OT: Signetics WOM -- hey, Jeff Liebermann

[xray]

So, if I happened to get Jeff's attention...

In another group I happened to post a reference to the 1972 Signetics
datasheet for their new WOM chip.

I looked up a link and posted it (http://www.ganssle.com/misc/wom.html),
but the original paper was scanned into jpg (yuck, horrible for
documents) and was pretty illegible. So I googled for a while and found
one better version, but it was also jpg and not that great either.

Along the way I found a message from Jeff, that he actually won a prize
connected with this. It included a personal copy of the datasheet.

So, curious if you still have it in decent shape, or if you know of a
link to a good electronic copy of the original?

This was all before the internet, and unrelated to this group, but I
knew I had seen Jeff posting here, so what the hey, why not ask.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Post by xray
So, if I happened to get Jeff's attention...

Stranger things can happen.

Post by xray
In another group I happened to post a reference to the 1972 Signetics
datasheet for their new WOM chip.
I looked up a link and posted it (http://www.ganssle.com/misc/wom.html),
but the original paper was scanned into jpg (yuck, horrible for
documents) and was pretty illegible. So I googled for a while and found
one better version, but it was also jpg and not that great either.
Along the way I found a message from Jeff, that he actually won a prize
connected with this. It included a personal copy of the datasheet.

Yep. That was me in a previous life. Signetics sent me a disguise
with a fake plastic nose, glasses, and eyebrows. I think I may have
the original data sheet but the disguise was grabbed by one of the
kids and is long gone. I may have the contest page from Electronics
Magazine saved. There were also some fake chips passed out by
Signetics at the 1975(?) Wescon or Nepcon show marked "write only
memory". I may have saved some of those.

Post by xray
So, curious if you still have it in decent shape, or if you know of a
link to a good electronic copy of the original?

These look much better:
http://ingemeda.tripod.com/wom.html
http://www.jensbenecke.de/spass/k-signetics.php

No scans, but I think I can find the original if I want to spend
literally all day digging through boxes and boxes of ancient papers.
I may have tossed it in a previous cleanup purge. I'll try to find
it, but no promises. I think there may have been a similar page snuck
into the Signetic DCL (Designers Choice Logic) catalog, but I'm not
sure. I guess I tossed my catalog as it's no longer on my bookshelf.

Post by xray
This was all before the internet, and unrelated to this group, but I
knew I had seen Jeff posting here, so what the hey, why not ask.

Much later, I designed a board that specified a 25120 WOM chip.
Actually, I just wanted a place holder in case I needed to add
something later. When asked what it was for during a design review, I
informed everyone with a straight face that it handled the /dev/null,
garbage collection, and truncation overflow functions. 5 engineers
and 2 managers didn't catch the joke. It was my finest hour.

[xray]

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 11:18:20 -0700, Jeff Liebermann

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by xray
So, if I happened to get Jeff's attention...

Stranger things can happen.

Post by xray
In another group I happened to post a reference to the 1972 Signetics
datasheet for their new WOM chip.
I looked up a link and posted it (http://www.ganssle.com/misc/wom.html),
but the original paper was scanned into jpg (yuck, horrible for
documents) and was pretty illegible. So I googled for a while and found
one better version, but it was also jpg and not that great either.
Along the way I found a message from Jeff, that he actually won a prize
connected with this. It included a personal copy of the datasheet.

Yep. That was me in a previous life. Signetics sent me a disguise
with a fake plastic nose, glasses, and eyebrows. I think I may have
the original data sheet but the disguise was grabbed by one of the
kids and is long gone. I may have the contest page from Electronics
Magazine saved. There were also some fake chips passed out by
Signetics at the 1975(?) Wescon or Nepcon show marked "write only
memory". I may have saved some of those.

Post by xray
So, curious if you still have it in decent shape, or if you know of a
link to a good electronic copy of the original?

http://ingemeda.tripod.com/wom.html
http://www.jensbenecke.de/spass/k-signetics.php
No scans, but I think I can find the original if I want to spend
literally all day digging through boxes and boxes of ancient papers.
I may have tossed it in a previous cleanup purge. I'll try to find
it, but no promises. I think there may have been a similar page snuck
into the Signetic DCL (Designers Choice Logic) catalog, but I'm not
sure. I guess I tossed my catalog as it's no longer on my bookshelf.

The second link above is the best one I had found too.

Don't waste any of your time. It was just a whim on my part and it
didn't generate any replys in the other group where I posted, so I'll be
quite happy to just let it drop. Hope I caught you in time to cancel any
possible mission.

Thanks for the reply though, I do appreciate that.

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by xray
This was all before the internet, and unrelated to this group, but I
knew I had seen Jeff posting here, so what the hey, why not ask.

Much later, I designed a board that specified a 25120 WOM chip.
Actually, I just wanted a place holder in case I needed to add
something later. When asked what it was for during a design review, I
informed everyone with a straight face that it handled the /dev/null,
garbage collection, and truncation overflow functions. 5 engineers
and 2 managers didn't catch the joke. It was my finest hour.

Engineer humor doesn't get much better than that.

[k***@sonic.net]

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 11:18:20 -0700, Jeff Liebermann

Post by Jeff Liebermann
Yep. That was me in a previous life. Signetics sent me a disguise
with a fake plastic nose, glasses, and eyebrows. I think I may have
the original data sheet but the disguise was grabbed by one of the
kids and is long gone. I may have the contest page from Electronics
Magazine saved. There were also some fake chips passed out by
Signetics at the 1975(?) Wescon or Nepcon show marked "write only
memory". I may have saved some of those.

