M.I.T. Dorm

Post by **Dale** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:27 am

izzarina wrote:
herbivore12 wrote:A friend got a Mac with a 20 MB hard drive, and we all teased him: "How could anyone possibly need that much memory?!", etc.
I was telling my 16 year old daughter about our Mac Classic that we had quite a few years ago, and that it only about about 20 MB in it. She was shocked, and wondered how on earth could anyone possibly use such a small amount of memory!!

I wish I could remember the specs on the first computer I owned. I can remember some. It looked like this:

It had 16K of RAM, which I later doubled, to become the hottest jock on the block for about a week.

It had no hard drive. It had no floppy drive. I/O was accomplished via a patch cord to an ordinary cassette player. Software came on cassette and then you could write data files, such as they were, to cassette tape.

It had what was then called a "Chiclet" keyboard. Keys more like a calculator than a modern computer keyboard.

One used a television set for the monitor.

In spite of these limitations, I actually used this machine for a few years.

I also owned an Atari ST personal computer for awhile. They were big in Europe for a time but never caught on in the States.

I think my first "IBM compatible" computer had a 40 MB hard drive, but I can't remember anything else about it.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:29 am

Dale wrote: On the one hand, they know that by arranging for students to have that kind of continuous 'net access, they are going to lose a certain number to Internet addiction.

A valid concern, to be sure. If I had had access to both the internet and drugs when I was in college, I'd still be a sophomore. Fortunately for my wildly fluctuating GPA, Al Gore was still in college and had not invented the internet yet.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:30 am

My first computer was the Waldcovac. It had so many tubes that it had to be kept in a three storey building, with the storey above and the storey below completely air conditioned.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:57 am

Walden wrote:My first computer was the Waldcovac. It had so many tubes that it had to be kept in a three storey building, with the storey above and the storey below completely air conditioned.

And whenever it blew a tube, did you have to put them all in a great big sack and drag them down to the tube tester at the Piggly Wiggly and check them out one at a time?

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:38 am

gonzo914 wrote: And whenever it blew a tube, did you have to put them all in a great big sack and drag them down to the tube tester at the Piggly Wiggly and check them out one at a time?

Of course. We did all of our electronics work at the grocery store back in them days.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:52 am

Walden wrote:My first computer was the Waldcovac. It had so many tubes that it had to be kept in a three storey building, with the storey above and the storey below completely air conditioned.

You must live in a HUGE house, Walden!!!!!

Post by **Dale** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:10 am

That tube testing machine makes me nostalgic. TV repairmen. Who came to our house! It was awesome. A thing of the past, I guess.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:30 am

Dale wrote:That tube testing machine makes me nostalgic. TV repairmen. Who came to our house! It was awesome. A thing of the past, I guess.

Yes, what a time.

There was the the milkman, who delivered milk in an unrefrigerated truck. The milk had ice on top of it it keep it cool, with an insulating blanket tossed over the top, and if you stood on the curb on a hot summer day and yelled "Ice, ice," the milkman would give you a little piece.

And then there was your best friend's mom, who was the ice cream lady. You can't remember the friend's name, but you can easily recall having access to the mother load of root beer Popsicles.

And riding the train to grandma's.

And sitting in the hot car in the Safeway parking lot, surrounded by a sea of baking asphalt, while your parents shopped for groceries in air conditioned comfort.

And getting sent to vacation Bible school to get you out from underfoot for a week in the summer, where even at the age of 8, you were an outcast because you didn't see much difference between Bible stories and fairy tales (I can still taste the watered down raspberry Kool-Ade).

And that crappy burr haircut your ex-Marine dad made you get every summer as soon as school was out.

And the liver your mom cooked until it was dead and curling up around the edges.

And . . . . . Wait a second . . . . Those times SUCKED!!

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:34 am

anniemcu wrote:
Walden wrote:I bet even geek girls wouldn't go out with me.
Hey, just because they are geeky doesn't make them smart enough to recognize a great opportunity when they are offered one.

Yes...uh... that...uh... that... that must be it.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:42 am

Dale wrote:
I wish I could remember the specs on the first computer I owned. I can remember some. It looked like this:

It had 16K of RAM, which I later doubled, to become the hottest jock on the block for about a week.

A Trash 80! The school district my father worked for has a loaner program - take the high-tech stuff home for the weekend, that sort of thing. I learned Logo and Basic on an TRS 80, C16, some monstrosity with a built-in monitor and floppies (!) that were huge, and an Apple. Not an Apple II, IIE, IIC or Mac; an Apple in a plywood box built from a kit.

In school, I got stuck in a freshman dorm when I was in 3rd year. They called my room The Geriatric Wing. I did have my Apple Newton Palmtop to bring to class, though.

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:36 pm

[quote="gonzo914
There was the the milkman, who delivered milk in an unrefrigerated truck. The milk had ice on top of it it keep it cool, with an insulating blanket tossed over the top, and if you stood on the curb on a hot summer day and yelled "Ice, ice," the milkman would give you a little piece.
[/quote]

I delivered milk in a truck like that..or at least I helped my dad. The ice was great. Snowballs to amaze and stun your freinds in the middle of summer.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:13 pm

djm wrote:
Cberry wrote:Nothing else besides clothes and stuff
Clothes? You can afford CLOTHES?!?!?!?! Luxury!

djm

Yes, I am very blessed.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:18 pm

When my mother was a child she used to wear a dress made from a feed sack.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:19 pm

Walden wrote:When my mother was a child she used to wear a dress made from a feed sack.

Mine too.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:40 pm

Walden wrote:When my mother was a child she used to wear a dress made from a feed sack.

As did mine. I'm only a generation removed from poor, Depression-era, Woody Guthrie Oklahoma farm folk -- mother grew up in Cushing and grandparents moved there from Yale. They didn't come to Kansas until Grandpa got a job with the Katy. (I only include this because I imagine Walden knows all those places.)

Anyway, back to feed sacks -- The flour companies, once they realized how old feed sacks were being used, began making them in prints as a marketing tool even before the Depression. Here'sa nice article about quilting, sewing and feed sacks.

And Here's a site with samples of the patterns.