Hawkins Paradox ...

Re: Evolution ....

"Still have your old 486..... collecting dust...."

Heck I still use mine!

It makes a terrific little Linux File server at home, and allows me to chuck files from the various machines stuck around the house in one place to simplify backup, and to keep two copies of important stuff.....

Also makes a super little web server, 'cept it suffers a bit when I run perl scripts on it!/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Going back to the early post, Windows as we know it used to be a desk top publishing prog, which ran in GEM, and Mr gates bought. This had a screen with folders, split screen and a little hour glass, you could click and drag, drag and drop to copy. Windows at the time was like Windows explorer left hand side, it did not have the folders.
That was back in mid / late 80's. running on a Tandan running at 12 meg. The wife was using DOS on a Ventec computor from the States back in 1973, it was the 12 mini computor in the UK, had a little screen, keyboard, two casset drives, punch card reader, tape reader, twin hard drives, the disk was the size of an LP and held 1 meg, and a printer that printed 356 lines a minute on wide computor stationary. It had 1.2 K af Ram, but did the production control, wages and accounts for a firm employing 600 people.

Brian
 
Re: Evolution ....

I started with a slide rule and went downhill after that.
Now look at me. 8.00am on a Saturday morning .........
 
Re: Evolution ....

You must be young, we had to use log tables.

Sad thing is I still have my first slide rule, and first Sinclair calculater.

Brian
 
Re: Evolution ....

You`ve brought back a few memories there Nigel
I to started with the Amstrad word processor with CP/M OS and daisey wheel printer,
I upgraded it by fitting another floppy drive so I could run sage accounts.
Black screen, green writing.
Come to think of it, it was pretty awful.
Later DR DOS and tweeking for hours, (days) the memory settings trying to get any extra speed out of the machine

But it was fascinating trying to get it all to work.

Now we have blackberries, and it`s all done for us.

……….
 
Hmmm. Seem to remember that the Apollo 13 team had serial computer failure, which dropped them in the poo, and the guys had to use a *sextant* to decide where/when to do their 'burn' to get back.

'Plus ca change, c'est plus la meme chose.'
( Oops, can't get cedillas. )

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Re: Enstone\'s paradox

There is a bit of history missing there - but I don't know that I can give a reference...

Another company was expected to bring out a personal PC, at the time IBM were looking to bring out the PC; that company was Digital (or DEC as they were known). They had a multi-tasking operating system, tried and proven; but DEC and IBM were actually in competition. IBM approached DEC to discuss buying RSTS, and were snubbed. DEC knew they had IBM by the balls, and that there wasn't anything around to do the job properly, only CP/M, which was for little boys playing with SBC's....

So it was the same story as VHS v Betamax. RSTS came out on DEC's offering 'Rainbow', which was over-priced and LATE (the proverbial christmas gift arriving in January !!). DEC never made it.. and withdrew shortly after from the personal PC world. Their shortsightedness was repeated when they had the first and (even now) best 64bit computer, with which they cooperated with MS to put Windows 64-bit version. Something happened, I dont know what, and that fell apart - and it led to the demise of DEC. Strangely, Compaq and then HP didn't continue with putting Windows on the Alpha platform. What a mistake when the world is now migrating from VMS to Windows ?? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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