A small wake for ICL was
held on the 19th of April 2002, but the organisers forgot to mention the fact
on the friendsoficl website ! Instead of the planned crowd of 2000 in the Albert
Hall, it ended up with about 80 crammed into a winebar off Grosvenor Square.
Most of the attendees were ex UK marketing and sales, with a few real people
thrown in for flavour.
Hedley White generated the following eulogy :
"In the beginning were 2 tribes in the land of Britannia, the Samasites and the Hollerithites known to all as the round holers and the slotted holers. And many were the battles fought in their name as they hurled their engines of war against each other . But even as they ranged their batteries of Samastronics against the might of the 915 a new tribe had entered the battle from the west and the Indian Blanket Manufacturers swept all before them. Thus it came about that the elders of the two tribes joined their forces to fight the new enemy and the new tribe was called ICT. And the engineers of ICT laboured mightily to produce a new battle weapon to fight the 360 and the new weapon was called the 1900 series. And the 1904 begat the 1904E and the 1904E begat the 1904A and the 1904A begat the 1904S : but even as the begetting was being begotten a new force appeared from the lands in the north and the tribe of English Electric Leo Marconi and all stations to Crewe (change for Kidsgrove) appeared , clad in their blue raiment and rained down their System 4 on the field of battle.
And many were the wars fought as the J operating system was pitted against the might of George 3. But the rulers of the kingdom of Britannia were sore troubled for they desired a strong indigenous computer manufacturer and they spake unto the elders of the two tribes and said " Get your act together lads or else" And thus in the year 1968 was born the tribe of ICL. But still all was not peace in the land as the elders of the two tribes and the sons of the elders and the sons of the sons of the elders fought for the top jobs even unto the lowliest Account Manager.
And there arrived a new prophet called the lord Cross who gathered together the troops and declared " I have seen a vision and the vision shall be called New Range and it will fire shells tipped with the deadly VME" And for a time the troops were puzzled as only the wisest of the sages in the kingdom were able to comprehend the mysteries of such wonders as the Orthogonal Instruction Set and Reverse Polish Notation. And their puzzlement grew even greater as the acolyte of the lord Cross, No Brain Hero, devised new ceremonies and liturgies for the ICL tribe and declared that only if a salesman could walk around the ramparts of Hartree House 200 times while hauling the weight of a 750 page Blue Border would he be granted the keys to sell the mighty 2900 engine. But soon all was well and the rulers of the kingdom bought the 2900 by the score.
And one day a new prophet appeared unto the tribe and the lord Bonfield, for it was he, travelled to the east to the land of Fujitsu and returned bearing a shining cube for the family of Gorton to build into their engine of war. And the elders of Fujitsu liked the product so much they bought the company. But even as they laboured , new stars were arising in the firmament and the lord Bonfield declared " We will follow the new star called Unix". But even as he spake the barbarian hordes from Microsoft and Intel were sweeping all before them and the lord Bonfield spake again and said " There is no profit in shifting tin, we must change our battle strategy to Services Marketing" .
But the lord Bonfield moved on to a higher plane and the elders who were left began to worship a new god called Flotation. And the god Flotation promised the elders untold riches when they cashed in their share options. But alas the new god was a false god and soon his statue was toppled to the ground. And the elders of Fujitsu cried "Enough" and the name of ICL was consigned to that dark hall wherein lie the spirits of those names that have passed before such as Univac and Control Data and Burroughs and Digital and many more. And soon the voice of ICL was heard no more in the land save in strange gatherings of the faithful who met to break bread and drink wine and remember the glories of that once great name. Amen"