Editing JOSS (section)

===JOSS-2 use===
By the end of 1966 the new JOSS-2 system was fully functional and turned over to JOSS use 24/7. The new machine offered about 30 times the computational speed, five times the storage space per user, and many new features in the language itself.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=5}}{{sfn|Bryan|1966|p=2}} The new platform could ultimately support up to 100 terminals in simultaneous use.{{sfn|Bryan|1966|p=3}} The Air Force remained the owner of the system, with Rand and others operating as consultants. [[CPU time]] was billed out to external users at a rate of about $1 per minute, although that was only during the actual execution; time spent typing and printing was free.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=32}}

By 1970, there were between 500 and 600 users at Rand and various Air Force sites across the country.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=10}} Many of these were occasional users, precisely what the system had been intended for. To support them, the custom terminals were equipped with special "JOSS plugs" so they could be wheeled from office to office and plugged into custom outlets. Two-hundred of the plugs were installed around Rand, and the terminal chassis was designed to be narrow enough to fit through doors while still leaving room for a coffee on one side.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=15}} Toggling the power switch on the terminal caused it to connect at the new location.{{sfn|Bryan|1966|p=3}}

The custom terminals had been designed for JOSS as the engineers felt that the Model 33's "telecommunications functions are a mystery to the untrained person" and would be too confusing for the occasional users to bother learning.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=14}} In practice, the Selectric-based mechanisms proved too fragile for the constant use they saw and were frequently being repaired in the field by IBM servicemen. In 1970, a full third of the terminals were completely rebuilt, and the output from the computer slowed to improve reliability. The Air Force, by this time, had decided to use the Model 35 instead, as it was both readily available and much less expensive.{{sfn|Bryan|1966|p=12}}{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=9}}

Uses were enthusiastic and to serve them, Rand began publishing ''The JOSS Newsletter'', edited by Shirley Marks. Ultimately 44 issues were published between November 1967 and June 1971.{{sfn|Marks|1971|p=47}}