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by CamperBob2 972 days ago
Our NIH grants had major strings attached, like "you may not buy non-instrumentation computers" (at least, that's what I was told, I did not actually get to read the grants)

Sadly, that bit of goofiness goes back a long way. It's why the early HP desktops were sold as "calculators." Many important customers told them that buying a computer required approval from the board of directors, but anybody could buy a "calculator" out of petty cash.
3 comments
dctoedt 972 days ago
Aboard the USS Enterprise (the aircraft carrier) in the late 1970s, I automated some of my division's reports by writing BASIC programs on a "programmable calculator" — a desktop in all but name — that was owned by the air wing (IIRC) and used for setting up missions.

(It was a day of celebration when the 8K of RAM was upgraded to 16K.)

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mattkrause 972 days ago
It's also not actually true.

The NIH themselves is fine with you buying computers that directly support the "aims" of the grant (e.g., data analysis). They don't want you buying "general" office equipment off a grant.

However, most universities are touchy about this and default-deny all computer purchases unless you yell the chapter and verse of the regs at them (which I have now done several times).

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CamperBob2 972 days ago
Yep, I'm referring to a historical anecdote, not current practice.

It'll be tough to dig up a solid citation for the HP "calculator" story but I've heard it from more than one reasonably-credible source, e.g.: https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/9499/when... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard_9100A#cite_not... .

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kps 972 days ago
I've heard the same about the DEC PDP branding — a “Programmable Data Processor” could slip through where a “computer” couldn't.
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mananaysiempre 972 days ago
“Inside the AS/400” by Soltis quotes a story of IBM’s Rochester group developing the System/3 minicomputer (followed by the incompatible System/38, later rebranded the AS/400 and later still the i) under the guise of an “accounting machine”.
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mattkrause 972 days ago
Oh, I totally believe it!

I just wanted to explain that although "No computers on NIH grants" is still current practice at most universities, it shouldn't be.

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robwwilliams 972 days ago
That statement is flat out false. You can buy as many computers as you can justify on an NIH research project. I have bought several dozens over 35 years without a peep.
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