... I considered abandoning them and using turtles but realized this would drastically reduce computing speed.
Your penchant for stomping reptiles wouldn't help, either.
Anyhow, you must get with the program here. When people tease you about your tech you're supposed to get all defensive, explain your choices ad nauseam, then plaintively complain that you've not complained about it. Finally, you stew about it and wonder why no one ever takes you seriously.
Capiche?
I don't have the necessary hubris for any capiche. But I know what you mean. Regarding this computer technology, I read some interesting stuff the other day in an old Vacuum Tube Valley magazine from 1999. It was a story about how the navy, in 1944, was looking for a way to train pilots in a better way by using a flight simulator instead of the old expensive and time consuming way of training them. So the navy awarded a contract to MIT to develop this flight simulator. The MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory started working on it under the direction of Gordon Brown, who hired two young men to oversee the project; Robert Everett and Jay Forrester. Of course back then this type of stuff was based on vacuum tube technology. Immediate problems arose regarding the logic circuits because no existing tube could act the way that was needed. Sylvania then developed the 7AK7 tube, the first electronic device ever developed specifically for digital logic applications. The MIT guys also ran into problems with the memory tubes which were made in MIT's own glassblowing shop. These tubes had two electron guns; one for reading, one for writing. Each of these memory tubes cost more than $1,000 (in early 1950's dollars) and the machine needed 16 of them at first.....for 256 words of memory. This was eventually increased to 2048 words. It was a 16 bit machine, the first to have a word length based on a factor of 8, which is standard practice today. The final version of this machine occupied 3100 square feet of space. This machine was the first digital computer to get an analog to digital converter, it was the first machine ever used in real time data acquisition. In 1953 a small computer called the Lincoln Memory Tester was built to exercise the core module of the big computer. The tester was built by some MIT students who later went on to found Digital Equipment Corporation. A book was written about this computer; Project Whirlwind: The History of a Pioneer Computer, by Kent Redmond and Thomas M. Smith.
Last edited by neoplacebo on Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm half surprised you didn't use cats as your alternate operating system. Although hard to herd they can be very motivated under the right circumstances.
Rotary wheels would have to be too big to utilize cats. Chipmunks were my fist choice but they're so fast I could never catch any of them.
I'm half surprised you didn't use cats as your alternate operating system. Although hard to herd they can be very motivated under the right circumstances.
Rotary wheels would have to be too big to utilize cats. Chipmunks were my fist choice but they're so fast I could never catch any of them.
Of course, what was I thinking?
Eamus Catuli~AC 000000000101010202020303010304 020405....Ahhhh, forget it, it's gonna be a while.
Oh, and I still have my first computer, a Leading Edge Model M, which had a gigantic 20 MB hard drive and ran DOS 2.1. Somewhere. Ha. The M stands for Mitsubishi, BTW.
I had a Model D. 40 MB drive, I think. That they had hard drives at all back then was earning their "leading edge" name. Got it around '86, eventually traded it for a Gateway 386. Can't imagine keeping old hardware around all this time, but hey - if it runs it's probably worth more than it was new, eh?
Oh, and I still have my first computer, a Leading Edge Model M, which had a gigantic 20 MB hard drive and ran DOS 2.1. Somewhere. Ha. The M stands for Mitsubishi, BTW.
I had a Model D. 40 MB drive, I think. That they had hard drives at all back then was earning their "leading edge" name. Got it around '86, eventually traded it for a Gateway 386. Can't imagine keeping old hardware around all this time, but hey - if it runs it's probably worth more than it was new, eh?
Well, I have not idea if it "runs" today or not. It's in some storage area here. As I recall, I got it around 1984. Cost me about $2k. Was worth it, though, as it helped me change careers from lab robot to IT guru. That paid a lot more. At least until the big dot com bust of 2002. Then things went south, and not in a good way.
Oh, and the Model D? The D stands for Daewoo, which is a a S. Korean mfg. The Model M was made by Japanese mfg Mitsubishi, and preceded the Model D. IMHO, IBM sort of blew it by not fully appreciating the vast potential home market for its PC division, and concentrating primarily on the business market. And even then, the PC was probably regarded by upper IBM management as a toy.
And even then, the PC was probably regarded by upper IBM management as a toy.
For home use, it was regarded as a toy by a lot of people, including me. I remember thinking, "I know there's a lot of stuff I could do with one of these if I had it, but I can't think of any compelling reason why I NEED one." That may have been true at the time, but almost from the day I got it, I used it for many things. I remember the original Quicken - not very user friendly and you had to buy these perforated checks to load to your printer and then load some envelopes, but hey - bill paying and home accounting was on its way to automation.
And even then, the PC was probably regarded by upper IBM management as a toy.
For home use, it was regarded as a toy by a lot of people, including me. I remember thinking, "I know there's a lot of stuff I could do with one of these if I had it, but I can't think of any compelling reason why I NEED one." That may have been true at the time, but almost from the day I got it, I used it for many things. I remember the original Quicken - not very user friendly and you had to buy these perforated checks to load to your printer and then load some envelopes, but hey - bill paying and home accounting was on its way to automation.
Well, for me it was far more than a toy. It was my gateway leading off the lab bench (where with just a bachelor's degree I was a few rungs down the corporate ladder from incompetent PhD's) to higher responsibility and pay. Not that I've ever been that fond of corporate politics.
Someday I might write a book about it. Or gussy it up into a script of some sort. Or just relax and work on my tan.
Not impressed today unless the drive is in the terabyte range.
I will say the HD mfg's seem to have made their products not only much bigger in capacity, but also much more durable. I remember the first IBM PC-XT I saw on the job in '83 had a hard drive crash that sunk it for a while. I never did get the details on what happened; the thing resided in the main bldg about a mile from the research facility where I was located.
