Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!uwvax!oddjob!gargoyle!ihnp4!ihlpg!ejbjr
From: ejbjr@ihlpg.ATT.COM (Branagan)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.arch
Subject: Re: *Why* do modern machines mostly have 8-bit bytes?
Message-ID: <3532@ihlpg.ATT.COM>
Date: Mon, 27-Jul-87 15:35:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlpg.3532
Posted: Mon Jul 27 15:35:14 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 28-Jul-87 06:43:40 EDT
References: <142700010@tiger.UUCP> <2792@phri.UUCP> <8315@utzoo.UUCP> <4823@j.cc.purdue.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 16
Summary: Trivia: How about 33 bit words?
Xref: mnetor comp.unix.wizards:3444 comp.arch:1708

> >	First, why did older machines have all sorts of strange word
> >lengths -- 12, 36, and 60 being sizes that I know of, but I'm sure there
> >were others.

Just some trivia on strange word sizes...

Some time ago (very long ago in fact) I came across a machine called 
an `ALWAC III'.  It had 33 bit words!??  There was some logic in it
though - four 8 bit bytes and a sign bit (though the sign bit was in the
least significant position, and was 1 for positive, 0 for negative).
Just think how much worse things could be ...
-- 
-----------------
Ed Branagan
ihnp4!ihlpg!ejbjr
(312) 369-7408 (work)