at RAL, and Central Office Staff.

Government Departments included Dept of Industry, Dept of Education and Science, UKAEA, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Defence, NERC, MRC, SERC, etc.

Over 20 universities visited RAL and about 15 companies including GEC and Apollo. Visitors from abroad came from the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Holland. Later, visitors also came from China, New Zealand, Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Germany and Australia.

This rate of receiving visitors and doing demonstrations continued for about another year before it died down with the wider availability of systems.

This whole exercise put a severe strain on RAL's limited resources. Frequently, valuable systems experts spent a considerable amount of time giving demonstrations and answering questions from interested parties.

PERQ Visitors: Robb Wilmot (ICL)

PERQ Visitors: Robb Wilmot (ICL)
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© UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council
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