Not impressed today unless the drive is in the terabyte range.
I will say the HD mfg's seem to have made their products not only much bigger in capacity, but also much more durable. I remember the first IBM PC-XT I saw on the job in '83 had a hard drive crash that sunk it for a while. I never did get the details on what happened; the thing resided in the main bldg about a mile from the research facility where I was located.
Yeah, but also there are lots of other storage options that don't require keeping everything on the same hard drive.
Not impressed today unless the drive is in the terabyte range.
I will say the HD mfg's seem to have made their products not only much bigger in capacity, but also much more durable. I remember the first IBM PC-XT I saw on the job in '83 had a hard drive crash that sunk it for a while. I never did get the details on what happened; the thing resided in the main bldg about a mile from the research facility where I was located.
Yeah, but also there are lots of other storage options that don't require keeping everything on the same hard drive.
Not impressed today unless the drive is in the terabyte range.
I will say the HD mfg's seem to have made their products not only much bigger in capacity, but also much more durable. I remember the first IBM PC-XT I saw on the job in '83 had a hard drive crash that sunk it for a while. I never did get the details on what happened; the thing resided in the main bldg about a mile from the research facility where I was located.
Yeah, but also there are lots of other storage options that don't require keeping everything on the same hard drive.
Like DVD's?
I was thinking more like cloud, but sure DVD's are good for some kinds of storage. Pictures, for example, stuff that doesn't get accessed very often or ever needs changing. Assuming, however, that you've got something to run them on. You could also use thumb drives for that sort of stuff.
Remember when everybody had cases full of 2.5 "floppies" for storage? Funny they still use the icon for "save" that looks like those floppies so many years after they've gone obsolete. Hell, probably most users under 40 don't even know what that icon is.
Not impressed today unless the drive is in the terabyte range.
I will say the HD mfg's seem to have made their products not only much bigger in capacity, but also much more durable. I remember the first IBM PC-XT I saw on the job in '83 had a hard drive crash that sunk it for a while. I never did get the details on what happened; the thing resided in the main bldg about a mile from the research facility where I was located.
Yeah, but also there are lots of other storage options that don't require keeping everything on the same hard drive.
Like DVD's?
I was thinking more like cloud, but sure DVD's are good for some kinds of storage. Pictures, for example, stuff that doesn't get accessed very often or ever needs changing. Assuming, however, that you've got something to run them on. You could also use thumb drives for that sort of stuff.
Remember when everybody had cases full of 2.5 "floppies" for storage? Funny they still use the icon for "save" that looks like those floppies so many years after they've gone obsolete. Hell, probably most users under 40 don't even know what that icon is.
Hell, I remember (and still have some) 5.25" floppies.
5.25" floppies were superceded by 3.5" floppies which were more durable and higher capacity. I don't remember any 2.5" floppies.
Remember, regardless of storage system, it's still all just one's and zeroes.
I can beat that. For decades I had a 7" hard drive that got old and became a floppy. And if you think about it, computers even now operate on a very simple concept; one or zero, on or off. But, hell, that's life. It's binary; you're either on or off.
... Anyhow, you must get with the program here. When people tease you about your tech you're supposed to get all defensive, explain your choices ad nauseam, then plaintively complain that you've not complained about it. Finally, you stew about it and wonder why no one ever takes you seriously.
I can beat that. For decades I had a 7" hard drive that got old and became a floppy. And if you think about it, computers even now operate on a very simple concept; one or zero, on or off. But, hell, that's life. It's binary; you're either on or off.
Um what have I been saying repeatedly?
"It's all just ones and zeroes".
Let's see if the forum drudge upbraids you for reading comprehension. Moi? Je m'en fiche.
I can beat that. For decades I had a 7" hard drive that got old and became a floppy. And if you think about it, computers even now operate on a very simple concept; one or zero, on or off. But, hell, that's life. It's binary; you're either on or off.
Yep, a handful of times in the past day, ironically when I tried to reply to this post. Twice in a row has not happened again. I'm going to try clearing BRD cookies now.
I don't have the necessary hubris for any capiche. But I know what you mean. Regarding this computer technology, I read some interesting stuff the other day in an old Vacuum Tube Valley magazine from 1999. It was a story about how the navy, in 1944, was looking for a way to train pilots in a better way by using a flight simulator instead of the old expensive and time consuming way of training them. So the navy awarded a contract to MIT to develop this flight simulator. The MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory started working on it under the direction of Gordon Brown, who hired two young men to oversee the project; Robert Everett and Jay Forrester. Of course back then this type of stuff was based on vacuum tube technology. Immediate problems arose regarding the logic circuits because no existing tube could act the way that was needed. Sylvania then developed the 7AK7 tube, the first electronic device ever developed specifically for digital logic applications. The MIT guys also ran into problems with the memory tubes which were made in MIT's own glassblowing shop. These tubes had two electron guns; one for reading, one for writing. Each of these memory tubes cost more than $1,000 (in early 1950's dollars) and the machine needed 16 of them at first.....for 256 words of memory. This was eventually increased to 2048 words. It was a 16 bit machine, the first to have a word length based on a factor of 8, which is standard practice today. The final version of this machine occupied 3100 square feet of space. This machine was the first digital computer to get an analog to digital converter, it was the first machine ever used in real time data acquisition. In 1953 a small computer called the Lincoln Memory Tester was built to exercise the core module of the big computer. The tester was built by some MIT students who later went on to found Digital Equipment Corporation. A book was written about this computer; Project Whirlwind: The History of a Pioneer Computer, by Kent Redmond and Thomas M. Smith.
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