In this article series we are tracing the origins of Aix, the operating system that Linux and other open source operating systems were inspired by. But, as it is impossible to separate Unix from the entity that sheltered its creators, we have to start with the history of Bell Laboratories, one of the most productive innovation centers of the XNUMXth century.
At this time it is good to make a clarification, probably the AT&T (parent entity of Bell Laboratories) has not been an exemplary company in its dealings with competitors and customers. Things weren't perfect at Bell Labs either; there were people who sympathized who shouldn't be sympathetic, envies, ego struggles, and all the shit that usually happens when human beings work together.
However, managed to create one of the most productive work environments since the time of the Renaissance guilds, they laid the foundation for modern corporate research and development laboratories And, if only to avoid defying the wrath of regulators, they shared their findings with academia, often for free.
Vacuum tubes. Conquering the distances
AT&T was a telephone service companys. That his research laboratory gave a small group of his staff the freedom to pursue basic research did not make them forget the main objective. Become the company that will communicate to the entire United States.
But, to achieve that they had to solve a problem, How to make the human voice travel great distances without losing quality. Of course they also had to take care of other things such as the cables resisting the consequences of being outdoors, but, since that does not leave us closer to Unix, we are going to ignore it.
The then president of the company, Theodore Vail, in 1906 ordered his subordinates to eThey will find a way to build a telephone connection between New York and San Francisco. It should be operational by 1914, the year in which the Panama Pacific International Exposition would be held.
The main problem was the lack of a viable amplifier or repeater. In the words of a company executive:
Did we know how to develop such a repeater? No. Why not? Science had not yet shown us the way. Did we have any reason to think that he would? Yes. Over time? Possibly.
The device known as a vacuum tube (If there is a specialist in the room who wants to correct my translation, they are welcome to do so in the comment form) It is a device that controls the flow of electrical current between two electrodes. It does so in extreme vacuum conditions. It was the key piece for the development of radio, television, radar, sound recording and reproduction, long distance telephone networks and, which justifies that I am writing the article, the first computers with electronic components.
Bell Labs comes to vacuum tube technology through a novel approach. Convinced that none of his engineers was going to find the solution, he decided to summon doctoral students in teó physics.delicious. It was the first time in the corporate world that scientists were used to solve applied engineering problems.
One of the scientists recruited tHe designed a vacuum tube device called the Audion, rebuilt it using more efficient materials, and improved air extraction to produce the vacuum.io. The designs were refined and fully operational when the line opened in 1915.
With the entry of the United States into World War I, AT & T's research resources were turned to the use of vacuum tubes in military applications. In subsequent decades that collaboration would lead to the development of radar.
AT & T's great sword of Damocles was that politicians will try to disarm their telephone monopoly. That is why it always tried to license its proprietary technology to other industries. Thus, his research on vacuum tubes became available to both established and emerging industries. The first prototypes of electronic computers that used vacuum tube devices with Bell technology appeared in the late 30s. But, by that time Bell Labs were already thinking of a technology that would make them obsolete.
vacuum valves
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