I had a job back in the 90's testing A/D converters used on BART train brakes. The testing software was on 8" floppy disks... not sure what computer system is was on... but I swear you could hear the individual bits being read. "THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!"

my family didn't own a PC until 97 ? and i got hired into an internet company in 98

What's a floppy? :P :P /Sarcasm

Thanks for the new option Scott.

I'm not in love with the neon green "highlight" but I can deal. Since I go to this forum all the time I don't really need any highlights at all, just "bolded" bumped threads is enough.

Mine was the first graduating engineering class at Virginia Tech ( '88 ) to be required to own their own PC's. Great leading-edge idea at the time. But the school made disastrous recommendations for the PC:
- IBM "Turbo" I think 4.5MHz "suitcase" version with like an 8" built-in monitor (monochrome).
- About 1/10 the RAM needed
- NO HARD DRIVE!
- Math coprocessor was only recommended later
- 5-1/4" floppy was only non-RAM data storage
- No recommendation for a mouse.
- DOS 3.2 based I think. No Windows yet.
- This was like $2k+ back then!

Imagine trying to run a DOS-based CAD program off the floppies (plural) (no hard drive) with no math coprocessor, insufficient RAM for even Word Perfect, and no mouse. Did I mention an 8" monitor?

I was fortunate in that I transferred into the program, and based on advise got instead an IBM clone for half the price, more RAM, a $100 math coprocessor, a HUGE 14" monitor, and later a $125 ball mouse. Still no hard drive though.

</old guy>

I tried, but even as a CAD guy who learned on amazingly awesome 100mhz machines in 1996 using DOS-based R12 and R14, my brain cannot compute this.

You children are so funny. :) I bet most have never seen what I first used, a teletype with round keys. I think attached to an early PDP 11???

I missed using paper tape and card readers by a matter of months. Cassettes tapes were state of the art. :)

The first system I administered in I think 1980 was an IMSAI that you had flip the switches on the front to set the firmware start location and hit the start switch. I think the one I worked on had 16K RAM for 4 dumb terminals.

Check out the rocking specs.

Announced: August 1975
How many: Around 20,000
Price: US $931 assembled
US $599 as a kit
CPU: Intel 8080A, 2.0 MHz
RAM: 64K max
Display: front panel LEDs
Controls: front panel switches
Expansion: card-cage w/ S-100 bus
Storage: optional cassette or
floppy drive
OS: CP/M, BASIC
http://oldcomputers.net/pics/imsai8080-left.jpg

Oh yeah? Well I still have my Dad's slide rule. :P

I owned a slide rule at one point in my life, but don't remember why or how to use one.

I was waiting for an abacus comment.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus

Do I look Asian? :)

When Dee told her brother a couple years ago that I go to "local Subaru meets", he said, "So... he hangs out with a bunch of asians?"

#Dean on

On my first computer, I had to poke holes in 36" cardboard sheets and feed them into a slot where a trained gecko interpreted them and would do simple arithmetic. He was right 70% of the time.

#Dean off

Whoa, shiny buttons.

Is That where the word 'geek' came from? Since he also had a 70% success rate spelling his own name.