<s>
The	O
Singer	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
was	O
a	O
small-business	O
computer	O
manufactured	O
by	O
the	O
Singer	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
1970	O
,	O
featured	O
an	O
early	O
form	O
of	O
logical	B-Device
partitioning	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
was	O
a	O
character-oriented	O
computer	O
,	O
using	O
6-bit	O
BCD	O
characters	O
and	O
decimal	B-Application
arithmetic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1962	O
,	O
its	O
chain	O
of	O
retail	O
stores	O
were	O
selling	O
their	O
machines	O
,	O
fabrics	B-Language
,	O
haberdashery	O
and	O
patterns	O
–	O
everything	O
for	O
the	O
housewife	O
who	O
made	O
clothes	O
and	O
furnishings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
then	O
designed	O
a	O
computer	O
,	O
originally	O
called	O
the	O
Business	O
Data	O
Processor	B-General_Concept
(	O
BDP	O
)	O
and	O
soon	O
renamed	O
the	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1969	O
,	O
Singer	O
Business	O
Machines	O
created	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
,	O
the	O
Advanced	O
Systems	O
Division	O
,	O
in	O
each	O
Western	O
European	O
country	O
to	O
launch	O
and	O
market	O
the	O
Singer	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newly	O
appointed	O
Managers	O
and	O
Directors	O
were	O
trained	O
in	O
the	O
technology	O
and	O
the	O
marketing	O
strategy	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Singer	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
was	O
launched	O
throughout	O
Europe	O
on	O
2	O
April	O
1970	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
was	O
revolutionary	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
special	O
requirements	O
of	O
what	O
are	O
now	O
called	O
"	O
point	O
of	O
sale	O
"	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
had	O
no	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
that	O
scheduled	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
:	O
instead	O
,	O
it	O
would	O
have	O
up	O
to	O
20	O
'	O
partitions	B-Device
 '	O
each	O
of	O
which	O
had	O
dedicated	O
memory	B-General_Concept
of	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
kilobytes	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
common	O
area	O
that	O
all	O
partitions	B-Device
could	O
access	O
,	O
limited	O
initially	O
to	O
10K	O
in	O
the	O
earlier	O
models	O
but	O
expanded	O
up	O
to	O
100K	O
in	O
later	O
ones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
was	O
called	O
the	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
because	O
it	O
performed	O
all	O
of	O
its	O
computations	O
in	O
decimal	B-Application
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
its	O
counterparts	O
which	O
operated	O
in	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Spain	O
,	O
the	O
complaint	O
was	O
that	O
"	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
"	O
means	O
"	O
Hold	O
the	O
system	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
partition	B-Device
in	O
turn	O
would	O
handle	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
devices	I-General_Concept
,	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
partition	B-Device
type	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
terminals	B-General_Concept
,	O
printers	O
,	O
card	B-Device
readers	I-Device
and	O
punches	B-Device
,	O
a	O
Multi-Terminal	O
IOC	O
(	O
input-output	B-General_Concept
channel	O
)	O
was	O
installed	O
,	O
which	O
ran	O
at	O
about	O
20	O
kbit/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
partition	B-Device
would	O
respond	O
to	O
CPU	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
instructions	O
to	O
retrieve	O
and	O
transfer	O
data	O
in	O
bursts	O
from	O
terminal	O
devices	O
to	O
main	O
memory	B-General_Concept
,	O
there	O
were	O
no	O
small	O
or	O
single	O
character	O
transfers	O
of	O
data	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
demand	O
for	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
memory	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
processor	B-General_Concept
would	O
cycle	O
through	O
each	O
partition	B-Device
in	O
turn	O
,	O
bypassing	O
those	O
that	O
had	O
an	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
instruction	O
in	O
progress	O
,	O
and	O
executing	O
instructions	O
in	O
the	O
others	O
until	O
either	O
a	O
new	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
was	O
posted	O
or	O
16.7ms	O
(	O
20ms	O
in	O
Europe	O
)	O
had	O
elapsed	O
and	O
a	O
successful	O
branch	O
instruction	O
was	O
encountered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Theoretically	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
"	O
hog	O
"	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
if	O
a	O
successful	O
branch	O
or	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
instruction	O
was	O
never	O
encountered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
several	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
partitions	B-Device
that	O
could	O
be	O
installed	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
retail	O
terminals	B-General_Concept
an	O
MD	O
(	O
multi-data	O
IOC	O
)	O
was	O
used	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
control	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
all	O
transfers	O
were	O
made	O
directly	O
from	O
the	O
partition	B-Device
into	O
memory	B-General_Concept
,	O
it	O
was	O
only	O
possible	O
to	O
have	O
one	O
active	O
transmission	O
per	O
terminal	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
cause	O
some	O
devices	O
to	O
'	O
time	O
out	O
 '	O
during	O
transmission	O
on	O
a	O
busy	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
three	O
types	O
of	O
serial	O
communications	O
controllers	O
were	O
available	O
,	O
a	O
synchronous	O
communications	O
adapter	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
capable	O
of	O
emulating	O
the	O
IBM	O
2780	O
terminal	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
,	O
however	O
in	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
,	O
not	O
in	O
EBCDIC	B-Language
,	O
and	O
an	O
