Wang Laboratories

Wang Laboratories

By Don Stevens

Was a computer company in the town I spent a chunk of my life growing up in, Lowell, Massachusetts.

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They made computers.​

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​Mr. Stevens moved from St. Louis, MO. to Needham, MA in 1983.

​Wang

Laboratories​

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This is a picture of one of the founders of Wang Laboratories. Wang and G.Y. Chu started the computer company in 1951.

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Even though my mother worked for Wang we never owned a Wang computer. ~Mr. Stevens

Dr. An Wang

Typesetting is using premade blocks of letters and symbols and arranging them to print mass quantities of flyers, booklets, newspapers, and so forth. The Linasec allowed for much faster computer like typesetting than pictured above!

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Typesetting

​Perhaps improving the printing press wasn't enough, they improved on calculating too. These transistor based machines multiplied using adding logarithms. They were less than perfect, 2x2= 3.999999999! They got so much better.

Wang

Calculators​

This word processor looks more like an electric typewriter than a computer, but it was more than that, and that, too!

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Mr. Stevens: My first word processor looked like a computer and I didn't get it till after I had a computer... really!

​The Wang

1200​

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In reality it was an electric typewriter, at least in part, the IBM Selectric was the interface for the Wang 1200. It stored the info in duel tape decks!

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I've never used a tape drive~ Mr. Stevens 2022

​IBM Selectric

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Type on a typewriter...

​Save on a tape!

For many people the act of typing on an electric typewriter and having that data saved on the magnetic medium was computing. Though many had used a calculator before, I remember using my grandfathers when I was just four, I didn't use a word processor until I probably in my early teens.

​By the time word processors had reached their pinnacle they were basically computers. Our first one did more than my first PC!

This computer was more advanced than their word processor, but it still used an electronic typewriter to use it.

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​My first typewriter was all uppercase letters and when it hit the end of the page a bell would DING! ~Mr. Stevens

The Wang

3300​

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This was their "mini" computer, and you can see that now it has its own keyboard, monitor, and tape drive all in one.

The basic language that ran the computer was used on non Wang computers, too!​

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Wang

2200​

As Wang computers changed with the times they started looking more like we still see some computers still looking like today! The PC pictured doesn't have a tape drive, but a disk drive, even the keyboard looks like it might be used today.

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Looking more

PC now?​

At first Wang computers were not IBM compatible computers. Their founder did not like IBM. That's ironic given that their word processors used the IBM Selectrics as an interface!

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His son tried to tell him so, but he was stubborn! Or so I have read. ~Mr. Stevens

​Dr. Wang did

not like IBM​

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The Wang PC350-16 and the PC350-40 were computers that ran MS-DOS and Windows 3.0

​Run Windows?

Wang computers finally came along and offered IBM emulation. That means they pretended to be IBM compatible PCs... sort of!

Sort of...

Did the Wang go IBM?

When I was a young man I visited Wang HQ in Lowell, MA. a few times. It was cool to see their giant drives! ~Mr. Stevens​

Did Wang ever run Win95?

One fun thing to do with older computers is to try to get them to run later software!​

It topped out at 50 MHz without overclocking, and I had Windows 95 running on a 66 MHz PC once, so maybe someone has done it!

486 50 MHz

This computer ran MSDOS 5 and Windows 3.11. I couldn't quickly find a case where Windows 95 was ran of the PC.

The Alliance 750CD

As Wang was in decline they entered a deal with IBM to resell their computers and IBM bought Wang stock, but the end was near.

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At first Wang didn't have stock but took out debt to build itself, Dr. An Wang wanted his family to own as much of the company as possible.

​Close to the end and more...

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​Wang was sold and the name was passed on for many years after. Some of their computer systems were still running with support till around 2014, but before that they lost Wang Towers, now called Cross Point.

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Not their tower anymore!

​~ Mr. Stevens, today...

Now you know a little about Wang Laboratories. Let's take that knowledge and see what we learned!

Multiple Choice

Wang Laboratories first made this, it made printing easier?

• Linasec, a typesetter!

• Ipad

• typewriter

• The telephone

Multiple Choice

One of Wang's calculators answered 2x2=

• 4

• 6

• 3.999999999

Multiple Choice

Wang HQ and Wang Towers were located in

• Needham, MA

• Lowell, MA

• St. Louis, MO

• New York, NY

Multiple Choice

G.Y. Chu and this man founded Wang Laboratories?

• Peter Parker

• Bill Gates

• Dr. An Wang

• Steve Jobs

Multiple Choice

The first Wang word processer used this electric typewriter as it's keyboard?

• BrotherLux

• IBM Selectric

• Apple IIe

• abacus

Multiple Choice

The Wang 3300 still used an electronic typewriter as a keyboard.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The Wang 2200 has a monitor, keyboard, and a

• tape drive.

• disk drive.

• paper drive.

• hard drive.

Multiple Choice

Did Dr. Wang like IBM?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Did Wang built its business on selling stock or taking on debt?

• Selling stock.

• Taking on debt.

Multiple Choice

Is Wang Laboratories still around today?

• Yes

• No

• I'm not sure.