Oral History of Robert Everett - Computer History Museum

Hendrie: Oh, my goodness.
Everett: It was all done in 32.
Hendrie: That was done in 32? 32 words?
Everett: That's what I say; it's wonderful what you can do when that's all you've got.
Hendrie: Yes.
Oral History of Robert Everett
Everett: We had tubes but they weren't working well enough to run programs with. So they were used to
store the picture, so that you could then print it out. So one of these blocks might have, you know,
hundreds of spots. Anyway, lots of fun things.
Hendrie: That's great. Those are great stories.
Everett: It was wonderful. For one thing, nobody knew anything about computers, so you didn't get any
trouble from anybody. I mean, they make you paint the cabinet, maybe, but what else? So, you were on
your own. You didn't have any way of getting somebody to tell you what to do. But at the same time, you
didn't have anybody telling you...
Hendrie: You didn't have any critics?
Everett: You didn't have any critics.
Hendrie: Who thought they knew how to do it.
Everett: It was wonderful. I was talking to a friend of mine, Bill Davenport, who was another division
head at Lincoln, and he said, "You guys are spoiled." He said, "Nobody knows about computers. They let
you do what you want." He said, "Radar, there are a lot of people around who think they know what to do
and there's a lot of trouble." He said, "Communications." He says, "Everybody thinks he knows
communications." He was a communications guy.
Hendrie: That's funny.
Everett: Yes. You know, looking back on SAGE, you probably couldn't do it today. Probably couldn't do
it today. The bureaucracy is too tough and the power of the – back in those days, the Air Force had a lot
of power.
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