I recently moved to a new house and while boxing things up, I found this nifty photo of me from September 1979. I was working at Rockwell International in Anaheim as a "Calma Operator" (also fondly termed "Digitizer").
I forget why Rockwell had this picture taken, but I'm thinking it may have been used in their year-end financial report.
The computer I'm operating is a Calma GDSI (G-D-S-One) system, which consisted of a Data General Nova Mini-computer, a green phosphorescent monitor (with attached keyboard), a tape drive for backing up and outputting data, and a backlit light table with a digitizer stylus.
My job entailed the electronic capture of integrated circuits by digitizing the line segment endpoints for each individual layer of the chip. Once all layers were captured, the information could be output for use in fabrication of the chip.
The best thing in the photo (besides me, of course) is the small plaque hanging at the top of the orange cubicle wall. It simply states "Cubicle Sweet Cubicle" (click the picture to view it at full size). I bought it when I started working at Rockwell, because this was my first office cubicle space. My work environment in the two jobs I had prior to Rockwell consisted of sitting in a large common room with several other digitizers. At Rockwell, they provided each Calma Operator with their very own space.
Amazingly enough, almost 30 years later I still have this little plaque, which is hanging in my cubicle at my current place of employment.
