Anderson writes on learning about computers and writing programs when the first stored program computers were still under construction.  He writes about his earning days which were closely tied to the co-founding of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1957. For the first time, Anderson discusses his close relationship with co-founder Ken Olsen and how it came apart during the first decade of DEC’s existence.  Anderson also writes about his returning days which are still going on through his contributions to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and many other organizations.

“Harlan Anderson has written a clear account of his interesting, productive, and caring life that I recommend because of his role as an industry pioneer.  While a personally enjoyable story because of our backgrounds and friendship, he posits his record covering an 80-year, four generation period that we may be repeating,” says Gordon Bell.  “He provides additional insight about the rough demise of DEC, which was once the second largest computer company in the world.  Harlan is a pioneer of the computer industry.”

“In his preface, Harlan Anderson writes that he has “no disillusions that this memoir will have any great interest for anyone beyond his grandchildren and descendants.  He is mistaken,” says William R. Schowalter, Former Dean, College of Engineering, University of Illinois. “Anderson has given a remarkable walk through most of the 20th century. It was an environment where someone with Anderson’s intelligence, ambitions, and moral compass could “learn, earn, and return” in many ways that will permit similarly talented individuals of the 21st century to do likewise. There are lessons here for us all.”

How to Purchase: Order the book online at: www.locustpress.com. “Learn, Earn & Return” may also be purchased on site at the Computer History Museum.

Typical of the comments was one from a former U.K. employee who said it was the best company he ever worked for. Others have given personal observations about why the company ultimately failed. Some agreed with my observations that the company failed to follow industry standards when PC’s and software dominated the industry. Others compared DEC to HP when they both had the same revenue, but Digital had 40,000 more employees than HP. Others questioned whether spending $10,000,000 to charter the QE-2 cruise ship for a multiple day trade show in Boston was a good use of marketing money. Others felt the Board of Directors waited too long to intervene in management.

Harlan and Lois Anderson with Chris Hartman, editor, and Carole Gunst, publicist

This week, while in Boston, we got most of the team together for lunch at the Locke-Ober restaurant.  We were celebrating the fact that Learn, Earn & Return will be back from the printer on November 30th.  This particular restaurant is where we used to hold dinners following our original Digital Equipment Corporation board meetings and it certainly brought back a lot of memories.

Harlan Anderson with Curt Nickisch and Deb Becker at WBUR

This morning, we stopped over at WBUR for an interview about “Learn, Earn & Return:  My Life As A Computer Pioneer.”  The interview was with Curt Nickisch and Deborah Becker of WBUR.  Deb asked many questions about the co-founding of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) with Ken Olsen, the evolution of computers over the last 50 years, and thoughts on computing today.  It was a great interview that should be aired soon.  As soon as we know when, we’ll let you know and will add the link to this site.   Stay tuned!

S.A.G.E. stands for Semi Automatic Ground Environment. The computers that were part of  it were the largest ever built and had 60,000 vacuum tubes in each.  Each consumed 3 megawatts of power and  weighed 250 tons. It was the largest electronic military sytem ever built and the total cost was estimated to be between 8-12 billion dollars. There were 24 direction centers and 3 combat centers located throughout the United States and Canada, each housing two of these monster computers in hardened bomb proof buildings. It became operational in 1963 and continued for over 20 years.  It was operated by NORAD which at the time stood  for North American Air Defense Command. NORAD headquarters also had a sysem which was inside of  Cheyenne Moutain outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado.     

Its military purpose was to detect enemy bombers and present graphical information about all of the airplanes in the sky to miliary operators who could decide what to do.  The aircraft data was collected from 100 radar sites, which also had computers  to convert the analog radar signals to digital and send the information over telephone lines to the nearest direction center. There were  150 CRT display consoles in each center and it took 100 persons to operate each center. Military operators could decide what to do,  including  scrambling intercept fighters and automatically providing continusously updated vector heading information to create a successful intercept of the incoming aircraft.

This concept and the demonstration of  its feasibility were develped at M.I.T. Lincoln Lab, where  I had my first computer engineering job out of college in 1952.  IBM built the production versions of the computers. What a thrill to be a small part of such a gigantic project.  Many of the new concepts of  how to use computers were pioneered at M.I.T.  Among these were data communications to computers over telephone lines,  graphical presentation of computer data,  man machine interaction in real time, networking and many others. 

These new technologies had a strong influence on Ken Olsen and me when we  started Digital in 1957. We, of course, had the advantage that transistors for computer were becoming available by that time. We had no particular military application in mind when we started building the PDP-1.  Fortunately, there were lots of  talented customers, many of whom were in scientific work who valued these characteristics and the low cost and speed of our computers. They pioneered many new applications for computers that we benefited from.

Boston Globe – “A personal take on the rise and fall of Digital” – Scott Kirsner writes about the split with Digital co-founder, Ken Olsen, as “a bit of history I’d never really understood. MIT professor Jay Forrester was on DEC’s board, and was perennially concerned that DEC was growing too fast. Anderson tended to agree. He met privately with Forrester and shared information with him that Olsen had tried to withhold. “That was the end for me. [Olsen] viewed it as disloyalty, and he didn’t want any criticism from anybody.”  Anderson was pushed out of Digital in 1966 and Forrester left the board that same year.

Network World – “DEC co-founder writes memoir, traces company’s rise and fall” – Jim Duffy’s article covers the  humble beginnings on an Illinois farm up through first interactions with computers at the University of Illinois; large-scale projects at MIT’s Lincoln Lab;, and then founding, growing and watching, from afar, the ultimate demise of DEC.   The article includes an excerpt from “Learn, Earn & Return.”

Creative Capital Blog – “New Memoir from Computer Visionary and DEC Cofounder Harlan Anderson” – Spencer Ante, Business Week Editor and author of Creative Captial: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital, writes “When Digital first took money from American Research & Development (ARD), Anderson writes that ARD invested $70,000 for seventy percent of the company.”

Boston Globe Innovation Economy Blog – “Remembering DEC: Memoir from Co-Founder Harlan Anderson Due Out in November“ - Scott Kirsner writes about the co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, the first-ever science advisor for Time Inc.; a board member of Boston-based publisher International Data Group, and contributions to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Stay tuned for more press as the book tour continues!