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Librarians Fighting to Save Moore's Law Issue

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the reference-section-referee dept.

wambaugh writes "As reported earlier, Intel is offering $10,000 for a copy of the April 19, 1965 issue of Electronics containing Moore's original article predicting 'Moore's Law.' Now it is being reported that academic science libraries are having to make sure no go-getters make off with their copies. At least one copy is already missing from the University of Illinois. Too bad Intel won't settle for a pdf."

43 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Ebay Copy For Sale by mfh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lo and behold... brothers of Slashdot; here is an Ebay auction with an alleged copy of the Electronics mag from 1965, that (purportedly) did not come from a library.

    My grand-pappy used to say, "if it looks too good to be true, it is." I'm guessing that Intel's prerequisite about having an intact magazine will put this auction out of the running for the $10k prize, as the pages are all put in anti-acid sleeves, according to the seller.

    Not sure if it's legit but if Intel wants to save a buck or two they might call an emergency meeting and head over to buy it. Unless this auction is a hoax. Caveat Emptor sirrahs...

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by blastwave · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I simply don't see the value in a 1965 magazine article which can be read electronically quite easily. This is not the rosetta stone. Its not some lost artifact of human history.

      For Intel to be so immature as to put a bounty on a copy of a magazine from 1965 is amazing. It feels like bad marketting and bad decisions on someones part.

      Intel would do better to fund a project at the Smithsonian that would have a functional example of a computer from every year since 1965. Then at least there would be both historical and educational value as well as a demonstration of corporate responsibility.

      Senseless market droids running amok is what this magazine business is.

      Dennis from Blastwave.org
      http://www.blastwave.org/
      An OpenSolaris Community Site

    2. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by rm999 · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are plenty of copies of the magazine laying around - there is no reason to believe this guy has a fake copy or that he stole it. The magazine was valuable before Intel asked for it - it is clearly a collector's item.

      BTW, I think I read last week that Intel announced it has gotten more than enough offers and the deal is done. They don't need to save 10,000 dollars and look like jerks (10,000 dollars is change to a company as big as they are).

    3. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by courseB · · Score: 2, Insightful

      dude a magazine is a dead tree, let it fall on the ground and grow another :)

    4. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In the original announcement, they said the 10k was for the first best complete copy, and that they would consider purchasing additional copies, but not at 10k each.

      This isn't the exact wording used because the wantitnow article has been deleted or expired, so if somebody has a copy it would be beneficial.

      I would hazard that they want to give it to Moore as a gift, but its most likely simply marketting and advertising.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    5. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by mo^ · · Score: 2, Funny

      What is this "outside" you speak of?

      --
      bah!*@%!
    6. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale by Acer500 · · Score: 2, Funny

      C'mon, you must have read about it somewhere :-)

      --
      There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
  2. I have to live with the unfortunate circumstance by ICECommander · · Score: 3, Interesting

    of being a few blocks from Grainger (the library from which the U of I copy was stolen). I spend quite a good deal of time there, it's really unfortunate.

    --
    All your Sybase are belong to us.
  3. Um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why doesn't Intel just buy it off some library for 'permanent loan,' like in a museum?

    Or for that matter, why not just post a copy of it, nobody will know/care that its really the one.

    Eh! FP?

    1. Re:Um... by Kwirl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would suppose the answer to be that they are attempting to generate publicity, while also encouraging people to look back at the roots of computing and the amazing growth since that time.

      Many companies spend millions of dollars on PR campaigns, yet here Intel has put up a reward a fraction of that size and has generated more attention than any Intel commercials I can recall seeing offhand.

      This reward is as much publicity stunt as it is a valid reward, but thats how our country works. Props to them on doing it right.

    2. Re:Um... by PopeRatzinger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Furthermore, most old computer magazine library copies are simply too damaged at this point to be worth anything. I've had a habit of reading through old computing magazines (e.g., all the editions of Creative Computing and Byte from the late '70s) when I get the opportunity, and I've never seen an institutional copy of such magazines still in good condition.

  4. Etics? What's that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "At least one copy is already missing from the University of Illinois. Too bad Intel won't settle for a pdf."

    Too bad some people have no ethics, or morality.

    Welcome to humanity. Hope you enjoy your stay.

    1. Re:Etics? What's that? by ModernGeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I know what you mean everyone is out there for a quick dollar

      --
      Sig: I stole this sig.
    2. Re:Etics? What's that? by jmc · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Having worked extensively in the UIUC library system while I was a student there, I have to say, chances are just as likely this copy is filed next to "Dr. Hibbert's Guide to Good Horse Nutrition" in the veterinary library on the other side of campus.

      Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence. Especially when a state beaurocracy is involved.

