2026-04-22 10:56 UTC
@fae @lynn
The most common configuration IMSAI 8080 provided 22 slots and a beefy power supply, which resulted in MITS and other S-100 vendors having to offer similar configurations.
If you really did fill up a 22-slot backplane (e.g., with CPU, a few I/O cards, and sixteen 4K RAM.cards), you really needed a lot of amps. I'm sure that large S-100 system configurations were the inspiration for the song.
2/
Replies (2)
-
@brouhaha@mastodon.social 2026-04-22 10:59
@fae @lynn While almost everyone is aware of the dangers of AC line voltage, it is uncommon for people to be aware of the potential danger of low voltages. Skin contact with the +/-16V DC in an S-100 system is incredibly unlikely to cause any harm. You can grab the +16 with one hand, and -16 with the other, and your skin has high enough resistance that nothing happens. 3/
-
@lynn@woof.tech 2026-04-22 11:44
@brouhaha @fae by the time that song came out, large configs were the norm :) but even before that, they turned out to be pretty decent multi user systems if you stuffed them full of cards