This is a first for me: Writing/Dedicating a web page to introducing a friends Web Site. I have a web page where there are links to web sites of Friends & Relatives. But, Ed has such a varied bunch of things I want to help friends find a few of those things I admire the most.
I believe Ed started creating a web site to document: his experience, history, and the technology of Nike Missiles. Today, I think he has the best and largest site on the internet for anyone interested in Nike's.
I met Ed when we both worked at Control Data in Sunnyvale, CA. We never worked together, but we did do a lot of week-end Back Packing together. For me the rewarding part of working at Control Data was the people I got to go Back Packing with, otherwise I really didn't like Control Data. But that is another story.
I knew Ed as a Computer Engineer and Programmer. We both got into computers as a hobby, and more or less through it we have stayed in contact after we both left Control Data. It didn't surprise me when I found out Ed was volunteering at a local Computer History Museum. Ed has a great talent for finding "interesting things and people". Most of the interesting things I have done in California, Ed Thelen found and told be about.
Now, Ed has one of the largest sites about Computer History and has diligently scanned and put many of the older books and manuals on his web site.
Over the years Ed and I have shared many "war stories" about our early involvement with computers. Just today, I found: Ed Thelen's "funny" story about his history with GE computers. (It probably won't seem "funny" to younger people. But, to someone older, like myself, who has lived through the same "funny" experiences; it is funny as hell because it is so sad.) Reading it I laughed till I got tears in my eyes.
You may think of me as a pathetic sadistic old man, and maybe it is the delight of realizing someone else went through similar pain when you thought your experiences were unique.
Anyway: Thanks Ed, it is a history that should not be lost; and you have a great writing skill to express it. You can check it out by clicking here.
In a completely different vein Ed has the entire 1918 Ford Owners Manual on line.
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