Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Old Tech
I bought my first computer, an IBM Clone 486DX33 in 1993. That sucker had 2 megs of memory. I wuz smokin'! Eventually, I added a CD-ROM drive and an improved graphics card, along with an improved sound card. This was a lean mean computin' machine. I remember the first time I fired it up after adding the new hardware. I covered my eyes and hit the power button and waited for the "poof!" accompanied by a shower of sparks out the back. But No! It hummed to life, and fired right up! There was no auto detect back then, you had to set everything up separately, and tell the machine how to deal with the new stuff.
As we all know, things don't remain same in the computing world for very long. Soon, I discovered the machine was not capable of running newer programs without extensive upgrades that weren't really worth it, and went shopping for a newer unit. Another PC, only they weren't calling them "IBM clones" any more. They had become "Windoze compatible" and Bill Gates was becoming a very wealthy geek. It was a first generation Pentium and it actually lasted me for quite some time. In fact, I still have it, and intend to give it to my brother to replace the pathetic POS he's now using, after adding an additional hard drive. I learned a lot about computers from those first two machines. I never used Windoze 3.1 on the first box unless I had to. Instead, I used the command driven DOS, as it used MUCH less memory than 3.1 did. Drove my Mac driving friends nuts. "Hey Dave, where's the navigator?!?!?" "I never use it!" "Why not?!?!" Because I know how to use a computer!!! I don't need to be lead by the hand!!!" Now, of course, Micro-Squish has convinced all the software makers to require WindozeXP, and you can't avoid it anymore like I used to.
I spotted a piece about Commodore fans who're still breathing life into their archaic machines, going so far as to meeting together, trading parts and software, etc. The company itself disappeared in 1994. I remember there was a store devoted to the Commodore Amiga in my neighborhood. I walked in, not knowing they didn't carry IBM stuff, and got a quick lesson in fanaticism. These guys loved their machines and did their best to convince me that I needed to buy one too. The Amiga did have pretty amazing graphics for the time, but the lack of programs I needed to run on it precluded me from buying one. They also suffered from spastic hardware that wasn't exactly the most reliable in the world. Then, one day I walked by and noticed the place had closed. I read later that the Commodore Company had folded. I wondered then what would happen to those guys. They loved their machines so much. I imagine they're members of one of those clubs these days. They probably have at least one example of every one they've owned. I can't imagine them ever giving up their machines. I read in that article that there's an organization in Germany still writing code for these things.
It reminds me of the Sony Betamax VCR. I never did buy one. By the time I was able to afford a VCR, Beta was obviously on life support, and not long for this world. But I knew a few people who loved their Beta machines and refused to go to the "dark side." When Sony announced they were giving up the good fight and discontinuing Beta production, they actually felt betrayed. They went out and bought as many Beta tapes as they could, hoarding them so they'd be able to use their machines long after Sony abandoned them. I remember watching Beta recordings, and the picture was indeed better, but the lure of 6 hour VHS recordings was a siren song to me. (Mainly because I'm a cheap SOB and I wanted to get by with as few tapes as I could.)
It makes me wonder. Thirty years from now, when all of today's teen and twenty somethings will be a bunch of crotchety pissed off middle agers, they'll probably proclaim to the stupid little shitheads that will be their children "Why, in my day, we had the IPod!! It was a great thing. Nothing like that modern piece of junk you guys use! And turn that crappy music down!! You'll wreck your ears." (mumble, mumble bitch.) "Impertintent young pups! And clean up that pigsty of a room!!!"
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
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Ah Yes!! That old IBM PCXT. 640 meg, 10 meg hard drive. I was the envy of the modern world.:)
In case I don't make it back.....You're in charge.:P Watch the guy on the right!:)
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In case I don't make it back.....You're in charge.:P Watch the guy on the right!:)
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