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The Sigma Era:
Sigmas and SDS/XDS

Various pictures related to Sigmas and SDS/XDS. I remember early versions of the CPU reference manual had a photo of a system that was allegedly made of small models, not the real thing. Later versions had a photo that most people agreed was the real thing. In order to shoot some of their photos, SDS/XDS would occasionally clear out their expansive lobby and wheel in a system, since they didn't have any other uncluttered areas that were photogenic.

A (real) Sigma 7 picture from the reference manual
Control panel (from reference manual)

SDS usually had interesting advertisements. Here are a few from old issues of CACM.

David H. Owens, who helped write the Fortran compiler and its entertaining manuals, relates he and other technical people as SDS were outraged by the "crazy" ad. He wrote a strong letter to the SDS management but it would appear to have made little difference.

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