Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
period, both in Poland and other countries under the WPR system, had similar
negative experiences. The discussion is also relevant to other countries where there
are elements of the WPR system, even if, on the surface, they have very different
political and economic systems.
3.1
Case Study 1: Odra 1204 Computer
This first Polish computer was developed and launched in the late 1960s. Its hard-
ware architecture is depicted in Fig. 8.1 . Odra 1204 (Kamburelis 2012, private com-
munication) was intended for numerical data processing and industrial control
applications. It used a number of novel and very good technical solutions. For
instance, it proved to be very reliable and served its users well for up to 20 years,
despite using discrete germanium components and a ferrite core memory. The inter-
rupt system was simpler, faster and more reliable than that of the PDP-11 comput-
ers, which were the world standard in industrial control applications at that time.
The leading designer of the Odra 1204 hardware (subsequently referred to as
Leading Designer 1) is commonly recognised as the best leading designer of the
computers manufactured by Elwro. However, shortly after the successful launch of
Odra 1204, he was promoted to a managerial position rather than being assigned to
another computer development and implementation project. Consequently, he lost
his engineering work and his influence as an excellent leading designer. As an engi-
neer, he did not enjoy management and soon returned to Greece where he became a
professor of ICT at the University of Crete.
Depriving Leading Designer 1, who was recognised as the best leading designer
of computers in the history of Elwro, of any possibility of working on computer
design was a considerable loss to both present and future computer users in Poland.
This allowed some PoPs involved in the project to obtain undeserved benefits at the
Printer
Magnetic tapes
Keyboard
Transmission
channels
CPU
Industrial
interface
Fig. 8.1 Hardware
architecture of Odra 1204
Plant under control
 
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