MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - I've been musing about tablets, the Fire and computers

KlondikeGeoff · 09-15-2012, 05:59 PM

My, oh my, the nostalgia. Little did I suspect when I started this thread the number of wonderful stories it would invoke.

Yup, my first computer was a VIC-20 too, with an astounding 5 KB of memory. And, of course the stringy-floppy tape drive. I latter skipped the 64 and then got the 128, which actually incorporated the 64 into it also. Finally, I got a disk drive! Two slots for the 5.25" disks. One to load the program, and the other to save data. What a great advance. Remember the Commodore magazine? Each issue some genius who had a program posted, and it had to be typed out into the machine. One error, and it did not work. I eventually got the brilliant idea to read the thing into a tape recorder, then play it back (with a foot switch to stop it when I could not type fast enough)

We had computers at work, but when the 286 came out, that was the first one I built from scratch. I built several others through the years, and today it is rather amazing that you can buy a good computer for less money than it would cost to build one.

Yup, I remember my first 300 baud external modem with the flashing lights. it is ironic today that with cable internet, I am back to an external one with flashing lights again. A bit faster, however.

Ah, yes, skydog, I did learn CP/M, the precursor to DOS and programming was pretty simple and a lot of fun. When MSDOS came out, I found BASIC was pretty much the same.

And, sure, Compuserve was an amazing entry to what later became the Internet. Later, my son-in-law was teaching at a university, and got me an ID and a password so I could use Gopher. I still kinda think that going through those menus was just as easy as trying to navigate some websites today.

My friend way back then got a Sinclair (before Timex got into it) and it did about as much as the VIC-20. But, I hated (as he did) the membrane keyboard. But hey, we're back to those damned things in tablets today. Progress?

Blossom, I remember doing backups to my 5.25" floppies. Last time I did that, it took more than 40 disks to hold everything. Can't recall what backup program I used. I gritted my teeth a few years ago and tossed them all out,but only recently did I have the nerve to get rid of all the 3.5" disks, many with programs and others with backups of files. Pity I could not find a use for them. And remember all the damned disks AOL used to mail everybody,and later CDs? They made good coasters or Christmas tree ornaments.

OK, enough of that, but it was fun reading all these posts. Thanks guys for a trip down memory lane.

09-15-2012, 05:59 PM	#35
KlondikeGeoff Wombat Aficionado Posts: 481 Karma: 733 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Arizona Device: Fire, Kindle1, Sony PRS-500 Reader, Rocket 1100 eBook	My, oh my, the nostalgia. Little did I suspect when I started this thread the number of wonderful stories it would invoke. Yup, my first computer was a VIC-20 too, with an astounding 5 KB of memory. And, of course the stringy-floppy tape drive. I latter skipped the 64 and then got the 128, which actually incorporated the 64 into it also. Finally, I got a disk drive! Two slots for the 5.25" disks. One to load the program, and the other to save data. What a great advance. Remember the Commodore magazine? Each issue some genius who had a program posted, and it had to be typed out into the machine. One error, and it did not work. I eventually got the brilliant idea to read the thing into a tape recorder, then play it back (with a foot switch to stop it when I could not type fast enough) We had computers at work, but when the 286 came out, that was the first one I built from scratch. I built several others through the years, and today it is rather amazing that you can buy a good computer for less money than it would cost to build one. Yup, I remember my first 300 baud external modem with the flashing lights. it is ironic today that with cable internet, I am back to an external one with flashing lights again. A bit faster, however. Ah, yes, skydog, I did learn CP/M, the precursor to DOS and programming was pretty simple and a lot of fun. When MSDOS came out, I found BASIC was pretty much the same. And, sure, Compuserve was an amazing entry to what later became the Internet. Later, my son-in-law was teaching at a university, and got me an ID and a password so I could use Gopher. I still kinda think that going through those menus was just as easy as trying to navigate some websites today. My friend way back then got a Sinclair (before Timex got into it) and it did about as much as the VIC-20. But, I hated (as he did) the membrane keyboard. But hey, we're back to those damned things in tablets today. Progress? Blossom, I remember doing backups to my 5.25" floppies. Last time I did that, it took more than 40 disks to hold everything. Can't recall what backup program I used. I gritted my teeth a few years ago and tossed them all out,but only recently did I have the nerve to get rid of all the 3.5" disks, many with programs and others with backups of files. Pity I could not find a use for them. And remember all the damned disks AOL used to mail everybody,and later CDs? They made good coasters or Christmas tree ornaments. OK, enough of that, but it was fun reading all these posts. Thanks guys for a trip down memory lane.