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Toggling is the word we used. I only had the chance to do it once, since the PDPs were on their way out, but it did feel real: it's as close to the metal as I ever got.

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Gotta admit, PDPs look really cool, and even modern. The toggle buttons, the blinking lights, it's all so fascinating to watch. Then, after 5 minutes, it occurs to you "If only there was a more efficient way of doing this".

I've never used a PDP, mind. I'm not quite that old.

DEC thought the same thing; so they added peripherals like Boot ROM cards. It's interesting to see how the PDP-11 series evolved from the beginning with teletypes and punch tapes, requiring the operator to toggle in programs on the switches into ferrite core memory, and ended up with multi-user UNIX systems with multiprocessing, Winchester drives, and networking.

I'm that old. I toggled the PDP-8 our high school had. I did it often enought that for over a decade after I stopped I had the RIM bootloader memorized. It's only a handful of instructions. You can see it on page 35 of http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/software/DEC...

I have a few old timey computer stories, including using a punch card to transport a chunk of nitrogen triiodide. Hijinks ensued.

I'd love to hear the stories.

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