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General Automation
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<h2 id="products">Products</h2> <ul><li>GA SPC-12<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> (Jan 1968)</li></ul> <ul><li>Priced at $6400 and claiming $4,000 worth of free options</li> <li>Totally integrated, binary, parallel, single-address processor</li> <li>8-bit data and 12-bit address</li> <li>4,096 words (8-bit bytes) of memory with a 2.2 <a href="/facts/Microsecond/zdW1DEb2">microsecond</a> cycle time</li> <li>Shared command concept that permits the SPC-12s 8-bit memory to handle 12-bit instructions.</li> <li>Features included a <a href="/facts/Real-time_clock/pYeXraUW">real-time clock</a>, expandable memory to 16K, a <a href="/facts/Teletype/pn5SQKTf">teletype</a> interface, a control panel and a priority interrupt</li></ul> <ul><li>GA SPC-8 (Nov 1968)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li>GA 18/30 (June 1968, <a href="/facts/IBM_1800/eA6tPLzq">IBM 1800</a>-compatible)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li>GA SPC-16/30, /50 & /70 (November 1971)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>GA SPC-16/40, /45, /65 & /85 (January 1972)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>LSI-12/16 (January 1974)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> These computers were initially produced with <a href="/facts/Silicon_on_sapphire/EVF6nmXN">silicon on sapphire</a> circuit technology provided by <a href="/facts/Rockwell_International/dPSf6G1b">Rockwell International</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> but yield problems caused a switch to conventional ICs by 1975.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> <ul><li>GA 16/110 & /120 (December 1976)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li>GA 16/220 (July 1978)</li> <li>GA 16/330</li> <li>GA 16/440</li> <li>GA 16/460</li> <li>GA Zebra 1700/1750 (Introduced in 1985, a <a href="/facts/Motorola_68000/3p2wt2D6">Motorola 68000</a> computer running <a href="/facts/Pick_operating_system/LSXLknzu">Pick Operating System</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Parallel_Computers%2c_Inc./Jczq5c3L">Parallel Computers, Inc.</a> – <a href="/facts/Fault-tolerant/rasrYlJk">fault-tolerant</a> supermicro/<a href="/facts/Minicomputer/g8hvpQxe">minicomputer</a> based on <a href="/facts/Unix/0pNL2seI">Unix</a>, acquired 1987, sold 1988<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/minicomputers/11/361">Computer History Museum</a></li> <li><a href="http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/generalAutomation/">Documents at Bitsavers</a></li> <li><a href="http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2010/06/102640462-05-02-acc.pdf">18/30 Fortran IV Software Data Sheet</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"General Automation Inc.: The company said Tuesday..." Los Angeles Times. November 30, 1994. Retrieved 5 July 2023. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-30-fi-3270-story.html" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-30-fi-3270-story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Datamation, September 1968, p. 137 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Low Cost Computer Has 4K Memory". Computerworld. 2 (39): 7. 25 Sep 1968. <a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xdtOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3932%2C3357338" target="_blank">https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xdtOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3932%2C3357338</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Across the Editor's Desk - Computing and Data Processing Newsletter: SPC-8, A NEW GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER FROM GENERAL AUTOMATION, INC". Computers and Automation: 60. Oct 1968. <a href="https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersA_9801715" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computersA_9801715</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>SPC-8 general purpose computer. General Automation, Inc. 1968. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/TNM_SPC-8_general_purpose_computer_-_General_Auto_20171108_0094#page/n1/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/stream/TNM_SPC-8_general_purpose_computer_-_General_Auto_20171108_0094#page/n1/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Datamation, May 1969, p. 136 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Datamation, November 15, 1971, p. 112 <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Datamation, January 1972, p. 5 <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Datamation, January 1974, p. 105 <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Rockwell Cancels SOS uC" (PDF). Microcomputer Digest. 1 (7): 1, 4. January 1975. Retrieved 11 January 2023. <a href="http://bitsavers.org/magazines/Microcomputer_Digest/Microcomputer_Digest_v01n07_Jan75.pdf" target="_blank">http://bitsavers.org/magazines/Microcomputer_Digest/Microcomputer_Digest_v01n07_Jan75.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Datamation, January 1974, p. 105 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Datamation, January 1975, p. 18 <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>*"Mini Maker Offering Micro". December 6, 1976. Retrieved March 7, 2019. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-2ZtoSPs5IEC&dq=general+automation+GA+16/110&pg=PA50" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=-2ZtoSPs5IEC&dq=general+automation+GA+16/110&pg=PA50</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Olmos, David (August 3, 1988). "Parallel Computer Acquired 16 Months Ago: General Automation to Sell Money-Losing Subsidiary". Los Angeles Times. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-03-fi-6568-story.html" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-03-fi-6568-story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>