by Harlan E. Anderson
On Tuesday June 30,2009 I attended the M.I.T. Whirlwind Computer Reunion in Cambridge. This was the 50th anniversary of the last day of operation of this historic computer. About 50 Whirlwind employees were present for the occasion, including Jay Forrester and Bob Everett. The President of M.I.T. Susan Hockfield
spoke to the group. It was a great occasion. My personal part of the Whirlwind is in my book “Learn Earn and Return.”
This celebration of the retirement of Whirlwind is falacious!
Bill Wolf, Wolf R&D, operated the computer for at least 5 years
after 1959 at his Concord, MA offices. He relocated Whirlwind
at his personal cost of over $250,000. Wolf R&D had the contract to operate all NASA satelites. The reported $1/year
Whirlwind rental from Wolf R&D to MIT is inaccurate
Why wasn’t Bill Wolf consulted? He lives here in Newport Beach, CA. Life Magazine, the predominent news magazine
of the time, cited Bill as “Young Wizard of Computers” in its 9/25/1964 edition. He was celebrated as a top ten
Boston achiever in a group with Edward Kennedy and a student in the initial MIT computer programming class.
Please correct the record. He has an autobiography.
David Graf
dgraf16@yahoo.com 714 423 9279
Your 50th anniversary of the retirement of Whirlwind is falacious. BillWolf, Wolf R&D, operated Whirlwind at his Concord, MA officed for over 5 years beyond 1959. Bill relocated Whirlwind at a $250,000 personal expense. At that time Bill had the NASA contract to operate all their satelites. The rental fee for Whirlwind from MIT was not $1/yr. as reported.
Life Magazine in its 9/25/1964 edition cited Bill as “Young Wizard of Computers.” Boston celebrated Bill as an outstanding achiever in a group with Edward Kennedy.
Please correct the record. Bill has an autobiography. He lives
down the street in Newport Beach, CA
David Graf
dgraf16@yahoo.com (714) 423 9279