Editing TX-0 (section)

{{Short description|Early transistorized computer}}
[[File:MIT TX-0 computer Philco surface-barrier transistors.JPG|thumb|TX-0 computer circuitry used Philco surface-barrier transistors, which were encapsulated in plug-in vacuum tubes for testing and easy removal.]]
[[File:Philco Surface barrier transistor ad=1955.JPG|thumb|Philco surface-barrier transistor advertisement for the first high-frequency transistors, which were used in the TX-0 transistorized computer]]

The '''TX-0''', for '''''T'''ransistorized E'''x'''perimental computer '''zero''''', but affectionately referred to as '''tixo''' (pronounced "tix oh"), was an early fully [[transistor]]ized computer and contained a then-huge 64[[Kilo-|K]] of 18-bit words of [[magnetic-core memory]]. Construction of the TX-0 began in 1955<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cIdzHlhGYgC&q=%22tx-0%22+1955&pg=PA133|title=Biomedical Computing: Digitizing Life in the United States|last=November|first=Joseph A.|date=2012-04-23|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9781421404684|pages=133|language=en|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=2024-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630181823/https://books.google.com/books?id=-cIdzHlhGYgC&q=%22tx-0%22+1955&pg=PA133#v=snippet&q=%22tx-0%22%201955&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and ended in 1956.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0OYhHefumoC&q=%22tx-0%22+1956&pg=PA48|title=A History of the Internet and the Digital Future|last=Ryan|first=Johnny|date=2010-09-15|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=9781861898357|pages=48|language=en|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=2024-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630181824/https://books.google.com/books?id=l0OYhHefumoC&q=%22tx-0%22+1956&pg=PA48#v=snippet&q=%22tx-0%22%201956&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1YESXanrgQC&q=%22tx-0%22+1955&pg=PA127|title=A History of Modern Computing|last=Ceruzzi|first=Paul E.|date=2003|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=9780262532037|pages=127|language=en|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=2022-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407192641/https://books.google.com/books?id=x1YESXanrgQC&q=%22tx-0%22+1955&pg=PA127|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cm">{{cite web|url=https://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/TCMR-V08.pdf|title=Highlights from The Computer Museum Report Number 8|date=Spring 1984|publisher=[[The Computer Museum, Boston]]|via=Ed Thelen's Web Site|url-status=live|access-date=2010-02-19|archive-date=2010-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920213648/https://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/TCMR-V08.pdf}}</ref> It was used continually through the 1960s at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. The TX-0 incorporated around 3,600 [[Philco]] high-frequency [[surface-barrier transistor]]s, the first transistor suitable for high-speed computers.<ref>{{cite report | author=Saul Rosen | author-link=Saul Rosen | title=PHILCO: Some Recollections of the PHILCO TRANSAC S-2000 | institution=Purdue University | type=Computer Science Technical Reports / Purdue e-Pubs | number=CSD-TR-91-051 | url=https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1890&context=cstech | date=June 1991 | access-date=2016-07-19 | archive-date=2016-03-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124554/http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1890&context=cstech | url-status=live }} Here: page 2</ref> The TX-0 and its direct descendant, the original [[PDP-1]], were platforms for pioneering computer research and the development of what would later be called computer "[[hacker]]" culture. For MIT, this was the first computer to provide a [[system console]] which allowed for direct interaction, as opposed to previous computers, which required the use of [[punched card]] as a primary interface for programmers debugging their programs.<ref>{{Citation
| last1       = Chiou
| first1      = Stefanie
| last2       = Music
| first2      = Craig
| last3       = Sprague
| first3      = Kara
| last4       = Wahba
| first4      = Rebekah
| year        = 2001
| title       = A Marriage of Convenience: The Founding of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
| publisher   = AI Lab at MIT
| page        = 6
| url         = http://worrydream.com/refs/FoundingOfTheAILab.pdf
| url-status  = live | archive-date=2013-08-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805181140/http://worrydream.com/refs/FoundingOfTheAILab.pdf
}}</ref> 
Members of MIT's [[Tech Model Railroad Club]], "the very first hackers at MIT",  reveled in the interactivity afforded 
by the console, and were recruited by [[Marvin Minsky]] to work on this and other systems used by Minsky's AI group.<ref>{{Citation
| last1       = Chiou
| first1      = Stefanie
| last2       = Music
| first2      = Craig
| last3       = Sprague
| first3      = Kara
| last4       = Wahba
| first4      = Rebekah
| year        = 2001
| title       = A Marriage of Convenience: The Founding of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
| publisher   = AI Lab at MIT
| pages       = 7–8
| url         = http://worrydream.com/refs/FoundingOfTheAILab.pdf
| url-status  = live | archive-date=2013-08-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805181140/http://worrydream.com/refs/FoundingOfTheAILab.pdf
}}</ref>