Stuff that really bugs me

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Papa_Complex

My first "PC" was a TS1000 with a dictation tape recorder attatched

that sounds about right...

[OTB]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

When I took comp prog in HS, 1979. We had a Tandy that had MAYBE 16 meg of ram, used a cassette player for program back up and had to be linked to a server via a cradle modem to do much of anything. I remember writing a casino program (in basic-btw) that took up almost a ream of paper. We had to back up the computer onto paper, took forever. I thought fortran was invented by God himself!!! The first time I saw a floppy, I may have gotten a boner!

My first program was written in Fortran on IBM punhcards....in 1969; it was a program to calculate the salinity curve of water relative to temperature. It weighed almost a lb.

I graduated to basic on punched paper tape: really screwed you up if you had "hanging chads"
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QwkLPg-mY0"/URL]

['73 H1 Triple]

Originally Posted by OTB

.........
I graduated to basic on punched paper tape: really screwed you up if you had "hanging chads"

Those paper tapes were what I ran when I started machining using NC ( numerical control ) mills. You learned real fast to empty the catch tray when it got 3/4 full or those little paper punch holes would fly EVERYWHERE

The masters ( the program that told the machine how to read the tapes and how to move ) for the lathes and mills were punched from Mylar tapes.

[Amber Lamps]

I really don't think that modern kids totally realize what advances have been made in just the last 20-30 years---It's been ridiculous! I don't know what the next 30 years will bring but I doubt that it will be as dramatic. I mean, when I was a kid we had a phone with dial and a B&W TV, now I could be writing this on a phone, that also plays videos, games, etc.

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

I really don't think that modern kids totally realize what advances have been made in just the last 20-30 years---It's been ridiculous! I don't know what the next 30 years will bring but I doubt that it will be as dramatic. I mean, when I was a kid we had a phone with dial and a B&W TV, now I could be writing this on a phone, that also plays videos, games, etc.

Hell, I still remember morning milk deliveries from when I was a kid; those glass bottles with the cream separated and floating on top. It was Prince Edward Island in the 1960s, so think any reasonable sized town in the US, in the 1950s

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

I don't know what the next 30 years will bring but I doubt that it will be as dramatic.

That's only because you are limiting your imagination to what you know and are familiar with today. Technology progresses at a geometric rate. As new technology is invented and made available, that same advanced technology is used in the creation of other advanced tech, and so on. Not to mention how much R&D is being done on finding alternate methods of accomplishing the functions we use today (think processing power, storage, etc.) We're going to see some crazy shit in our lifetime.

On a related note, I found this pic the other day that was pretty interesting. It's showing how we commonly acheive(d) 1GB of storage, in 1980 vs 2009.

[OTB]

Years ago (like, 1970) I read a Sci-Fi story set in the 24th century about a detective who carried a notebook sized computer interface and had access to the world's databases at his touch through satellite transmissions anywhere he went.....

40 years later, people have that same access through wallet-sized (and smaller) computer interfaces........

Who knows what the NEXT 40 years will bring.....

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

I really don't think that modern kids totally realize what advances have been made in just the last 20-30 years---It's been ridiculous! I don't know what the next 30 years will bring but I doubt that it will be as dramatic. I mean, when I was a kid we had a phone with dial and a B&W TV, now I could be writing this on a phone, that also plays videos, games, etc.

Agreement, I've been saying for a while now that I doubt my children (when I have them) will be as easily able to adapt to new technologies as I am since the rush of it seems to be starting to stagnate. Probably why I keep so many obsolete computers around

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by OTB

Years ago (like, 1970) I read a Sci-Fi story set in the 24th century about a detective who carried a notebook sized computer interface and had access to the world's databases at his touch through satellite transmissions anywhere he went.....

40 years later, people have that same access through wallet-sized (and smaller) computer interfaces........

Who knows what the NEXT 40 years will bring.....

yeah but where's my human-like android sidekick?

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

yeah but where's my human-like android sidekick?

Flying around the city with your jet pack.