Annoyance will make Vista users to switch to Ubuntu.

[Alan McKinnon]

On Sunday 11 June 2006 12:45, Michael T. Richter wrote:
> I've got all y'all beat.  I've used paper tape punches and paper
> tape readers.  Professionally.  I used to know the front panel
> bootstrap sequences to a variety of minicomputers (Interdata Model
> 70 being the one I used most).  I've debugged memory problems with
> a screwdriver (said Model 70 having core memory big enough that you
> could actually SEE the core donuts with a magnifying glass...).
>
> In the personal computing side: I remember 8" floppy disks!  I
> remember when I was the envy of my geek pals because I had a 5MB
> hard drive.  An 8" platter for a heavily-modified CP/M box.  (Altos
> ACS-8000, if memory serves.)
>
> My first personal computer REQUIRED AN EXTERNAL SERIAL TERMINAL TO
> ACCESS IT!

Pah! That's nothing - I remember entering binary code with toggle 
switches and a big red "Go" button. Back in the day, paper tape was 
high-tech - the average schmucks used punch cards and half the time 
they had to punch the holes themselves with a hobby knife as the 
punching blades were dull.

The first hard drive I ever saw was a huge 10MB and it took three 
burly airforce privates to carry the thing down the stairs. On that 
machine there was an *upgrade* to a mechanical teletypewriter 
console.

Thankfully the debug-in-the-dark technique is before my time, where 
you debugged by switching the lights off and walking between the 
frames in the cpu looking for valves whose filaments weren't 
glowing...

You'll all have to excuse we while I go slit my throat in a dark 
corner. All this talk of the old days brings back horrible memories 
of PL/1. 

-- 
If only me, you and dead people understand hex, 
how many people understand hex?

Alan McKinnon
alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
+27 82, double three seven, one nine three five