My dear Friend from years on the TimesDaily
Religion Forum and on Facebook, Crusty (a pseudonym, for he is not
willing to write his comments under his real name), finally
believes he has the one hook which will discredit Bill Gray
forever - Bill does not have a college degree! Well, that is
true.
However, I do have many college credits: In mathematics, through calculus - In English, from grammar through Creative Writing - Corporate Management, taught by a gentleman who was with Walt and Roy Disney when they first began - Theater Arts, two fun years which only proved to me that the computer industry was my true calling. So, I do not believe the lack of a degree has hog-tied me as Crusty would imply.
Today, anyone going into the computer industry had better have that degree, for the recognition and demand for the certificate, and for the knowledge attained while working toward the degree. However, considering that I went into Air Force Electronics, Radar, and Analog Computer training starting in 1955 and then, in 1958 jumped into the infant commercial computer industry with Burroughs Corporation - many of us did not have formal degrees. Yet, we made a difference; a difference that today would be difficult to accomplish without a formal college degree.
I recall, in 1968, I was taking a group of eight from Vanderbilt University to visit the home office of my company, Digital Equipment Corporation, in Boston. On the flight to Boston, I sat with Dr. Bill Baker, head of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Vanderbilt. As we were chatting, he asked where I went to school. Knowing that he was asking about college, I told him, "I don't have a degree."
His comment, "Really doesn't matter, does it? What really matters is that you know your business - and obviously, you do."
During this trip, the one man I did not want to sit beside on the flight was Dr. George Haynam, head of the Computer Sciences Department at Vanderbilt. I will confess that I was in awe of this man and I was afraid that talking with him I would put my foot in my mouth. But, when we boarded for the flight home to Nashville, the only seat left was beside Dr. Haynam. I took my seat, the flight attendant brought us a pre-flight cocktail - and with a good scotch on the rocks under my belt, I relaxed.
As we were talking, Dr. Haynam made a statement regarding computer technology - and I disagreed with him. Now, you might think that would have been the end of our relationship, but actually it cemented our relationship. I suppose no other youngster like me had ever disagreed with him - and when I did, his eyes lit up, and we had a wonderful flight back to Nashville. I never had a problem getting into his office after that. And, Vanderbilt committed to a multi-million dollar purchase for two DEC PDP-10 computer systems, one for Vanderbilt and one for a cooperating institution, Meharry Medical College.
So, what got my Religion Forum/Facebook Friend, Crusty, all riled up? Well, last week I shared on Facebook a pastor's open letter to Bruce Springsteen:
Well, this upset my Friend, Crusty, and he once again, for the umpteenth time, reminded me that I am just a poor uneducated product of the Sheffield High School system in Alabama - and could never amount to much. So, let me see if I can summarize my plodding career since leaving Sheffield, Alabama, in June 1955.
Not sure what Crusty has in mind, how he would judge something to be an accomplishment. But let's see if we can briefly encapsulate the career of this uneducated graduate of Sheffield High:
1. In 1956-57, I was responsible for keeping the Airborne Radar/Weapons Fire Control systems on a squad of eight F-86F Fighter-Bombers working at peak efficiency so that our pilots flying in Korea and Formosa would be able to win if they were forced to do battle against the MIG-15 or any Communist China forces.
2. In 1959-60, I was a member of a team of four Burroughs Corporation Field Engineers responsible for keeping the Norfolk Naval Supply Depot computer system working so that they could supply the Atlantic Fleet.
3. In 1961, I was the Burroughs Corporation Field Engineer who was chosen to install a modified Burroughs 220 General-Purpose Computer (a vacuum-tube computer system) - the heart of the Melpar Corporation Finder system, which occupied 7000 sq ft of floor space, and was comprised of the Burroughs 220 Computer and 89 Melpar-designed racks and consoles of transistorized electronics. In 1961 we delivered and installed this system in the subterranean level of the Headquarters Building of the Air Force Strategic Air Command at Offut AFB in Omaha, Nebraska.
4. In 1963, I installed the Ramo-Wooldridge AN/UYK-1 MilSpec Mini-Computer onboard the USNS Kingsport Satellite Tracking Ship. That Syncom satellite tracking system enabled President Kennedy to make the first live two-way satellite telephone call, when he spoke with Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa.
5. In 1963, I was asked to divide my time between my duties as a Field Engineer with Ramo-Wooldridge and the company Training Department, teaching classes on the AN/UYK-1 computer to engineers and technicians sent from client companies.
6. In 1964, I worked with the Project Genie team of Dr. Melvin W. Pirtle at and Dr. Wayne Lichtenberger at UC Berkeley to modify a Scientific Data Systems SDS 930 24-bit commercial computer so that it could be used with the timesharing software that was being developed by the Project Genie team. The resulting system was launched as a commercial product and renamed the SDS 940 Time Sharing System.
7. In 1964, I installed the first commercial SDS 940 Time Share computer system at the newly formed company, Tymshare Corporation, which was founded by Tom O’Rourke and Dave Schmidt as a time-sharing company to sell computer time and software packages to commercial users.
