Tom Stockebrand

Bob Anundson

The following photos and dates are from Wikipedia:

TU56 dual DECtape unit for PDP-11

DECtape (top and lower left) late 1960s, and DECtape II (lower right), 1978

VT05, 1970

VT52, 1975

VT100, 1978

VT220, 1983

VT320, 1987

Tom Stockebrand ("Stocky") is a highly-respected computing pioneer who contributed to Digital in amazing fashion over his 30-year tenure from 1960-1990.  Tom, who earned a mechanical engineering degree from Caltech, worked with Ken Olsen and others for 6 years at Lincoln Labs prior to joining Digital. There Tom worked on the predecessor to LINCtape, with giant 14" reels; then he helped morph it into the LINCtape used with Lincoln Labs' TX-2 computer. At Digital, Tom developed DECtape, which is, according to CHM, a very reliable block-addressed tape drive with a shirt pocket-sized tape reel (and probably the first commercial personal portable digital storage).  He followed this up by starting a group that created the Digital VT family of video terminals, beginning with the VT05 in 1970 and the VT50 introduced in 1974.  When Digital sold the terminals business in 1995, over 6 million VT units had been shipped -- an unqualified success by any standards.

Tom recently recorded an Oral History (this OH is a 3-1/2 hour interview) for the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View CA.  It covers his professional life history so, if you want to hear it just from Lincoln Labs through Digital, start the time slider mark at hour 1 and stop at hour 3.  That's still 2 highly engaging hours of Tom's history, most relevant to us.  Click here to view it on YouTube.

The purpose of this Tech Talk is not to repeat Tom's CHM OH, but to summarize 20-30 minutes of highlights of Tom's career, and leave a lot of time for DEC Connection members' questions and discussion.   Bob Anundson, who gave our first DEC Connection Tech Talk, was the product manager for Tom's products, and Bob will serve as an interviewer. Bob and Tom have remained friends since working together in the 1960s.  They will be assisted in the Q&A by Al Goldsworthy of our DEC Connection board.

Tom is clearly our senior DEC Connection member.  He recently introduced himself in this manner: 

New DEC Connection member Tom Stockebrand writes that he's an "old timer": Joined DEC in 1960 as badge 614, with 330 employees at the time. Retired in 1990. My groups or I developed several products over the years: DECtape, VT50-52, Ceramic substrates. Groups got fired for low sales in first years of introduction. Backpanel wiring machines. Lotsa good stories. Still alive and kicking at 91. Working on Python code projects using Raspberry Pies and Ham Radio. stocky@alumni.caltech.edu

We have announced Tom's session for mid-April because he is scheduled for a knee replacement this month.  We have plenty of time to think up some great questions for Tom, and if you'd like to give him some time to think about his response, please send your questions to ava@decconnection.org starting now, and she will compile them for him to ponder during his rehab.

SO -- DO NOT MISS THIS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to meet this nice, intriguing, legendary, and genuinely modest fellow, and ask him all sorts of questions.  Tom Stockebrand was in the room where it happened!  (Apologies to Lin-Manuel Miranda...)

To sign up for Tom's talk on April 18, email us at info@decconnection.org. Provide your name, and email address for the Zoom invite (which will be emailed about a week ahead of the event).  Remember you must be a paid-up DEC Connection member to participate in the Zoom session; though recordings are accessible to all afterwards.  Click HERE to join or renew your DEC Connection membership.

We recently enjoyed the discussion from Avram Miller about the Professional 3xx Series of Personal Computers, with references to the two complementary Digital products in the personal computing space.  One was the Rainbow 100 Personal Computer, a product about which Kerry Bensman can tell us quite a lot!  Kerry, who at the time worked for the late Barry James Folsom, will share the history of the Rainbow 100, DEC's relationship with Microsoft, and his own anecdotes about the PC industry in the early days.

After graduating from M.I.T. with a B.S. in E.E., Kerry joined DEC in December 1969. As a mill rat, he spent a couple of years in TOPS-10 and then transferred to Denver as a Software Specialist, covering one fourth of the U.S. He was promoted to Northern California District SWS Manager in Northern California and then Northeast Regional SWS Manager in Waltham. After a short stint in  Customer Services Marketing, he joined the Rainbow Group as Group Product and Applications Manager. He was responsible for the Rainbow 100B and CP/M and MS-DOS. Following the cancellation of the Rainbow, Kerry moved on to TOEM as the Basic Industries Manager and left the company in 1990, a few months after completing the Harvard Business School International Senior Managers Program. He then spent a couple of years at Wang Laboratories and later relocated to Boulder, CO as Director of Software Business for IBM's Printing Systems Division.  After leaving high tech, Kerry served six years as a City Councilman for Lafayette CO, and now lives in the St. Louis MO area, enjoying his family including a young granddaughter.