Ages ago, in the April issue of Datamation (or similar) there
was an article describing such a device. It was an ~ 2 x 2 x 1 maple
block which could be had in a one-wire or two-wire configuration. The
claim was that a high-speed computer of the day had writtin
continuously to it for two years without filling it up.

[Jerry]

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by xray
So, if I happened to get Jeff's attention...

Stranger things can happen.

Post by xray
In another group I happened to post a reference to the 1972
Signetics datasheet for their new WOM chip.
I looked up a link and posted it
(http://www.ganssle.com/misc/wom.html), but the original paper was
scanned into jpg (yuck, horrible for documents) and was pretty
illegible. So I googled for a while and found one better version,
but it was also jpg and not that great either.
Along the way I found a message from Jeff, that he actually won a
prize connected with this. It included a personal copy of the
datasheet.

Yep. That was me in a previous life. Signetics sent me a
disguise with a fake plastic nose, glasses, and eyebrows. I think
I may have the original data sheet but the disguise was grabbed by
one of the kids and is long gone. I may have the contest page
from Electronics Magazine saved. There were also some fake chips
passed out by Signetics at the 1975(?) Wescon or Nepcon show
marked "write only memory". I may have saved some of those.

Post by xray
So, curious if you still have it in decent shape, or if you know
of a link to a good electronic copy of the original?

http://ingemeda.tripod.com/wom.html
http://www.jensbenecke.de/spass/k-signetics.php
No scans, but I think I can find the original if I want to spend
literally all day digging through boxes and boxes of ancient
papers. I may have tossed it in a previous cleanup purge. I'll
try to find it, but no promises. I think there may have been a
similar page snuck into the Signetic DCL (Designers Choice Logic)
catalog, but I'm not sure. I guess I tossed my catalog as it's no
longer on my bookshelf.

Post by xray
This was all before the internet, and unrelated to this group, but
I knew I had seen Jeff posting here, so what the hey, why not ask.

Much later, I designed a board that specified a 25120 WOM chip.
Actually, I just wanted a place holder in case I needed to add
something later. When asked what it was for during a design
review, I informed everyone with a straight face that it handled
the /dev/null, garbage collection, and truncation overflow
functions. 5 engineers and 2 managers didn't catch the joke. It
was my finest hour.

Small world! I was a young green design engineer at Signetics in the
early 70's working in the CMOS (Complementary-Metal-Oxide-
Ssemiconductor) division. I remember the WOM campaign well. Jack
Curtis who developed the concept had an office next to mine in the
basement of the R&D building. Jack also developed the DED (Dark
Emitting Diode) either before or after the WOM - can't remember which,
memory fails <grin>.

--Jerry

[xray]

Post by Jerry
Jack also developed the DED (Dark
Emitting Diode) either before or after the WOM

Right, I forgot about that one.

[Malcolm Hoar]

Post by Jeff Liebermann
Much later, I designed a board that specified a 25120 WOM chip.
Actually, I just wanted a place holder in case I needed to add
something later. When asked what it was for during a design review, I
informed everyone with a straight face that it handled the /dev/null,
garbage collection, and truncation overflow functions. 5 engineers
and 2 managers didn't catch the joke. It was my finest hour.

Yikes! Raises hat to Jeff.

I recall having great fun with this in our Lab (in the UK).

Our employers wouldn't provide the lowly engineers with
any file cabinets. But we could and did buy small quantities
of chips. The WOM data sheet inspired two of us to fill out
purchase requistions for a "4-drawer RAM".

Sadly our little ruse failed but not before we'd had a
good deal of fun.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Post by Malcolm Hoar
Our employers wouldn't provide the lowly engineers with
any file cabinets. But we could and did buy small quantities
of chips. The WOM data sheet inspired two of us to fill out
purchase requistions for a "4-drawer RAM".
Sadly our little ruse failed but not before we'd had a
good deal of fun.

I had the same problem with test equipment. At the time HP and Tek
were delivering color glossy brochures for some of the equipment. I
built a cardboard box that was the same size as the desired equipment,
and plastered it with either a cut-out from the brochures, or an
enlargement from the catalogs. I added a real power cord, some BNC
connectors, and whatever else might make it look more realistic.

The chief engineer pretended not to notice on the assumption that I
would eventually give up. However, the visitors, members of the
board, and customers that toured the lab all asked "what's that"? If
asked, I had many possible answers, all of which assumed that the
desired test equipment would eventually arrive. Batting average was
about 50%.

I did the same thing when computahs finally arrived. Computers were
the hot new thing and computer furniture were considered somewhat of a
status symbol. The furniture stores could not afford real computers
for the displays, so they had cardboard models. I talked a Los Gatos
furniture dealer out of a few cardboard computers, and repeated the
same exercise. Eventually a Radio Shack Model 2 appeared, followed by
an Apple III. The cardboard computers worked better.

Many years later, I worked for a company that reorganized every 3
months. "If my boss calls, get his name" was a real problem. I named
the group the "portable radio division". The radios weren't portable.
The people and furniture were. At one point, I put in a requisition
for a large supply of furniture casters, to make the quarterly
reorganizations easier. They almost approved the purchase. Also,
thanks to the usual moving target specifications, my groups motto was
"the quality goes in before the specs get figured out".