|
This should be an amusing thread. How have computers changed during your life?
---
In 1985, I purchased a $35 USD accelerator for my Zenith Z-100, which bumped the processor speed from 4.67 MHz to 7.5 MHz. It was an amazing change to the PC!!! [I originally put "Hz", which was pointed out as incorrect.]
That same year it cost $150 to bump that PC from 384 KB RAM up to 1 MB. After I got the PC back, only 1 software package (I think it was Turbo Pascal) could use more than 640 KB.
In 1989 I installed a 40 MB HD in our office server, quadrupling the storage space. We were excited, as the price had just dropped to $750 USD. Previously that same HD had cost nearly $1,500.
In 1999 I installed a new HD (can't remember the size offhand), and I did the math. Going by the per-MB cost, at 1989 prices the new HD would have cost $750,000. And at 1999 prices, the 40 MB HD would have cost about $0.02.
In 2009 I did the same thing -- at 1989 prices, the 2009 HD would have cost $45,000,000 ... and Excel didn't have enough precision to calculate the 2009 price of a 40 MB HD ...
modified 30-Aug-24 13:12pm.
|
|
|
|
|
We gotta have somewhere to put all the cat videos.
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
I’m begging you for the benefit of everyone, don’t be STUPID.
|
|
|
|
|
First computer experience 1965. Had to wind it up every night. 
>64
It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
|
|
|
|
|
I started that same year. We had to "reboot" first thing every morning, although in those days the term was "feed the master" (as in Master Program).
|
|
|
|
|
"Cold start"?
On core storage machines, with proper programming, you could just hit the start button.
Why did I read this thread, I already felt old.
>64
It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
|
|
|
|
|
My first experience was in 1970, when I got access to the Board of Education's IBM 1130 and wrote some Fortran programs.
|
|
|
|
|
Greg Utas wrote: I got access to the Board of Education's IBM 1130 and wrote some Fortran programs.
To adjust a few test scores?  
|
|
|
|
|
I remember getting a new 40MB harddrive for an AS/400 we had and helping lug that thing into the server room. It was freaking huge. Weighed at least 200lbs
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
|
|
|
|
|
I started as a consultant to the US Air Force. I recall a classified disk pack (DEC/VAX, I think) being "de-classified". The USAF was diligent about destroying anything that might even remotely contain classified information.
Two airmen carried the pack out onto the tarmac and literally pounded it flat with 12 lb sledgehammers. The remains were thrown in an incinerator.
|
|
|
|
|
This reminds me of something I read on usenet, long ago. The thread was about how to effectively decommision hard drives. One poster related how he had attended some event, and casual conversation of professionals turned to this subject. There were various solutions, including shotguns, large magnets and power saws. One of the participants said something like "I'm with the NSA, and we put our old drives in the N-Test holes, before detonation." They all laughed. Then they realized the NSA guy was serious.
"A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants"
Chuckles the clown
|
|
|
|
|
Worked at a small PC build/sell shop. Around 90/91, we ordered a 1000MB (didn't know it was called Gigabyte) hard drive for a local hospital.
It was the older bigger size took two drive bays (height) in the PC.
It was $1 per / MB so $1000 and that was cheap.
|
|
|
|
|
I had forgotten all all about AS/400
And then you had to comment.
The last AIX and Pains systems I worked on was an AS/400 with a failing hard drive.
My job was to export the database.
into Access.
I have LASTING EMOTIONAL DAMAGE from that experience.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
|
|
|
|
|
I feel your pain. I was writing SAS code against a data dump from the 400 in an IBM OS2 PC that was freakin awesome. But the Data structure was icky
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
|
|
|
|
|
How many hard drives did you have on that AS/400?
I had 5 drives on the one I used, the disk storage was RAIDed. When we had to replace the supposedly failing drives (IBM sent me a note saying that the drives weren’t up to their standard of 1 million hours MTBF so they were going to replace them), all that the service engineer (SE) did was to shut down one drive at a time, remove that drive, put in the new drive, power it up, and wait 20 minutes for data to be re-created on the new disk from the RAID information from the other disks.