8. In 1965, I installed an SDS 930 computer system at Boeing Corporation in Seattle which was the heart of a Flight Simulator System built by Boeing to train NASA Astronauts for the critical skill of reentry into earth atmosphere. I was there when the first team of astronauts arrived for training.
9. In 1965, while working as a Field Engineer for Scientific Data System, because I was frequently being called out to fix computer problems that our Field Engineers should have been able to diagnose and repair - I requested that I be allowed to teach an indepth class on diagnosing and repairing the SDS 930 and 9300 computer systems to our Field Engineering staff. The first week, I taught half of the staff. When the second week was ready to start with the other half of the staff, the head of the Training Department asked if he could send his instructors and some customers to sit in on my class that week.
10. In 1966, I was called upon to design around a priority interrupt scheme problem on the SDS 9300 system at North American Rockwell, Downey, CA, when they could not get their SDS computer system to work properly with their Reentry Capsule Simulator System.
11. In the early 1970s, I presented Logic, Computer, and Micro-Computer Seminars to clients of Digital Equipment Corporation, Control Logic Corporation, and MITS, Inc. - to enable them to utilize our products in their company's end-products and projects.
12. In 1975, at one of my MITS sponsored Micro-Computer Seminars in Palo Alto, CA, Paul Terrell was convinced that he should sign on as a Independent Manufacturers Representative for the MITS Altair computer. One month later, that relationship led to his opening the Byte Shop computer store in Mountain View, CA (the second computer store in America). And, the success of that store encouraged Paul to found the Byte Shop computer store chain, which grew to 250 stores and was the first chain of computer stores in the world. By the way, after opening the Byte Shop store, Paul was also instrumental in giving Apple Computer (Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs) a jump-start, buying their first 50 Apple 1 computers and selling them from his Byte Shop store.
I will stop here with my Bill Gray Dandy Dozen, and just round out my resume by saying that I went on to (1) being responsible for the company, Interstate Electronics of Anaheim, CA, putting millions of dollars of Interdata Corporation computers into sub-tenders for the U.S. Navy, and for Rockwell Autonetics Division putting Interdata computers into the Minuteman silos - (2) to being one of the first Sales Managers for the General Electric Graphicon Computer Graphics division; and (3) to being Director of Sales for a Southern California computer company.
So, Crusty, my Friend - not bad for a poor Alabama born and bred high school graduate, wouldn't you say?
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
However, I do have many college credits: In mathematics, through calculus - In English, from grammar through Creative Writing - Corporate Management, taught by a gentleman who was with Walt and Roy Disney when they first began - Theater Arts, two fun years which only proved to me that the computer industry was my true calling. So, I do not believe the lack of a degree has hog-tied me as Crusty would imply.
Today, anyone going into the computer industry had better have that degree, for the recognition and demand for the certificate, and for the knowledge attained while working toward the degree. However, considering that I went into Air Force Electronics, Radar, and Analog Computer training starting in 1955 and then, in 1958 jumped into the infant commercial computer industry with Burroughs Corporation - many of us did not have formal degrees. Yet, we made a difference; a difference that today would be difficult to accomplish without a formal college degree.
I recall, in 1968, I was taking a group of eight from Vanderbilt University to visit the home office of my company, Digital Equipment Corporation, in Boston. On the flight to Boston, I sat with Dr. Bill Baker, head of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Vanderbilt. As we were chatting, he asked where I went to school. Knowing that he was asking about college, I told him, "I don't have a degree."
His comment, "Really doesn't matter, does it? What really matters is that you know your business - and obviously, you do."
During this trip, the one man I did not want to sit beside on the flight was Dr. George Haynam, head of the Computer Sciences Department at Vanderbilt. I will confess that I was in awe of this man and I was afraid that talking with him I would put my foot in my mouth. But, when we boarded for the flight home to Nashville, the only seat left was beside Dr. Haynam. I took my seat, the flight attendant brought us a pre-flight cocktail - and with a good scotch on the rocks under my belt, I relaxed.
As we were talking, Dr. Haynam made a statement regarding computer technology - and I disagreed with him. Now, you might think that would have been the end of our relationship, but actually it cemented our relationship. I suppose no other youngster like me had ever disagreed with him - and when I did, his eyes lit up, and we had a wonderful flight back to Nashville. I never had a problem getting into his office after that. And, Vanderbilt committed to a multi-million dollar purchase for two DEC PDP-10 computer systems, one for Vanderbilt and one for a cooperating institution, Meharry Medical College.
So, what got my Religion Forum/Facebook Friend, Crusty, all riled up? Well, last week I shared on Facebook a pastor's open letter to Bruce Springsteen:
"The pastor's Open Letter to Bruce Springsteen and his guitarist most likely will not even sink into their super egos. For we know that all the ultra-liberal musicians and (other) Hollywood heroes know what is best for all of us. Why, some of them most likely even graduated from high school - so, they obviously are well versed in how to run a country!"
