I saw those 8" floppies when I was in high school. We just looked at them and grinned. 3.5" disks were the rage at the time, but I still loved my 5.25 that I could use a hole punch on to get them to be double sided. I think the 8.5s were connected to a WANG terminal somehow, but we never touched the thing since we spent most of our time connecting Mac Pluses (1mb) with a 5mb hard drive under one as a server together across the building (a huge complex) to AppleTalk, or then called LocalTalk.
You know when it comes to computers, I feel like Michael Corleone. Every time I try to get out, they pull me right back.
Back when I was young (see previous post), I was involved in transitioning the VA Hospital from PDP-11s to VAX machines. We added a single fibre-optic backbone and switches to the network to allow some PCs to be added to the dumbterminals on the network. We even added 9600 baud modems.
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 11/91
Yes, I used a Digital PDP-11, also the the -35 & -45. I don't recall the model of first computer I used in the late 60's, but it was made by GE in Phoenix. The first personal computer I used was the Digital PDP-8E and the I/O device was a Teletype model 28 with papertape. And it produced chad !!!
I used to be a computer operator and programmer in the early 70's at a local bank. The first mainframe I ran was an IBM 1410 that had 16K of memory. The first mainframe computer I programmed at the bank, a Honeywell had 32K of memory and a 3.5 megahertz processor. Our first really big mainframe was a Burroughs that had 50K of memory and disk packs that held 225 megabytes each.
What we have sitting on our desktops or laptops is something none of us could have ever dreamed about back in those days.
My first work on a PC was an Apple 2E. I was the treasurer for a parochial school. I used to do spread sheets on it. I thought I was in heaven.
Jack
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Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.,'03 GMC Savana 2500,'08 Vespa GTS 250
Started on Macs with a Mac Plus. Teaching graphic design on the Mac was the only way to go, still is. MacPlus to Mac Ci and Si and 6100, to PowerMacs now G4. But...being given the opportunity to teach an online course, I felt compelled to buy a PC, since most students have pcs at home, and I am expected to troubleshoot their problems from home. Actually they need Dr. Laura to troubleshoot their problems, but that's another story.
I have found the Dell laptop to be a good servicable machine, and once I got over the incredibly counter intuitive "housekeeping" processes, I find that most of the good graphic software works as well on both platforms. I still have my G4 at home and one at work and if money were not a consideration I would go with a mac laptop. (probably will someday again)
Where's the spell check on this thang?
cheers, bill b.
__________________ bill b. 1969 Airstream Sovereign 31' 2001 F250 7.3 Diesel
Macs -3 PCs - 1 soon to be none. I used Macs in college 20 years ago; switched back to Macs 4 years ago. Time spent on maintenance (and I am a heavy user) NONE! No software or hardware issues at all.
Old memories... I wrote my first computer program in college in 1963. Never took a course, however, because computers were too new then. As a freshman, I lived in Sperry Hall; the computer center was in Rand Hall. Can you guess the brand of the computer? How about the alma mater of Messrs Sperry and Rand?
Old memories... I wrote my first computer program in college in 1963. Never took a course, however, because computers were too new then. As a freshman, I lived in Sperry Hall; the computer center was in Rand Hall. Can you guess the brand of the computer? How about the alma mater of Messrs Sperry and Rand?
Mike,
Guess some of us are young. My first computer was a Texas Instruments 99A. Hooked it up to a black and white television. I had a tape drive for storage. Sold it to pay for a skate board in Junior High!
Guess some of us are young. My first computer was a Texas Instruments 99A. Hooked it up to a black and white television. I had a tape drive for storage. Sold it to pay for a skate board in Junior High!
I had one of those, or I should say it was a family Christmas present from Santa for all of us....can't say I like it much, but it was interesting, esp the tape storage.
Remember when Intellivision came out? They promised all kinds of add on accessories which included a tape drive. This was going to be your gaming device and your home computer. I still have mine along with a pot full of games. Still works!
Jack
__________________
Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.,'03 GMC Savana 2500,'08 Vespa GTS 250
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