Re: Then and Now

[ABLE1 <someone@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2/5/2016 2:09 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> "ABLE1" <someone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:9v1ty.326537$QG6.216776@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> On 2/4/2016 3:08 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>> Customer of mine has n his keychain a memory chip that one time costs
>>>> $25,000 for a main frame computer of course worth nothing now
>>>
>>> I remember back in my early PC days when I was just a computer geek and
>>> computer geeks weren't cool...  The owner of a local computer store used
>>> to
>>> keep all his latest generation loose computer memory in a large fanny
>>> pack
>>> on his body at all times in the store.  Now I have single memory chips
>>> laying on shelves and falling on the floor that are larger than every
>>> piece
>>> of memory he owned combined back then.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> LOL You guys are really messing around with some antique memories.
>>
>> When I bought my first "computer" I got it on a 30 day trial period.  It
>> was called the "Timex Sinclair 1000" and it had on board 2k of that memory
>> stuff.  Price tag was $99 as I remember.  I opted to get the extra 16K
>> added memory module for an additional $39.00.  What a bargain that
>> was..................
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000
>
>
> Way back when I wanted a Timex Sincalir 1000.  It was one of the first
> portables.  It wouldn't have been my first though.  I started with a
> Commodore Pet 2001.  I learned BASIC and file handling on that machine with
> its manually started and stopped onboard cassette deck.  Do you remember
> Squiggle?  I copied the program out of the manual and studied how it worked
> to learn to write BASIC.  Then we moved on to a Heathkit H89a with a Z80
> micro processor and actualy floppy drives.  We thought we were the kings of
> computing when we got a double sided floppy.  We talked about getting a
> Winchester drive like it was the Holy Grail.  I wrote some simple game
> program on that computer.  A numeric version of Mastermind.  Black jack
> against the computer based on a single deck.  Strictly text based.
>
> In 1980 I got to play with an HP9825a.  It was the first time I got to play
> with anything that had real math functions and A PLOTTER.  I made tons of
> pretty graphs with it, and wrote a simple high speed memory game.  That was
> a stretch with its single line text display.
>
> I didn't get into video game writing until 1981 when I got access to some
> Apple II+ computers in my senior year in high school.  I think every guy in
> the class wrote his own version of Space Invaders or Pong.  I wrote a text
> based DND style game on it too.  I used a array storage file on a floppy to
> mimic a map, and got it stuck in a loop doing random disc access.  Smoke
> poured out of that one.  It was the first time I managed to damage hardware
> with software, but it wasn't the first time I saw smoke in conjunction with
> computing.
>
> In 197X I was coding madly on the H89a to write a poker game.  Back then I
> could holds all the variables in my head.  I'ld been writing code for about
> 9 hours straight when I heard this huge pop and flames shot up the wall in
> my folks kitchen.  My dad said I did a back flip out of my chair, but I
> don't believe it.  APS had dropped a leg across a wire somewhere and we were
> taking a few hundred more volts into the house than we should have.  The
> surge suppressor plugged into the wall exploded and burst into flames.
>


Geez Bob, isn't it amazing the things we use to do..................

Really kind of boggles the mind.