Well, this upset my Friend, Crusty, and he once again, for the umpteenth time, reminded me that I am just a poor uneducated product of the Sheffield High School system in Alabama - and could never amount to much. So, let me see if I can summarize my plodding career since leaving Sheffield, Alabama, in June 1955.
Not sure what Crusty has in mind, how he would judge something to be an accomplishment. But let's see if we can briefly encapsulate the career of this uneducated graduate of Sheffield High:
1. In 1956-57, I was responsible for keeping the Airborne Radar/Weapons Fire Control systems on a squad of eight F-86F Fighter-Bombers working at peak efficiency so that our pilots flying in Korea and Formosa would be able to win if they were forced to do battle against the MIG-15 or any Communist China forces.
2. In 1959-60, I was a member of a team of four Burroughs Corporation Field Engineers responsible for keeping the Norfolk Naval Supply Depot computer system working so that they could supply the Atlantic Fleet.
3. In 1961, I was the Burroughs Corporation Field Engineer who was chosen to install a modified Burroughs 220 General-Purpose Computer (a vacuum-tube computer system) - the heart of the Melpar Corporation Finder system, which occupied 7000 sq ft of floor space, and was comprised of the Burroughs 220 Computer and 89 Melpar-designed racks and consoles of transistorized electronics. In 1961 we delivered and installed this system in the subterranean level of the Headquarters Building of the Air Force Strategic Air Command at Offut AFB in Omaha, Nebraska.
4. In 1963, I installed the Ramo-Wooldridge AN/UYK-1 MilSpec Mini-Computer onboard the USNS Kingsport Satellite Tracking Ship. That Syncom satellite tracking system enabled President Kennedy to make the first live two-way satellite telephone call, when he spoke with Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa.
5. In 1963, I was asked to divide my time between my duties as a Field Engineer with Ramo-Wooldridge and the company Training Department, teaching classes on the AN/UYK-1 computer to engineers and technicians sent from client companies.
6. In 1964, I worked with the Project Genie team of Dr. Melvin W. Pirtle at and Dr. Wayne Lichtenberger at UC Berkeley to modify a Scientific Data Systems SDS 930 24-bit commercial computer so that it could be used with the timesharing software that was being developed by the Project Genie team. The resulting system was launched as a commercial product and renamed the SDS 940 Time Sharing System.
7. In 1964, I installed the first commercial SDS 940 Time Share computer system at the newly formed company, Tymshare Corporation, which was founded by Tom O’Rourke and Dave Schmidt as a time-sharing company to sell computer time and software packages to commercial users.
8. In 1965, I installed an SDS 930 computer system at Boeing Corporation in Seattle which was the heart of a Flight Simulator System built by Boeing to train NASA Astronauts for the critical skill of reentry into earth atmosphere. I was there when the first team of astronauts arrived for training.
9. In 1965, while working as a Field Engineer for Scientific Data System, because I was frequently being called out to fix computer problems that our Field Engineers should have been able to diagnose and repair - I requested that I be allowed to teach an indepth class on diagnosing and repairing the SDS 930 and 9300 computer systems to our Field Engineering staff. The first week, I taught half of the staff. When the second week was ready to start with the other half of the staff, the head of the Training Department asked if he could send his instructors and some customers to sit in on my class that week.
10. In 1966, I was called upon to design around a priority interrupt scheme problem on the SDS 9300 system at North American Rockwell, Downey, CA, when they could not get their SDS computer system to work properly with their Reentry Capsule Simulator System.
11. In the early 1970s, I presented Logic, Computer, and Micro-Computer Seminars to clients of Digital Equipment Corporation, Control Logic Corporation, and MITS, Inc. - to enable them to utilize our products in their company's end-products and projects.
12. In 1975, at one of my MITS sponsored Micro-Computer Seminars in Palo Alto, CA, Paul Terrell was convinced that he should sign on as a Independent Manufacturers Representative for the MITS Altair computer. One month later, that relationship led to his opening the Byte Shop computer store in Mountain View, CA (the second computer store in America). And, the success of that store encouraged Paul to found the Byte Shop computer store chain, which grew to 250 stores and was the first chain of computer stores in the world. By the way, after opening the Byte Shop store, Paul was also instrumental in giving Apple Computer (Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs) a jump-start, buying their first 50 Apple 1 computers and selling them from his Byte Shop store.
I will stop here with my Bill Gray Dandy Dozen, and just round out my resume by saying that I went on to (1) being responsible for the company, Interstate Electronics of Anaheim, CA, putting millions of dollars of Interdata Corporation computers into sub-tenders for the U.S. Navy, and for Rockwell Autonetics Division putting Interdata computers into the Minuteman silos - (2) to being one of the first Sales Managers for the General Electric Graphicon Computer Graphics division; and (3) to being Director of Sales for a Southern California computer company.
So, Crusty, my Friend - not bad for a poor Alabama born and bred high school graduate, wouldn't you say?
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