  5. How dumb by britneys+9th+husband · · Score: 3, Funny

    Didn't these people ever stop and think about how suspicious it will look when Intel sees the "property of Massachusetts Institute of Technology libraries" stamp? Talk about dumb criminals.

    --
    Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
    1. Re:How dumb by product+byproduct · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If the MIT stamp and the Harvard stamp aren't on the same page, then both issues could be disassembled to form a complete stampless issue.

    2. Re:How dumb by Caseyscrib · · Score: 2, Funny

      Perhaps they just want some reading material for when they're on the shitter.

  6. One stolen copy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    how is this news? Intel only wants *one* issue, so at most one copy will be stolen, the library marks erased, and exchanged for $10,000 cash. Any other attempts will be late and fall flat.

    1. Re:One stolen copy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just because only 1 copy will be bought does not mean only one copy will be stolen. a bunch will probably be stolen as the thieves race to Intel to try to cash in. If the thieves are too late, well, it's no skin off their teeth... I mean... their copy was stolen anyways!

  7. Re:I have to live with the unfortunate circumstanc by Jandar0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As a fellow Illini I understand the feeling, and I have an especially strong feeling on this particular issue. As it happens, after reading about the Moore's law article on Slashdot I popped into the library on one of my regular trips, actually found the book and read through it (though I didn't walk off with it!). Part of me wanted to take it down to the desk and suggest that it be kept under lock and key for a few weeks, but for some reason I didn't act on that instinct, and boy do I feel dumb. The next day it walked away =(

  8. My Theory by mfh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Intel did this as a marketing ploy -- only. They set aside $10k for one copy of the Electronics mag, knowing all sorts of them would go missing, thus increasing the value of *their* copy, while creating quite a stir. Intel will put it up for auction since the value was increased, or they might keep it around, collecting value.

    The funny thing is... they are getting a lot of press over this, so it's a very successful advertising campaign, and for the LOW PRICE of only $10,000. Compared to some ad campaigns? That's NOTHING!

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:My Theory by blastwave · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That is a good theory and entirely reasonable.

      What bothers me is that $10K is nothing ( an accounting rounding error ) for Intel and thus they should have exercised some intelligence in honour of Moores Law and Intel engineering traditions.

      They should have "thought" a little bit and done something worthwhile for the world instead of sending money crazed loons after an old magazine.

      Hopefully, please, Intel did not do this simply to save marketting budget. I would like to think that a company with such a long and successful history could do better than this sort of nonesense.

      Dennis at Blastwave.org
      http://www.blastwave.org/
      An OpenSolaris Community Site

  9. Re:how about taking off those shaded glasses by mattbot+5000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For $10K too bad the Libraries can't settle for pdfs. I'm sure libraries would gladly settle for PDFs if all it cost were $10,000. The academic publishing industry has a stranglehold on libraries like that.

  10. Nasty Librarians by nastyphil · · Score: 4, Funny

    Am I the only one who misread the Subject?

    I had visions of otherwise demure, bookish girls wearing glasses duking it out in a wafer fab plant before tumbling over a workbench into a pit of jelly...

    --
    Dialectician. Archology.
    1. Re:Nasty Librarians by stor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Am I the only one who misread the Subject?

      Apparently...

      I had visions of otherwise demure, bookish girls wearing glasses duking it out in a wafer fab plant before tumbling over a workbench into a pit of jelly...

      Perhaps you should lay off the anime for a month or two my friend. =)

      Cheers
      Stor

      --
      "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
  11. PDF of article by hajmola · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "Too bad Intel won't settle for a pdf"
    RTFA...and scroll.

    "Cramming More Components Onto Integrated Circuits"
    (Acrobat PDF file, 167 KB)
    Author: Gordon E. Moore
    Publication: Electronics, April 19, 1965

    ftp://download.intel.com/research/silicon/moorespa per.pdf

    1. Re:PDF of article by NutscrapeSucks · · Score: 5, Funny

      Check out the cartoon on page 3 of Steve Jobs selling Mac Minis at Walmart.

      --
      Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
  12. Re:A bit late for this story. by aussie_a · · Score: 2, Funny

    Welcome to slashdot.

  13. stealing from the library by weighn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I worked in a library for 9 years, it's funny what people steal. The Mason's steal all of the books revealing their secret rites, the Scientologists do something similar to the books on cults.
    We had a lovely old stitch bound book on FORTRAN that walked when some local geeks attempted to start a computer museum! WHY!?

    --
    Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
    1. Re:stealing from the library by imroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My mum works at the CSU Mitchell (Bathurst) library. Just recently they caught some nutter that was cutting sections out of books. I think he was cutting out sections on poisonous animals, dunno why. The police searched his place and found lots of other pages he'd also cut out. The library workers didn't know about all of the books he'd attacked. I don't know if they're still working on these books, but my mum was saying it would take a long time to find which books the pages came from and sort out the different copies. That's right, many of the pages were from nursing textbooks, of which they have multiple copies and this nutter felt compelled to attack all of them. He might have also attacked books at the local city library. It's amazing how much of a problem can be created by a mentally-disturbed individual with a craft knife.

