04-08-2010 03:31 AM - edited 04-08-2010 03:31 AM
Lucither wrote:I wish i could join in the conversation about old computers but im only 31, so way to young for that
I did used to love the sound of my Spectrum Sinclair loading Barbarian, should bring it out on itunes so i can listen to it again.
Damn, how old do you think we are? 37 here. 😉
And Barbarian was a great game.
04-08-2010 03:35 AM
Lucither wrote:
I wish i could join in the conversation about old computers but im only 31, so way to young for that
You think you're too young at 31?? I'm 28. My first computer was a BBC Basic when I was 7 and then we got a PC with Windows 3.1 on it when I was about 10. I didn't start learning any languages other than Basic until after Uni.
04-08-2010 09:22 AM
James W wrote:
Lucither wrote:
I wish i could join in the conversation about old computers but im only 31, so way to young for that
You think you're too young at 31?? I'm 28. My first computer was a BBC Basic when I was 7 and then we got a PC with Windows 3.1 on it when I was about 10. I didn't start learning any languages other than Basic until after Uni.
I can still remember talking my father into buying my first computer system (at a rather tender age) It was totally state of the art and had a high speed storage device that was able to read or write over 1Kb/sec. I hate to date myself but, my introduction to"Graphical Programming" (they called it that) was in Turtle Logo.
Any one else fluent ?
04-08-2010 10:23 AM
Wow you guys are young, talking about "personal computers". So fancy!
That term did not even exist when I started programming.
We punched our cards in high school, then drove the card stack once a week to the state capital where the govenrnment had a big room full of computing hardware. I think it had 32kB of memory total.
Anyone remember the paper stock that was patterned and ruled correctly to write FORTRAN programs with paper and pencil? That's how you design the program before going to the card puncher. 80 spaces, starting with comment, statement number, continuation field, statement, and ID field at the end.
Here's a fancy version (printed, not paper&pencil)
04-08-2010 10:39 AM
altenbach wrote:Wow you guys are young, talking about "personal computers". So fancy!
That term did not even exist when I started programming.
We punched our cards in high school, then drove the card stack once a week to the state capital where the govenrnment had a big room full of computing hardware. I think it had 32kB of memory total.
...
When I first heard the term "PC" is was for Portable Computer and was the name for the Compaq (same one in James Burke's series "Connections") that had dual 8.5 inch floppies and COULD be carried by a single person. Bot where they a pain to fix! Two pounds of shift registers in a one pound sock.
In order to handle those "Old Timers" that come into our office for LabVIEW training and start bragging about "toogle-ins", I keep on my desk;
1) The Front Panel of a PDP-11/70
2) An 8.5 inch floppy
3) Punch cards
4) 512 BITS (not bytes) of core memory
This lets the instructors reply "I'll see your toggle-in and raise you core memory."
Ben
04-08-2010 10:40 AM
04-08-2010 10:43 AM
ABEND
Ben
04-08-2010 11:21 AM
altenbach wrote:
Anyone remember the paper stock that was patterned and ruled correctly to write FORTRAN programs with paper and pencil? That's how you design the program before going to the card puncher. 80 spaces, starting with comment, statement number, continuation field, statement, and ID field at the end.
I do! I do!
Wait... why am I so quick to age myself?
04-08-2010 11:34 AM
04-08-2010 11:59 AM