[ih] Nit-picking an origin story

[Karl Auerbach]

I heard tales, but they may be just that, tall tales, that somebody 
rigged up a system of computer activated solenoid driven "fingers" to 
flip the sense switches on UCLA's IBM 7094 (in the room next to the UCLA 
Sigma and IMP #1.)

Given some of the pranks pulled, or at least conjured over beers, by the 
UCLA Computer Club that does not seem completely implausible.

Churchill in his history of the English Speaking Peoples wrote that even 
if King Arthur had not really existed, it is nice to believe that he had 
actually existed.  It would also be nice to believe that such a 
mechanical (almost pornographic) network link was actually built.

         --karl--

On 8/16/25 11:57 AM, John Day via Internet-history wrote:
> Well, as far as terminals talking to computers, the dept at Illinois had terminal access to ORDVAC in 1952 before they got their copy built (called ILLIAC I).  But I don’t count that as networking. ;-)