Not knowing how trivial the process was, I had scheduled the SE to come in at 12 midnight on a Sunday which I figured was when the computing load would be the lowest. I could have saved myself the trouble of staying up that night and could have scheduled the maintenance for Monday morning 10 AM!
|
|
|
|
|
I honestly don't remember the hardware specifics at this point. That was over 20 years ago.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
|
|
|
|
|
And, there was all that emotional trauma!
|
|
|
|
|
In 79 when I was in college I couldn't afford a computer so I worked in the computer room at the college and we had a IBM System/360 - Wikipedia[^], with 4 tape drives and a disk drive system with drums about 18" around and 10" deep. Don't remember how much they held, but the system was slow and archaic by today's standards.
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
I'm not sure if prices are really indicative of how computers have changed, but here goes.
I remember paying around $700 for 64 megabytes of RAM some time after I started working fulltime. I recently paid $200 for 64 gigabytes for my NUC.
I remember paying over $900 for an HP scanner (with a SCSI interface). The last scanner I bought was $60. Actually, no, the last scanner I bought was integrated in a $150 scanner/printer combo.
When I started off, spending $2000 for a PC was the norm. Now I have a hard time justifying half of that.
The one consistent thing is video cards however. I've never paid more than a few hundred dollars for them, yet somehow there's still a market for $2000 video cards. This is an area where "more money than brains" comes to mind.
|
|
|
|
|
dandy72 wrote: yet somehow there's still a market for $2000 video cards. This is an area where "more money than brains" comes to mind.
Gamers
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
Well obviously those are the people who buy these cards. But you can still be a gamer with a $400 video card. There is a point of diminishing returns.
|
|
|
|
|
I have a friend that;
- Buys the latest gear; PC and video cards
- Puts nothing but the OS and game on his PC
- Every 3 months he fresh load OS and games
He's retired and that's all he does is game most of the day.
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Hankey wrote: Buys the latest gear; PC and video cards
Well, some people change cars every year, and you can hardly make a worst investment. There are worse ways to waste money on than PCs and video cards; they're still cheap, relatively speaking...
Mike Hankey wrote: Puts nothing but the OS and game on his PC
I see nothing wrong with that. I do have a machine I consider to be my dedicated gaming rig - there's literally nothing on it but the OS and games. Heck, I chat with other online players over Discord, and that is running on a separate computer.
Mike Hankey wrote: Every 3 months he fresh load OS and games
Now that, I do question. Since he uses his PC for nothing else, it's gotta be staying in a relatively clean state.
Mike Hankey wrote: He's retired and that's all he does is game most of the day.
Whatever floats his boat. I've always figured, when I retire, I'll probably keep both coding and gaming...but I suspect I'll do more of the former than the latter.
|
|
|
|
|
I thought when I retired I would slow down, but at 75 I'm working as hard as I did when I was working.
If you slow down, you die!
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
|
Right now, I code during the day for work, and spend my evenings gaming to wind down.
I don't expect my schedule to change much; it's just that after retirement, my "work hours" will be (ideally) spent on my own little pet projects. Things I've been meaning to work on for years, but would never pay the bills.
At some point in time, I wrote plenty of little side projects in my spare time, and coding for both work and a hobby just lead to a burnout. I often find myself longing to work on my pet projects again...but not if that's what I'm gonna do day in, day out.
|
|
|
|
|
During the hotter months, I live in FL I work outside about 1-2 hours a day.
We've spent 3 years totally remodeling an old house that needed a lot of work.
We have a large wooded lot and right now I have about 3 large trees down and 4 more that need be brought down before next hurricane. They have to be cut, split and hauled to a place where an elderly lady, that heats her house with wood can come and load them in her truck.
When I'm not outside I read, a lot, code and am learning to play piano.
And as the weather here is starting to get cooler, the roles will reverse spending more time outside trying to get everything done.
It never ends!
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
