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Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

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Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#251

Post by mike_hearn »

jambalaya8 wrote: post #203
mike_hearn wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Hybrid systems were and still are common. Today a common IT setup is Macs connecting to UNIX servers over the network.

I think it was more about Macs not being used for scientific applications much until the 2000s. Up until a bunch of programmers up and switched to MacBooks, Apples were more usually used by more artistic types. They were quite big for writing and art stuff, then, mostly, though pricey. And no separate monitors.

That came later as Windows became dominant but in the era Jurassic Park was written/filmed in, I think they were used for industrial and scientific uses as well.

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#252

Post by aa-jv »

ahartmetz wrote: post #207
aa-jv wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er, yes. Many media companies onboarded to the web in the early 90's using SGI machines. The Indy was a very popular multi-host system for such things. It was not a graphics powerhouse and in many low-end configurations its primary function was web serving. (Disclaimer: I helped build the early web using SGI systems, with many major media companies as clients..)

OK, I see that an Indy went for about the same price as a SPARCstation 5 in 1993. I knew about the low-cost Indy, but not that it was that low cost (for a UNIX workstation, about $5000).

Maybe you also didn't know that it was marketed as a web server and in that capacity, was quite a bit more widely deployed than you might expect for such a machine ..

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#253

Post by anthk »

aa-jv wrote: post #157
anthk wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a waste for an SGI machine. SGI's were mainly known for 3D stuff.

The Indy was a very popular platform for building an early web presence. I know, because I used it for multiple, major media companies who were getting onto the train.

Maybe; but compared to a Sun machine the Indy had better graphical capabilities. And far beyond from a PC and an Amiga.

You could always repurpose the SGI machine for anything else too.

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#254

Post by aa-jv »

sillywalk wrote: post #240
fleeno wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They even had the "WebFORCE" branding with the "to author and serve" tagline! I also did a lot of early web work on an Indy, and we hosted on a Challenge! I have a Challenge S right now, and when I got it the drive had web hosting setup for a car dealer.

There's a good series of articles on WebForce by the person at SGI who had the idea. Starts here: https://therealmccrea.com/2014/01/09/january-1994-a-very-goo...

That was a delightful read - in those days I'd already been involved in starting a major ISP, and .. burned out from that .. dove straight into the web, founding one of SoCals' first web development agencies, in that same time period - late '94 - early '95. We had brand new Indy's delivered, a contract with Prime Time Sports network and a few other Hollywood players, and .. it rocked .. until it didn't.

So it was really interesting to read the stories from the SGI side of things, straight from the source. We pushed those machines into places they didn't really belong (US Huntington Beach Womens Volleyball tournaments .. so much sand ..) and did things we shouldn't really be doing (Hi, Aleph One!), but .. so much fun.

I'll boot up my Octane2 for the memories this weekend, maybe I can still find some of the old sites we made with that clunky WebFORCE software ..

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#255

Post by MomsAVoxell »

aa-jv wrote: post #254
sillywalk wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a good series of articles on WebForce by the person at SGI who had the idea. Starts here: https://therealmccrea.com/2014/01/09/january-1994-a-very-goo...

That was a delightful read - in those days I'd already been involved in starting a major ISP, and .. burned out from that .. dove straight into the web, founding one of SoCals' first web development agencies, in that same time period - late '94 - early '95. We had brand new Indy's delivered, a contract with Prime Time Sports network and a few other Hollywood players, and .. it rocked .. until it didn't. So it was rea…

I also enjoyed that read, as a fellow SGI user.

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#256

Post by MomsAVoxell »

ahartmetz wrote: post #207
aa-jv wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er, yes. Many media companies onboarded to the web in the early 90's using SGI machines. The Indy was a very popular multi-host system for such things. It was not a graphics powerhouse and in many low-end configurations its primary function was web serving. (Disclaimer: I helped build the early web using SGI systems, with many major media companies as clients..)

OK, I see that an Indy went for about the same price as a SPARCstation 5 in 1993. I knew about the low-cost Indy, but not that it was that low cost (for a UNIX workstation, about $5000).

I easily spent $5000 on PC hardware in that era, just sayin’…

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#257

Post by MomsAVoxell »

anthk wrote: post #253
aa-jv wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Indy was a very popular platform for building an early web presence. I know, because I used it for multiple, major media companies who were getting onto the train.

Maybe; but compared to a Sun machine the Indy had better graphical capabilities. And far beyond from a PC and an Amiga. You could always repurpose the SGI machine for anything else too.

The Indy had poor graphics capabilities, compared to the other desktop machines SGI was making at the time - I was excited to see what might have happened if SGI had kept going in this direction, and made a laptop.

Instead they did a deal with the devil and died.

I got a tiBook to use as a terminal for my SGI boxes at the time, and well now, 20 years later, a table full of Apple gear and the Octane2’s in storage, probably to be dusted off by a descendent some day .. it is sort of extraordinary that Apple ate SGI’s lunch in the Unix workstation department.

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#258

Post by MomsAVoxell »

anthk wrote: post #75
MomsAVoxell wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re an odd choice now. Back then they would have made sense as a UI to the Unix machines.

Not much because a click on a menu would almost halt the entire network by design. Cheaper dumb Unix terminals were a thing where you jut used telnet and X forwarding.

“Just used Telnet” and “cheaper dumb Unix terminals” .. hmm .. not to be bold or anything, but I’ve been using Unix since the folding paper terminal days .. and as I remember it personally, it kinda went like this: paper-terminal connected to modem (telephone suction cup model) .. hazeltine serial terminal and either 2 long RS232 cables strung to the ops room if you were local, or a HAYES modem or two .. but still only a tty, no addressable graphics - these kinds of ‘cheap’ terminal accessories were kind of the thing for most of the early 80’s, then around mid to late 80’s, PC’s got Ethernet, C:\TERM\TERM.COM, etc..

Those ‘cheaper dump Unix terminals’ with Ethernet you might be remembering were not so dumb, but rather smart - i.e. had Ethernet and addressable graphics, and an onboard X server .. i.e. dumb X terminals.

When Mac got X, or at least Ethernet (and thus sockets), it was a pretty comfortable way to term to the Unix box, since the Mac wasn’t dumb, and could do plenty and plenty of other things ..

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#259

Post by nobleach »

somat wrote: post #198
nobleach wrote: post #169

We just watched this movie last night (as a tribute to Sam Neill). I loved all the SGI hardware. Although the Irix FSN file explorer scene made me cring. It was excurciating watching Lex navigate. On that era of hardware, midnight commander would have been my jam. (or honestly `ls` just like it is now). I did love seeing Dennis pounding on that Apple ADB keyboard (even though there was no way that'd be hooked to an S…

So... Realistically fsn makes for a killer visual for audiences, "this computer is SOOO advanced it has a 3d interface" and here is someone doing something technical with it. But if we take it at face value, immersed in the cinematic world they are building. Some young wanna be hacker, knows a little more than the average joe about computers. and when all the adults in the room are afraid to even look at the system,…

Matrix 2 had Trinity using a well known nmap hack at the command line! I like that attention to detail.

Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail

#260

Post by flumes_whims_ »

msh wrote: post #87
jambalaya8 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crichton was frighteningly good as a prognosticator and futurist. Certainly for a writer with a medical degree. He fought the good fight, trying to inculcate caution. Most of his books (even from the seventies) hold up surprisingly well until the early 2000s. They got a bit weird by 2006. But then so did our ideas of future tech.

On the other hand he also did a ‘climate change is fake’ book (state of fear).

Gell-Mann Amnesia? Interestingly enough, the term was coined by Crichton.
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