Time Sharing Computer

Full Title or Meme

A Time Sharing Computer was the early attempt to build a computer that could be used remotely.

Context

The first commercial computers of the 1950's and 1960's were designed to process "jobs" in serves from start to finish. These computers were modified with "trap" instructions that could suspend batch operations to attend to real-time task like reading from input or output devices as them finished whatever job they might be attending at the moment. This functionality was extended to output keyboard devices special modifications to the IBM 7094 and the GE 635 computers so that it appeared to each terminal device that they had complete control of the computing resources. This functionality became redundant when the terminal devices became computers in their own right.