Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly

29th May 1975 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.

A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from 29th May 1975. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.

Processor from new Plessey division: A microprocessor unit developed by a new division within the Plessey empire, Plessey Microsystems of Towcester, Northants, is to be announced as a standard product within the next two months. Already, a specially engineered version of the unit has been incorporated by Plessey Aerospace in a Ground Proximity Warning System, GPWS, designed for commercial airliners. The microprocessor itself is a 16-bit word processor mounted on a single board with separate program and data stores, each with a capacity of up to 65K words. Although not many precise details of the Plessey device are yet known, it is understood that the average instruction execution cycle time is about 350 nanoseconds. (CW 447 29/5/1975 p38)