CC BY-SA 2.0 ↗
Tymshare and the Tymnet Network
- Year
- 1964
- Creator
- Tom O'Rourke, David Schmidt
- Company
- Tymshare
- Location
- Los Altos, California (early offices)
- Room
- Augmentation ↗
Description
Tymshare was a timesharing company in the Valley that rented computer time to customers over telephone lines. The object shown is a promotional badge from Tymshare, whose Tymnet network connected customer terminals to its computers.
Importance
Tymshare sold network computing to businesses when few comparable networks existed. Ann Hardy wrote its operating system for the SDS 940, the same computer model that ran NLS at SRI. LaRoy Tymes designed the Tymnet network, which later carried services such as credit card authorization.
Interesting fact
Hardy said that the name of LaRoy Tymes, the chief designer of Tymnet, had no connection to the name Tymshare.
Acquisition
McDonnell Douglas · 1984
Sources
- Oral-History: Ann Hardy (interviewed by Janet Abbate, IEEE History Center interview #599) ↗Engineering and Technology History Wiki · 2002-07-15
- Timesharing as a Business (Revolution exhibit, Mainframe Computers) ↗Computer History Museum
- Tymshare ↗Wikipedia