The DTSS at Dartmouth (and Beyond)
Once it was up and running, the DTSS transformed Dartmouth’s campus. The Kiewit Computation Center was constructed to house the new computing equipment and rows of teletype terminals for anyone who wanted to use them. Many classes began to incorporate computing, and students discovered they could use the computer for fun, too. The DTSS gave more people than ever the opportunity to use a computer, although these opportunities mostly benefited Dartmouth's privileged population. But even beyond Dartmouth, the DTSS reached a significant network of locations, and it led to innovations that influenced computing across the entire world—most notably, the BASIC language.
EXPLAIN DEATH
New users could ask the DTSS to EXPLAIN various topics, like COMMANDS or what to do if they made a MISTAKE. Here is how the DTSS responded to “EXPLAIN DEATH."
EXPLAIN PROTEST
New users could ask the DTSS to EXPLAIN various topics, like COMMANDS or what to do if they made a MISTAKE. Here is how the DTSS responded to “EXPLAIN PROTEST.” (This was during the Vietnam War, so "protest" was a familiar concept on many college campuses, Dartmouth included.)
Spring Computing Mini-Courses
Not only did Kiewit provide access to computers, it also offered mini-courses for those looking to expand their skills. Information about these courses was available via the DTSS if a user typed the “EXPLAIN LECTURES” command.
Computer Jock
The caption to this cover featuring one of Dartmouth's "computer jocks" also notes that by that time, Dartmouth already had more computer users than athletes among its student body.
Computer Resources Used by Undergraduates Fiscal 1980-81: Distribution by Declared Majors and by Division
Because time-sharing made the computer so easily accessible, students across all disciplines could use it, and this chart shows that social sciences and humanities majors actually used slightly more of the computer resources than those majoring in the sciences.
Now YOU Can Program a Computer in BASIC: A New Dimension in Data Processing
This publication by General Electric advertises their new time-sharing service using “General Electric BASIC.” While Kurtz and Kemeny allowed others to copy or create their own versions of BASIC, some of the student programmers resented GE’s reluctance to credit Dartmouth, going so far as to hide code in the ALGOL compiler they’d created so it printed “Dartmouth ALGOL” every time it ran.
Teletype Terminal Master List
Within the first decade of the DTSS, Dartmouth’s computer could be accessed not only by teletypes on campus but also by other schools in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut.
BASIC puroguramingu hyakka
BASIC became so popular outside of Dartmouth that textbooks were written and published about it worldwide in a variety of languages, including Japanese, Russian, and Portuguese. This Japanese edition was previously published in French as Le Basic par le Pratique.