[rescue] DEC KA730, was Re: Electronics Recycling Day

[Carl R. Friend]

    On Mon, 16 Nov 2009, Steven M Jones wrote:

> Carl R. Friend wrote:
>>
>>   Correct.  The 11/725 was the version sold as OEM gear whereas
>> the 11/730 was DEC's "official" version.
>
> I'm sure DEC was happy to OEM both configurations, but I was not under
> the impression that the 11/725 was an OEM-only variant. It certainly
> appeared in one or more of my DEC handbooks as a standard product.

    The notion of "off-by-five" for OEM kit had been around for
quite a while by the time that the VAX came on the scene.  For
instance, the pdp11/35 was the OEM version of the 11/40.  DEC's
doco always mentioned the OEM variant, but I do not believe that
one could actually *buy* a DEC-branded and configured 11/725 from
them (the 11/751 may be a different animal).

> Of course an outfit like ADP would've been the perfect customer to
> take the 11/725 as-is, slap their logo and software on it, and ship
> it to some customers who'd never crack it open...

    Well. that would have been quite some time after I left ADP's
(Network Services) employ as when I was there they were a PDP-10
shop and marketed the KS-10 as an "ADP Onsite" to folks who felt
the need to have a "personal -10" on premises.  That party ended
in 1983 right after DEC published their infamous "suicide note";
with the handwrit^W graffiti firmly spray-painted on the wall, I
bailed from ADPNS and it's been all downhill since.  But, it was
one Hell of a ride while I was there!

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:crfriend at rcn.com                        +---------------------+
| http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:22N 71:47W |
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