Re: The joy of FORTRAN

On 2/28/25 2:34 AM, rbowman wrote:

On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 01:39:11 -0500, c186282 wrote:
 

    8 bits kinda emerged with microprocessors. Likely reflected what was
    practical to do on the chip real-estate plus industry competition.
    8008 and then everything was 8 bits. The popularity of the Z80 kinda
    cemented it.

 Makes you wonder what would have happened when Intel designed the 4004 if
it wasn't for a calculator where BCD fit neatly into a nibble.

   Hmmmm ... COULD have been the 5005 or 6006  :-)
   Would have been NICE if all those old microprocessors
   used 12 bits instead of 8, would have made a lot of
   stuff easier to code. 0-255 ain't much to work with.
   But I still think the 8008 set the standard.
   And yea, there was only SO much they could
   cram onto those old chip dies, and 8-bit
   stuff was probably the limit early on.
   A lot of mini-computers were 16 bit around the
   time microprocessors came out, so "half a mini"
   maybe kinda sounded logical.
   Should be a fair number of the decision-makers
   from the 60s-70s still alive. If anybody knows
   some, ASK.