American school runs its heating system on Commodore Amiga computer

[editor]

I love this story. Viva Amiga!

A 30-year-old computer that has run day and night for decades is what controls the heat and air conditioning at 19 Grand Rapids Public Schools.

The Commodore Amiga was new to GRPS in the early 1980s and it has been working tirelessly ever since. GRPS Maintenance Supervisor Tim Hopkins said that the computer was purchased with money from an energy bond in the 1980s. It replaced a computer that was “about the size of a refrigerator.”

The computer is responsible for turning the heat and the air conditioners on and off for 19 school buildings.

“The system controls the start/stop of boilers, the start/stop of fans, pumps, [it] monitors space temperatures, and so on,” Hopkins explained.

A Kentwood High School student programmed it when it was installed in the 1980s. Whenever the district has a problem with it, they go back to the original programmer who still lives in the area.

Parts for the computer are difficult to find, Hopkins said. It is on its second mouse and third monitor.

“It’s a very unique product. It operates on a 1200-bit modem,” said Hopkins. “How it runs, the software that it’s running, is unique to Commodore.”

http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Good on them for not throwing it away and replacing a perfectly functional bit of kit. If it works it works, after all.

 

[Epona]

Nice one!

With 2 gaming PCs in my sitting room I've not had to switch on the heating once in 4 years, it's like a fucking sauna in here even in the middle of winter.

 

[CNT36]

Nice one!

With 2 gaming PCs in my sitting room I've not had to switch on the heating once in 4 years, it's like a fucking sauna in here even in the middle of winter.

That's a thing now - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29423535

 

[mwgdrwg]

Still have my A1200

 

[Favelado]

The Amiga was a revelation at the time for gaming, and still represents the height of certain genres. I prefer 2-D platformers and shoot-em-ups to 3-D ones and there were some brilliant examples for the Amiga.

I'll have some IK+, New Zealand Story and Speedball 2 please.

 

[fishfinger]

and Speedball 2 please.

"Ice Cream!"

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I've always blamed the Amiga for fucking up my 'swapping pirated ZX Specturm cassettes by post' network.

Lots of people ditched the Speccy for the Amiga and poof went the network

This is a great story, though, if it works etc etc

"So, you want the 8 or the 16 bit air con!?"

 

[skyscraper101]

A lot of widely repsected dance/rave tunes were made with the assistance of Amigas and their generation were they not?

 

[Favelado]

A lot of widely repsected dance/rave tunes were made with the assistance of Amigas and their generation were they not?

The Atari ST was more popular for music I think.

 

[skyscraper101]

The Atari ST was more popular for music I think.

Oh.. yeah maybe it was that i was thinking of.

 

[skyscraper101]

Hopefully they don't have their sprinkler test system connected to it anyway, because Hackers.

 

[Belushi]

I really wanted an Amiga but they were £400-£500 which was a lot 25 years ago

 

[Favelado]

Oh.. yeah maybe it was that i was thinking of.

They were very similar computers and direct rivals at the time so it's not like you said chalk and it was cheese. I know ST's were being used for production after they were a bit obselete for gaming.

 

[Crispy]

The ST had built-in MIDI and a faster CPU, but lacked the dedicated graphics and sample-based audio hardware of the Amiga. My school had a Roland synth and an Atari set up as a sequencer. Nobody knew how to use it.

 

[alsoknownas]

I've always blamed the Amiga for fucking up my 'swapping pirated ZX Specturm cassettes by post' network.

Lots of people ditched the Speccy for the Amiga and poof went the network

Was that where it all started going wrong for you?

 

[Mungy]

The ST had built-in MIDI and a faster CPU, but lacked the dedicated graphics and sample-based audio hardware of the Amiga. My school had a Roland synth and an Atari set up as a sequencer. Nobody knew how to use it.

the midi in an out on the 520stfm were wired together so was mostly useless for recording midi. the 1020 stm was much better. i had one and a dodgy copy of cubase and once recorded a piece 10-15 minutes long before I ran out of memory. when I say recorded, it involved a lot of copy and pasting

 

[8ball]

The ST had built-in MIDI and a faster CPU, but lacked the dedicated graphics and sample-based audio hardware of the Amiga. My school had a Roland synth and an Atari set up as a sequencer. Nobody knew how to use it.

Up until 10 years ago you still saw them in recording studios from time to time. Not sure if that's still the case.
Ironically, the Commodore 64 had a better sound chip (though tbf it was all about the MIDI).

 

[Crispy]

Mmmm those triangle waves

 

[editor]

I remember going to a rave at the Brixton Fridge and there was a room full of Amiga A1200's projecting graphics and BLOWING EVERYONE'S MINDS!

 

[mwgdrwg]

A lot of widely repsected dance/rave tunes were made with the assistance of Amigas and their generation were they not?

I made hundreds of tunes with my Amiga (using OctaMED). Not widely respected though

 

[DotCommunist]

clearly this is indicative of the lack of funding in the american public school system.

\grump

 

[King Biscuit Time]

I bet you the students sneak in at lunch time to play that shit strip poker game where the prettiest one won't load properly.

 

[8den]

Does anyone have the discs for speed ball 2?

 

[Favelado]

Does anyone have the discs for speed ball 2?

Brilliant game. 2 player mode was fantastic.

 

[fishfinger]

Does anyone have the discs for speed ball 2?

I've got ADF disk images, for use in Amiga emulators. They can be converted to disk if you have an Amiga, using adf2disk.

 

[souljacker]

Does anyone have the discs for speed ball 2?

Yep. I've got an a1200 plus a stack of games in my parents loft. One day they will go for good money on eBay hopefully!

 

[8den]

Yep. I've got an a1200 plus a stack of games in my parents loft. One day they will go for good money on eBay hopefully!

I hope so, the closed thing I have to a pension is my magic the gathering cards.

 

[8ball]

Brilliant game. 2 player mode was fantastic.

Ripe for a remake.

 

[fishfinger]

Ripe for a remake.

Like this? http://store.steampowered.com/app/251690/