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9 HN recommenders · recommended in 8 months, 2018–2025
1:01:42 · 324K views · Dec 28, 2017
Michael Steil and Christian Hessmann's 34C3 talk explaining the Apollo Guidance Computer end to end: hardware design, operating system, and mission software.
Repeatedly called the best and most comprehensive AGC talk, with commenters rewatching it and treating it as foundational computer architecture learning.
10 comments from Hacker News
If anyone wants to learn more about the Apollo Guidance Computer, this talk[1] from 34C3 will teach you everything you wanted to know and more. The AGC had some really fascinating features for the time, including a cooperative multitasking system, interrupt driven IO, and even a virtual machine for doing linear algebra! [1] this video
For a comprehensive exposition of the technical aspects of the AGC, look no further than the Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk: this video They not only do a brilliant job of exposing this niche system, but it is a foundational lecture for my knowledge of computer architecture in general
The best presentation I have seen on the AGC architecture: this video It does present addresses in hexadecimal, oddly. The computer was 15-bit and used octal in its display panel. I suppose the presenters thought the audience would understand hex better.
Michael’s blog is one of my favorites. His “Ultimate Guide” talks are great and I rewatch them at least once a year. Ultimate Guide to the C64: [LINK] Ultimate Guide to the Game Boy: [LINK] Ultimate Guide to the Apollo Guidance Computer: this video
This is the best description of AGC I have seen so far, from hardware design to mission software, layer by layer: "The Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk" this video