A thread from another list.
>>>
Subject: First computers (GMSV)
Last week we asked Good Morning Silicon Valley readers to tell us
what their
first computers were.
The results are fascinating and, IMHO, make for great reading.
Check it:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/7549559.htm
<<<
What did YOU start on?
Matt Murray
DEC PDP-8L in high school (semi public, definitely not mine)
Teacher got pissed that I was "playing" on it. Booted from the
computer room. Great nurturing on the teacher's part. D!ck.
Recording studio automation (volume only [MCI <1976> {now part of
Sony Electronics} and Neve Audio Consoles <1980> ] ) first saved
on audio tracks, then on a stand-alone 8" floppy (really floppy)
Studio owner's Altair (don't know what model)
'81-'82 Commodore 64 with floppy drive, 300 baud modem, got a
CompuServe connect kit ($34.95!), found quickly that $3.00 per
minute at the very slow rate made bulletin boards and the like
expensive (and boring). And backed away from computers. (my first
computer)
1989 IBM AS400 for Toyota part ordering and inventory (no real
connectivity)
12/95 Work computer sign up for team.net (email only)
1996 Given a 33 meg clock speed laptop (friggin' slow)
1997 Given a desktop (100 or 133 clock speed) 1 gig HD
2000 Dell 866 clock, 256 RDRam (this is written from that
machine)
2002 Vaio 1.8 gig clock speed, 256 ram (work beast)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Ethier" <pethier@isd.net>
> I think I started in early 1989. I do remember you already
being there.
> Most of the members seemed to be from the south bay area when I
arrived.
> Hardly surprising. I had trouble explaining to other
autocrossers in the
> Twin Cities what "E-mail" was. I believe I was one of very few
people on
> the list who was not a computer professional of some sort. The
computer
> guys at my job were way ahead of the curve on suppling E-mail
to
> non-computer employees. My home machine at that time was an
Atari 800,
> which was perfectly adequate for E-mail once I figured out how
to get a
> non-work provider.
> Phil Ethier
|