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF KERRY'S TALK.

Gale Jacobs joined Digital in 1973 and served in sales, marketing and management positions in Portland, Oregon, Mexico City and Acton, MA. His talk will feature cultural differences and the agony and ecstasy of serving as National Sales Manager in Mexico during a time when the country’s economic pendulum was swinging from soaring heights to abysmal lows, and Digital’s efforts to manage the challenges. Plus, the trials and tribulations of relocating from Oregon to south of the border and the transfer back north to Acton. If you enjoy tequila, mañana, music, cerveza and a good war story, be sure to join us for this Tech Talk!  Viva Mexico!  Viva DEC!

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF JAKE'S TALK.

Link to Jake's presentation slides.

Link to amazon.com,

where you can get Avram's book.

Avram speaking to his project team, c. 1980.

Avram Miller gave a fascinating presentation on Tuesday, December 6.  Avram was the Program Manager for Digital's Professional Series of PCs in the early 1980s.  He worked directly with Ken, Gordon, and other industry icons to accomplish this challenge. He recently published a book on his personal experiences in technology and one of the chapters features Digital. You can read more about Avram's career on his blog, https://www.twothirdsdone.com, and his website http://www.avrammiller.com.

Avram refers us to a 36-min. video posted on You Tube by the Computer History Museum called DEC: Personal Challenge, 25th Anniversary Video, which can be found  at this link. This documentary was produced by DEC and chronicles the 2-year odyssey to bring three personal computers, the Professional Series (PRO-325 and PRO-350) and the Rainbow 100 to market a year after IBM launched their PC.  The narrative follows the challenges of the CT Program Group - Avram Miller (project manager), Michael Weinstein (merchandising), Ron Ham (software), Art Williams (hardware), and Vah Erdekian (manufacturing), as they race to develop a personal computer to show at the June 1982 National Computer Conference in Houston.

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF AVRAM'S TALK.

Our #4 Tech Talk was given by DEC Connection member Nick Pappas, who contributed at Digital both in Engineering and Services. Nick described his talk:

I started work at Digital in June, 1967 and left in 1994. My talk will cover the period from 1967 to 1975. For most of that time I worked in the Programming Department where I managed language development projects for the PDP-10 and PDP-11. I also implemented the unbundling and licensing of software late in that period. And finally, I worked for Tom Stockebrand as a product manager for a video terminal. My talk on October 19 is about the projects, the people, and the DEC environment that I experienced in those days.

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF NICK's TALK.

Our #3 DEC Tech Talk was delivered by DEC Connection member Bob Nusbaum, another of our super-duper utility fielders - a great product manager. He spoke about "High-Tech Darwinism" -- his experiences and observations of Digital from his FMS and ALL-IN-1 product manager roles. Bob worked at Digital for 18 years (plus 4 at CPQ). Discussion continues as long as everyone wants afterwards.  

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF BOB's TALK.

Link to Bob's presentation slides.

Our #2 DEC Tech Talk was delivered by DEC Connection member Nathan (Teichholtz) Brookwood, who worked at Digital from 1968-1978. During that time he created and coded the RSTS time-sharing operating system, and started DECnet. He discussed the history of Digital's RSTS with emphasis on the early days.

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF NATHAN's TALK.

Link to Nathan's presentation slides.

Bob Anundson, a DEC Connection member from Washington state, proposed that we organize short presentations about Digital products, engineering culture, and whatever else interests you, with Q&A/discussion time afterwards. In the time-honored tradition of Digital, he who proposes does, and Bob has graciously kicked off this series with a prototype session. He focused mostly on his Maynard experiences in Product Marketing using the PDP-11/10, 11/40, RK05, VT50/VT52, and software licensing as examples between 1969 and 1975, in the context of Digital culture.

LINK TO VIDEO RECORDING OF BOB's TECH TALK.

Link to write-up of Bob's experience at Digital he shared with Maynard Public Library for their Digital collection.