University of Saskatchewan Computer Museum

06/18/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago (June 1986) - Laser Printing

The front cover photo for the June 1986 Department of Computing Services newsletter featured the new Talaris T1200 laser printer. This was a 300 dpi laser printer which could print both HP PCL and PostScript at about 8 pages per minute (ppm). Along with the printer, DCS offered an option to have printouts delivered by campus mail instead of going to the Arts Computer Centre to pick them up.

Demand for the flexibility of laser printers for document processing and graphical output was growing. However, at the time laser printers were very expensive. The HP LaserJet printer cost about $3,500 (equivalent to about $10,650 in 2026). The Apple LaserWriter cost about $6,800 (equivalent to over $20,000 in 2026). It made sense for Computing Services to purchase a central laser printer for campus, rather than having every department buy its own. The T1200 cost about $6,000 (about $18,000 in 2026), but could print both HP and PostScript, so was perfect for a campus-wide printer.

The DCS newsletter in 1986 was developed using the WORD-11 word processor printing to a Diablo printer - a daisy-wheel printer similar to an electric typewriter with a serial port - which limited what could be printed. By January 1987 the newsletter had switched to the Scribe word processor printing on the T1200, which allowed more attractive fonts and easier inclusion of photographs and charts. Eventually as laser printer prices decreased and the campus network improved, departments started purchasing their own printers and the central T1200 was decommissioned.

06/11/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago.

The June 1986 DCS Newsletter article “SKERTH” reported that the VAX 11/785, formerly known as “SKOPE,” had been moved to the computer facility in the newly completed Geology building and renamed “SKERTH.” It was to be used primarily for Earth Sciences research.

Ethernet had not yet been installed in the building, so SKERTH was not initially connected to the campus network. Users accessed it from computer terminals in Geology rooms 117, 119, and 125, which housed the computer room. A terminal cluster was also being installed to support an additional 16 terminals in room 111 by the end of June. Once the Ethernet connection was completed, SKERTH became available to the entire campus.

06/04/2026

Throwback Thursday : 35 Years Ago - Macintosh System 7.0

The June 1991 DCS Newsletter ran the article “System 7.0 Announced for Mac.”

System 7.0, released 13 May 1991, was a major upgrade from System 6.0.x. System 7.0 introduced numerous user‑interface improvements, file sharing, TrueType fonts, optional virtual memory (allowing larger programs to run using disk‑backed swap), 32‑bit addressing, and improved inter‑application communication.

A major change was that multitasking became built into the operating system. In System 6.0.x, cooperative multitasking was provided by the separate MultiFinder add‑on.

System 7.0 required at least 2 MB of RAM (4 MB recommended) and was intended to run from a hard disk for practical use; a floppy‑only setup was impractical. The oldest Macintosh that could run System 7.0 in practice was the Macintosh Plus, provided it had a hard drive and sufficient RAM; the original 128K and 512K models could not run System 7.0 without hardware upgrades that brought them to Plus‑equivalent specifications.

The article also noted that DCS was offering four seminars on System 7.0 in June 1991, run by students hired through the Apple Research Partnership Program (ARPP).

System 7 made multitasking and other modern features standard for Macintosh users, accelerating adoption in education and business by making the Mac more capable for multitasking workflows, desktop publishing, and networked file sharing. System 7’s combination of usability and expandability marks it as a turning point in classic Mac OS history.

05/28/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago - Internet Mail

The following is a “Consulting Corner” question from the May 1986 DCS Newsletter. It shows how people were still trying to wrap their head around how the new NetNorth network worked. Imagine that, mail that gets delivered even if the system is currently down!

Question:

When I send mail to a computer on another campus, and the computer line is unavailable, is the mail stored and re-sent later, or do I have to re-enter it myself?

Answer:

Mail sent to remote computers over NetNorth is stored until the link is re-established and then it is sent. This is contrary to what happens when you send mail to local machines on campus.

05/21/2026

Throwback Thursday: 35 Years Ago - Connecting Computers

35 years ago the May 1991 DCS newsletter theme was how CA🍁Net was changing the way people used computers.

The “On the Cover” article provided some examples. One was a faculty member who was on sabbatical leave in Australia. He needed access to some data files he left on his SKYBLU account, so wanted us to copy the files onto magnetic tape then ship that tape from Saskatchewan to Australia. Instead I talked him through using FTP to connect to SKYBLU and he had his files within minutes.

Just a few months earlier, before CA🍁Net was established, this would have been impossible. The integration of computers with a global network was revolutionizing computing.

This was demonstrated even further twenty years later. In June 2011 (15 years ago) I was presenting a talk at “BBForum Colombia 2011”. This was a conference for institutions in Colombia using the Blackboard Learning Management System.

I stood there holding my iPad, then said “Good Morning, my name is Kevin Lowey”. Then I pressed a button on my iPad and it said “ Buenos días, mi nombre es Kevin Lowey”.

Then I explained how that happened. I was using a first generation iPad which had only been released a year earlier in May 2010. I was using a new app called “Google Translate” which had been released only 4 months earlier in February 2011. The app converted my speech to text, then used the iPad to communicate over WiFi to the network. WiFi came out in 1997 so was only 14 years old. The English text was then sent over the network to Google’s servers, translated to Spanish, sent back over the network and WiFi to the app on my iPad, then converted to speech. In less than a second.

The point, which was very relevant for this Learning Management System conference, was that this year’s freshman students would be using technologies that hadn’t been invented yet by the time they graduated. Was your organization prepared for that?

Today everything is done in the cloud. Back in 1991, this was just starting.

