Item Details

Description

The Linder Charlie Hobbs collection, ranging in date from 1958 to 1982, consists of documents related to minicomputers, computer memory, military computers, graphics terminals, timesharing systems, semiconductors, and the computer industry during the 1960s and 1970s. Types of materials include brochures, pamphlets, press kits, annual reports, technical reports, manuals, industry reports, and conference proceedings. Most of the promotional materials and press kits were collected through Hobbs’s work as a consultant at Hobbs Associates, Inc. A very large number of companies are represented in this collection, including Informatics, Litton, Philco, Bit, Digital Equipment Corporation, Packard Bell, Shugart, Univac, International Business Machines, Memorex, General Electric, Comdex, and many others. The collection includes materials from the Aeronutronic division of Ford Motor Company and manuals and promotional materials related to military computers manufactured by companies like Univac and Honeywell. The collection also includes technical reports published by Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and System Development Corporation (SDC) as well as proposals and reports submitted to army and naval departments, such as the Office of Naval Research. Finally, there is information about the computer industry during the 1970s, including documentation specifically about the Japanese computer industry. Please see below for a preliminary box level listing of the subjects in the collection: Box 1: Graphics and display terminals, OCR; 1961-1972 Box 2: Military computers; 1958-1965 Box 3: Mixed subjects; 1953-1982 Box 4: Military computers/reports, Univac; 1960s Box 5: Ford aeronutronics, Philco, SRI, System Development Corporation; 1958-1976 Box 6: Minicomputers; 1963-1971 Box 7: Memory (disks and drums); 1963-1982 Box 8: Data processing industry trends and reference materials, Japanese computer industry; 1970s Box 9: Semiconductors and microelectronics; 1960s Box 10: Timesharing; 1966-1977 Biographical/Historical Note Linder Charlie Hobbs was an engineer, computer services consultant, and venture capitalist from Orange County, California. Born on February 4, 1925 in Alabama, Hobbs attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1948. Hobbs also earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1956. During his early career, Hobbs worked as an engineer at the Radio Corporation of America, in the Univac division of Sperry Rand, and in the Aeronutronic division of Ford Motor Company. He started a consulting firm in 1962 called Hobbs Associates, Inc., which specialized in computer services and was located in Corona Del Mar, California. Hobbs was also a partner at Hobbs Development Associates, a venture capital firm, from 1982 to 2000. He passed away on February 7, 2014 in Corona Del Mar.

Level of description

Collection

Date

1958-1982

Author

Linder Charlie Hobbs (Author)

Extent

12.5 linear feet in 10 record cartons

Subject

Computer Industry, Computer Systems, Minicomputers, Philco Corporation

Collection title

Linder Charlie Hobbs collection

Credit

Gift of Linder Charlie Hobbs

Catalogue number

102776832

Lot number

X6403.2012