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Right. I should have emphasized it more. But it is the closest thing people can try now without violating copyright laws.

Genera has an advanced command system and tools like Document Examiner, but the general experience is very close.




Genera also had S-Graphics (a suite of 2d and 3d graphics software and a bunch of hardware for it), which was used in the graphics demo linked above. The software and the computers to run it were commercially sold and used in TV and animation studios. A lot of the early 2d and 3d animation in commercials on TV were done with S-Graphics. There is no comparable thing in the MIT software.

For example S-Graphics was used for this Apple introductory video for the Macintosh IIfx (1990).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUhd3FZERUE


I'm very excited by the recent CADR revival, but the original MIT system does feel primitive compared to the later Symbolics releases.


Yeah, it’s like comparing a Lisa running the Office System to a PowerMac G3 running Mac OS 8. The family resemblance is certainly there, but one is way more advanced than the other.


The Lisa was at least made into a product.

The CADR was a research prototype of a University research lab for a new type of computer, with Lisp hackers developing an early OS and a few research applications.

Of the Apple Lisa roughly 80,000 machines for $10,000 per machine were sold. The CADR would have cost around 8 times more and only 200 had been built. Nothing which had reached the level of a product which one would like to ship to a customer.

About the LM-2, Symbolics' version of the CADR:

https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/X995.89C

"The LM-2 was a popular AI (Artificial Intelligence) machine when it was introduced in 1981. It had a 32-bit CPU with a 12K writable control store, 1MB of main memory and an 80MB hard disk. It also came with a bit-mapped display, mouse, and LISP programming environment. Symbolics introduced the Symbolics LM-2 in 1981. The LM-2 was basically an M.I.T. CADR, repackaged for higher reliability and easier servicing. Symbolics made numerous improvements to the system software and offered options such as Fortran-77, color graphics hardware, and the LGP-1 laser graphics printer. Alternative label copy: Symbolics LM-2 Symbolic Processing System, 1981 The LM-2 was a popular AI (Artificial Intelligence) machine when it was introduced in 1981. It had a 32-bit CPU with a 12K writable control store, 1MB of main memory and an 80MB hard disk. It also came with a bit-mapped display, mouse, and LISP programming environment."


Both LMI and Symbolics sold the CADR commercially though.


Yes, they sold slightly improved versions in very low volumes (~ 100 LM-2 were sold by Symbolics, see above), until they had a machine that was a bit more designed to be a commercial product - machines which were still very fragile -> the Symbolics 3600 and the LMI LAMBDA.




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