- Kevin Lowey

05/20/2026

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/news/apple-s-50-year-journey-transforming-technology-and-culture/ar-AA1ZSY7u?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=EDBBAN&cvid=6a0dc730b2b74179a1a5549316887fc1&ei=32

Apple's 50-year journey began with a partnership between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, evolving into a tech giant that transformed industries and culture.

05/19/2026

https://news.usask.ca/articles/community/2026/looking-back-reflecting-on-research-excellence-in-usask-computer-science.php?utm_source=paws&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=yousask

USask’s computer science department has a proud history of research success.

05/14/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago - Computer Costs

The May 1986 DCS newsletter published the 1986-87 University of Saskatchewan computer rate schedule. Here are some highlights for internal rates on the VAX 8650 computer. External rates were double.

Terminal connect time was one dollar per hour. Interactive CPU time was $180 per hour. Disk storage was $0.20 per megabyte per day. Mounting tapes in the tape drive cost $2.60. Laser printer output was $0.10 per page. There were discounts; for example, off-hours terminal and interactive CPU time were billed at 60% of prime rates. These were 1986 dollars, so you would roughly triple them to estimate today’s equivalent.

Let’s put that in perspective. I am writing this on an iPad with 256 GB of storage. Let’s say I am using 200 GB of that. One gigabyte is 1024 megabytes, so at $0.20 per megabyte per day, that works out to $204.80 per day per GB. Over 30 days, that is $6,144 per month per GB. Multiply that by 200 GB, and it would cost $1,228,800 per month in 1986 dollars, or about $3.7 million in 2026 dollars.

In reality, a 200 GB iCloud subscription for this iPad costs $2.99 per month. So disk space in 1986, adjusted to 2026 dollars, was over 1.2 million times more expensive than cloud storage is today.

05/07/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago - Computer Based Education

40 years ago, May 5–9, 1986, the Instructional and Research Applications group within Computing Services, together with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), sponsored a Computer-Based Education seminar at the University of Saskatchewan. Over 40 people attended the introductory session, and 16 participated in the three-and-a-half-day hands-on workshops.

These sessions explored DEC products such as the Courseware Authoring System, Digital Authoring Language (DAL), ReGIS graphics, and character set editors. Together, these tools provided relatively high-level environments for designing instructional material and testing students on VAX/VMS systems.

I don’t recall these tools being widely adopted by instructors at the University of Saskatchewan. They required a degree of programming skill and were limited to DEC hardware and terminals. The only online courses I remember were provided by DEC, such as an Introduction to VAX/VMS course and a Touch Typing course. That said, there may have been instructor-developed materials that I wasn’t aware of.

At the time, there seemed to be more interest in software that could run directly on emerging microcomputers. Programs from organizations such as MECC (the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium) were especially popular. Titles like The Oregon Trail combined historical simulation with engaging, decision-based gameplay. Not long after, systems like HyperCard gave instructors new ways to build interactive lessons on personal computers.

There were also custom programs developed for the University’s VAX systems. For example, courses made use of statistical analysis software for data-driven assignments, and the College of Commerce developed a “Business Game” that simulated stock market decision-making.

However, it wasn’t until the arrival of web browsers and Learning Management Systems such as WebCT in the mid-1990s that instructors gained relatively accessible tools for building and managing online courses. These systems ultimately played a crucial role decades later, helping the University continue offering classes remotely during the global pandemic of 2020.

04/30/2026

Throwback Thursday: 40 Years Ago, the end of SKYWAR

Forty years ago today on April 30, 1986, SKYWAR, the University of Saskatchewan’s DECSYSTEM-2060 running the TOPS-20 operating system, was powered down for the last time. It was replaced by a new generation of VAX systems, marking the end of an era in campus computing. It also was the end of punched card use on campus.

The system’s story began eight years earlier. After several years of using services provided by SaskComp (the provincial computing crown corporation) the University wanted to regain control by operating its own timesharing mainframe computer.

In June 1978, the University purchased a DECSYSTEM-2050 for $759,693.14 (roughly $3.43 million in 2026 dollars). It was installed in 1979 and, just a year later, upgraded to a DECSYSTEM-2060. That upgrade brought solid-state memory, expanded communications capacity to as many as 128 lines, and the ability to support a growing community of users.

SKYWAR was a powerhouse for its time. It featured 256K words of 36-bit RAM, about 450 megabytes of disk storage across multiple 175 MB washing-machine-sized drives, and two tape drives. It could support up to 80 simultaneous users running statistical tools like SPSS and programming languages including BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, SNOBOL, and LISP. Faculty used programs like the Student History Program (SHIP), Exam Generation System (EGS) and General Exam Management System (GEMS) to manage student exam generation and grading. Eventually it would be connected to networks like NetNorth for international email and file transfers.

The machine made its presence known in more ways than one. It generated over 100,000 BTUs of heat, so much that its output was redirected into the Arts Building’s heating system.

Looking back from today, what once filled a room can now fit in the palm of your hand. An equivalent system can be recreated for around $500 using a modern mini PC running Linux, something like an Intel N100 with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Add the SIMH PDP-10 KL10 emulator running the freely available TOPS-20 operating system and that setup can easily handle 80 simultaneous virtual terminal sessions over TCP. For those seeking authenticity, a few USB-to-serial adapters even make it possible to reconnect original VT100 terminals.

The DECSYSTEM-2060 signalled the return of control over campus computing to the University and helped set the computing direction on campus for decades to follow.

(Much of this history is drawn from “The History of Computing at the University of Saskatchewan: The First Three Decades, 1957–1987” by Robert N. Kavanagh Ph.D. October 2007).