极客时间和极客学院

Every week we look at fascinating facts and trivia from the history of Geekdom. This week we’re taking a look at The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Compact Discs, and Whirlwind, the first computer to foreshadow modern operating systems.

每周我们都会浏览极客历史上的有趣事实和琐事。 本周，我们来看看《银河漫游指南》，光盘和旋风，这是第一台预示现代操作系统的计算机。

《银河系漫游指南》出现在BBC上 (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Appears on the BBC)

In 1978, this week in history on the BBC’s Radio 4, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy first entertained listeners across the British Isles with tales of misplaced Englishman Arthur Dent and his inter-galactic exploits. Together with reluctant alien companions Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and of course Marvin, the deeply paranoid android, Arthur tours the galaxy, discovers improbable things (such as the manufactured nature of Mother Earth) and meets the man who controls the entire universe. The story underwent nearly constant revision as it was broadcast (many of the beloved characters were not added until later revisions), updated and broadcast again, and then ultimately polished and published in the book form by which most readers have come to know the epic and aloof sci-fi book and it’s “Don’t Panic.” missive.

1978年，在本周的历史上，英国广播公司(BBC)的第4电台《银河系漫游指南》 首先是不列颠群岛的娱乐者，他们以英国人亚瑟·登特(Arthur Dent)和他在银河系之间的错位放错地方的故事为题材。 与不情愿的外星人同伴福特·普雷特，扎福德·比布尔布罗克斯以及当然深陷偏执的机器人Maven·亚瑟一起参观了银河系，发现了不可能的事物(例如人造地球的人造物)并遇到了控制整个宇宙的人。 故事在播出时经历了几乎恒定的修订(许多心爱的角色直到后来的修订才被添加)，再次被更新并播出，然后最终以书本的形式被抛光和出版，大多数读者由此了解了这部史诗和电影。超然的科幻书，它是“不要惊慌”。 体贴的。

光盘的首次公开演示 (First Public Demonstration of Compact Discs)

On March 8, 1979 Philips demonstrated the compact disc at press conference. Although this wasn’t the first public demonstration of the compact disc (Sony had done several for smaller audiences) it was the most widely received. A combination of the demonstration and the technology shown within it secured Philips a spot as the first group to truly showcase the medium to the public. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia: the compact disc Philips demonstrated was smaller than the discs we have today. As it became apparent that CDs were going to take hold, Sony insisted on a disc large enough to hold the longest recording in their music archive: all 74 minutes of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. This was one of the many standards that emerged from the Red Book, a joint effort between Sony and Phillips to ensure compatibility across players.

1979年3月8日，飞利浦在新闻发布会上演示了该光盘。 尽管这不是光盘的首次公开展示(Sony为较小的观众做了几次展示)，但这是最受欢迎的。 演示与演示中的技术相结合，使飞利浦成为第一个向公众真正展示该媒体的组织。 这是一个有趣的琐事：飞利浦展示的光盘比我们今天拥有的光盘小。 显然，CD将要被抓住，索尼坚持使用一种足够大的光盘来保存其音乐档案中最长的录音：贝多芬第9交响曲全74分钟。 这是《红皮书》提出的众多标准之一，这是索尼和菲利普斯共同努力确保播放器之间兼容性的标准。

旋风演示原始操作系统 (Whirlwind Demonstrates Primitive Operating System)

Whirlwind was a computer developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1950s. On March 8, 1955 Doug Ross gave a demonstration that wowed audiences using the “Director” tape. This paper tape was  a set of instructions that could be fed into Whirlwind that would effectively communicate with the machine and allow the operator to feed in different problems quickly and effectively without requiring a team of assistant programmers to completely reconfigure the machine between sets. Because of this Whirlwind was surprisingly nimble and able to quickly shift gears as new problems arose—unlike prior computers that required retooling between problems. The paper tape system and mechanical reader inside Whirlwind foreshadowed the future of computer use and historians note it as a pivotal moment in the concept of computer operating systems.

旋风是1950年代在麻省理工学院开发的计算机。 1955年3月8日，道格·罗斯(Doug Ross)进行了一场示威，用“导演”录音带使观众惊叹不已。 该纸带是一组可以输入到Whirlwind中的指令，可以与机器进行有效的通信，并允许操作员快速有效地输入不同的问题，而无需一组辅助编程人员在各组之间完全重新配置机器。 因此，旋风非常灵活，能够在出现新问题时快速换挡，这与以前的计算机需要在问题之间进行重新组装不同。 旋风内部的纸带系统和机械读取器预示了计算机使用的未来，历史学家指出，这是计算机操作系统概念中的关键时刻。

极客历史上本周其他值得注意的时刻 (Other Notable Moments from This Week in Geek History)

Although we only shine the spotlight on three interesting facts a week in our Geek History column, that doesn’t mean we don’t have space to highlight a few more in passing. This week in Geek History:

尽管我们每周在《极客历史》专栏中仅关注三个有趣的事实，但这并不意味着我们没有足够的空间来强调更多的动态。 本周极客历史：

• 1947 – Birth of Rob Reiner, director of The Princess Brideand This is Spinal Tap.

  1947年–新娘公主的导演罗伯·赖纳(Rob Reiner)出生 这是脊髓轻敲。

• 1952 – Birth of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

  1952年–道格拉斯·亚当斯(Douglas Adams)的出生， 《银河漫游指南》的作者。

• 1986 – First Highlander film released, fans subconsciously prepare to forget the second.

  1986年–发行了第一部汉兰达电影，影迷们下意识地准备忘记第二部。

• 1999 – Death of Stanley Kubrick, acclaimed director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket.

  1999年–斯坦利·库布里克(Stanley Kubrick)逝世，他是2001年著名导演：《太空漫游》和《全金属外套》 。

Have an interesting bit of geek trivia to share? Shoot us an email to tips@howtogeek.com with “history” in the subject line and we’ll be sure to add it to our list of trivia.

有一些有趣的怪胎琐事可以分享吗？ 向我们发送电子邮件至tips@howtogeek.com ，主题行中包含“历史记录”，我们将确保将其添加到琐事列表中。

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/45691/this-week-in-geek-history-the-hitchhikers-guide-compact-discs-and-whirlwind-foreshadows-operating-systems/

极客时间和极客学院