asynchronous	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
was	O
also	O
available	O
,	O
but	O
both	O
were	O
limited	O
to	O
line	O
speeds	O
of	O
no	O
more	O
than	O
2400	O
bit/s	O
,	O
the	O
maximum	O
dial-up	O
rate	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Strictly	O
speaking	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
10K	O
,	O
but	O
10,000	O
characters	O
per	O
partition	B-Device
as	O
the	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
’s	O
memory	B-General_Concept
consisted	O
of	O
6-bit	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
took	O
10	O
characters	O
to	O
make	O
up	O
one	O
instruction	O
,	O
so	O
each	O
partition	B-Device
was	O
only	O
able	O
to	O
accommodate	O
1,000	O
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
processor	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
model	O
20	O
,	O
had	O
only	O
13	O
instructions	O
,	O
but	O
its	O
successor	O
,	O
the	O
model	O
21	O
had	O
16	O
instructions	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
mostly	O
programmed	O
in	O
assembler	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
relatively	O
simplistic	O
in	O
its	O
syntax	O
,	O
the	O
assembler	B-Language
had	O
a	O
built-in	O
macro	O
language	O
that	O
was	O
extremely	O
powerful	O
and	O
complex	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
string	O
matching	O
and	O
parsing	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
machine	B-Language
language	I-Language
translator	O
since	O
has	O
come	O
anywhere	O
close	O
to	O
this	O
level	O
of	O
complexity	O
,	O
probably	O
as	O
few	O
understood	O
it	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
processing	O
time	O
for	O
even	O
the	O
smallest	O
programs	B-Application
could	O
be	O
prohibitively	O
long	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
the	O
sale	O
ICL	O
estimated	O
that	O
there	O
were	O
8,000	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
’s	O
in	O
use	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ICL	O
continued	O
to	O
market	O
the	O
system	O
as	O
the	O
ICL	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
,	O
but	O
also	O
attempted	O
to	O
wean	O
customers	O
off	O
it	O
and	O
onto	O
their	O
mainstream	O
product	O
offering	O
,	O
the	O
2900	O
series	O
,	O
by	O
introducing	O
a	O
transition	O
machine	O
called	O
the	O
ME/29	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
this	O
strategy	O
failed	O
,	O
they	O
turned	O
to	O
a	O
division	O
of	O
Singer	O
which	O
made	O
intelligent	O
terminals	B-General_Concept
,	O
to	O
re-engineer	O
the	O
system	O
and	O
bring	O
it	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
then	O
modern-day	O
standards	O
and	O
considerably	O
reduce	O
its	O
size	O
and	O
power	O
consumption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
UK	O
,	O
the	O
marketing	O
strategy	O
was	O
that	O
customers	O
would	O
be	O
trained	O
in	O
the	O
assembler	B-Language
,	O
and	O
would	O
write	O
their	O
own	O
programs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
European	O
Singer	O
Business	O
Machines	O
companies	O
ignored	O
this	O
strategy	O
,	O
and	O
set	O
up	O
small	O
internal	O
software	B-Application
houses	O
to	O
write	O
customers	O
 '	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
two	O
years	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
these	O
software	B-Application
houses	O
were	O
independent	O
of	O
Singer	O
,	O
and	O
specialized	O
in	O
supporting	O
their	O
national	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
North	O
America	O
,	O
several	O
other	O
languages	O
had	O
appeared	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
"	O
table	O
processor	B-General_Concept
"	O
approach	O
to	O
computing	O
which	O
was	O
simple	O
to	O
learn	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
RPG/RPGII	O
compiler	O
which	O
was	O
later	O
added	O
with	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
a	O
second	O
generation	O
assembler	B-Language
that	O
included	O
a	O
linker	O
,	O
a	O
program	O
which	O
could	O
bind	O
several	O
assembled	O
modules	O
together	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
executable	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
LPGC	O
was	O
a	O
report	O
tool	O
mostly	O
though	O
you	O
could	O
accept	O
data	O
at	O
the	O
start	O
or	O
if	O
you	O
patched	O
the	O
machine	B-Language
code	I-Language
you	O
could	O
do	O
it	O
in	O
flight	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Singer	O
also	O
created	O
software	B-Application
packages	O
for	O
retail	O
applications	O
,	O
which	O
grew	O
out	O
of	O
its	O
installed	O
customer	O
base	O
,	O
the	O
largest	O
of	O
which	O
was	O
at	O
the	O
Wanamaker	O
's	O
department	O
store	O
in	O
Philadelphia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
England	O
,	O
Welwyn	O
Department	O
Store	O
in	O
Welwyn	O
Garden	O
City	O
(	O
now	O
a	O
branch	O
of	O
John	O
Lewis	O
&	O
Partners	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
implement	O
the	O
System	B-Device
Ten	I-Device
as	O
originally	O
planned	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
became	O
a	O
flagship	O
installation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
its	O
major	O
thrust	O
as	O
a	O
retail	O
backroom	O
machine	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
still	O
sold	O
as	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
business	O
computer	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
did	O
support	O
the	O
common	O
peripherals	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
such	O
as	O
video	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
,	O
punched	O
cards	O
,	O
printers	O
and	O
,	O
later	O
,	O
disk	B-Device
and	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
storage	O
for	O
sales	O
,	O
stock	O
and	O
accounting	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
eventually	O
faded	O
into	O
history	O
with	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
minicomputer	B-Architecture
era	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
became	O
the	O
more	O
popular	O
computing	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
