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More dial dialogue
Colin Marshall had a computer with a telephone dial input device, but he did build it himself in 1963.
‘We begged several thousand germanium transistors, “acquired” the wire and solder, scrounged an old
packing case as the case, but by the time we’d bought enough resistors and tag panel, we hadn’t enough funds left for I/O systems,’ he laments.
Fast forward to 1967, and Alan Cooper joined Barclays as a trainee, was sent to Woolwich Polytechnic to learn about computers, and was shown their computer, with its telephone dial input.
‘It was made by Standard Telephones & Cable (STC), better known for its telephone exchanges, hence the dial,’ he says. ‘I believe it was STC’s only foray into computers, though later it did acquire ICL.’ Doesn’t that count? Maybe not.
But why invent a rotary dial when we already have a keyboard? Hugh Hulme, at CommonTime, has a theory: ‘The dial-in device was presumably designed so that trainees could say “IT Phone Hoooome!” as some sort of hilarious pun.’
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