  14. Looking for ancient texts? by zambuka · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is where you need a Tome Raider.
    [Enter, stage left, busty librarian with guns on her hips]

  15. I don't see by teamhasnoi · · Score: 2, Funny
    why the guys at Intel just build or buy one of these and go get one themselves.

    Sheesh. No wonder AMD is spanking them.

    Save the libraries! Grab the T-Bar!

  16. Moore's law by olavl · · Score: 5, Informative

    As soon as I read the ad on ebay, I check my library. They had a copy, and I reserved it.

    When picking it up, the computer told the librarian that it could not be lend out, since it was a rare item. The librarian frowned and aussumed it had to be an error. I got the magazine anyway.

    Instead of stealing it, I made few good color scans and returned the magazine :)

    The raw scans (tiff, 100Mb): http://laudy.net/moore.zip

    Cleaned version(tiff, 100Mb):

    http://laudy.net/moore_clean.zip

    1.7 Mb/file Jpg version:

    http://laudy.net/moore_jpg.zip

    1. Re:Moore's law by anaradad · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When picking it up, the computer told the librarian that it could not be lend out, since it was a rare item. The librarian frowned and aussumed it had to be an error. I got the magazine anyway.

      It's unlikely that was a librarian. It was probably an underpaid library clerk or student worker. Libraries rarely waste money by putting professionals to work checking out books. This is like assuming that the person who handed you a toothbrush as you left the dentist's office was a dentist.
  17. Re:I wonder what James Randi by Green+Salad · · Score: 3, Funny
    Evolution of Language Through The Ages...

    I'm a language "creationist" you inconsiderate clod!

  18. UIUC Librarians by daigu · · Score: 3, Informative

    I worked at UIUC as a graduate assistant when I went to library school. Missing volumes or articles ripped from journals aren't that uncommon. In fact, they subscribe to a document delivery service that is designed to address this very issue.

    Practically every academic library doesn't lend out serials because of the fact that many of the journals a library subscribes to are irreplaceable should they be lost or stolen. No opportunity to try out the, "Oh, I lost it" option. So, people would need to make a concerted effort to steal this volume - and then deal with all the other issues such needing to have a way to mask its origins.

    Of course, people that would steal it in the first place wouldn't necessarily think out all these issues. So, if they actually got it out in the first place, they would likely dump it when they realized they couldn't do anything with it - or Intel referred them to the police.

  19. It's been found - BBC News story here: by IainMH · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4472549.stm

  20. Re:Ebay Copy For Sale - SOLD FOR 10K by TDyl · · Score: 5, Informative

    The BBC are reporting that a British engineer has "won" the auction. The link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4472549.stm

    --
    Todd: I hope it proves as delicious as the farmers that grew them
  21. The BBC says.... by BigBadBus · · Score: 4, Informative
    The reward has been collected

    --
    My web domain.
  22. Re:Felony theft. by ebvwfbw · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Would you want to litigate that one? Yes your honor, this man stole a 1965 magazine from the library. The judge would probably stop you there and throw you out of court. The issue the month before and after are probably worth nothing, even on a good day.

    Even if the judge heard the case, you would have to prove that copy is worth more than $5,000. Good luck doing that. It would be a quick way to end your career. If the suspect is a minority, the ACLU might jump in and demonize you as well. Want to be a poster-boy for prosecuting someone over a 40 year old magazine? I bet there would even be jokes at your expense on Leno and Letterman, then the obligatory jokes about tough (stereotypical spinster) librarians. When they say "shhhhh" they MEAN "shhhh!" Better do it!

  23. Already Been found, $10,000 Reward Taken by jerichohol · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4472549.stm

    A copy of the original Electronics magazine in which Moore's Law was first published has turned up under the floorboards of a Surrey engineer.

    David Clark had kept copies of the magazine for years, despite pleas from his wife to throw them away.

    Now the couple are celebrating after collecting the $10,000 reward which was offered on eBay by chip maker Intel.

    I bit late aren't we but congrats to the engineer who found it

  24. Of course they didn't. by raehl · · Score: 3, Informative

    Didn't these people ever stop and think about how suspicious it will look when Intel sees the "property of Massachusetts Institute of Technology libraries" stamp?

    Because there is no such stamp in magazines stolen from the UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. Talk about dumb slashdot posters.

    --
    paintball
  25. Re:a *rounding* error? by hawk · · Score: 2, Funny
    If it's intel, it must be a division error . . .

    "I am pentium of the borg.
    Division is futile.
    You will be approximated."

    :)

    hawk