Silly Tourists
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From: Walt on 9 Jul 2010 22:07 In article <i18fde$f5k$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, tom ronson <theavlv.ronson(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Walt wrote: > > > Big effin deal. I was communicating on CompuServe and The Source back in > > 1980 > > with a 0.3k modem, > > yikes --- I recall those days, and the horrific bills you'd get on your > per minute charges. (shiver) Yeah, you had to plan your session beforehand and then hit-and-run. Later in the mid-80's I was in a fantasy baseball league on Compuserve and on draft day we'd be online in a chat room for 4-5 hours straight. Fortunately the connect charges had decreased by then, plus the draft was only one day a year. There weren't any prizes for winning, though, so you had to be in it for the enjoyment. > > > Prodigy or Mindspring even existed, > > oh, I forgot --- these two had nothing to do with the creation of the > internet. sure we could joke that AlGore did --- but I'm sure wiki has > the time line down better than Donnie does. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet > > > And even farther back, in 1970, I took a > > BASIC programming class in high school, where we keyed in our programs on > > punch tape. > > remember the old DEC stuff where you'd toggle switches on the front > panel? The Altair 8080 (as I recall) was the first "home" kit. I only read about those in magazines at the time. Before I ever bought a computer I subscribed to Creative Computing for a year or two. After educating myself about TRS-80s, Ohio Scientifics, et al., in early 1980 I decided to splurge on an Apple II because it had color and a bunch of slots for add-on cards. Cost me around $2,300 with the full 48K memory and a 300bps modem. And of course I later spent mucho more bucks on printers and stuff. I don't even want to know how much that is in current dollars! But it sure was fun back then. Apple turned out to be a great choice and I've been buying them ever since. > In those days smart asses like me would plant "bombs" on those mighty > computers. Something along the lines of a "do loop" and then a call to a > non-existent port. I'd be long home and in bed when your overnight > program would crash without explanation. lol My crashes always had explanations, unfortunately! > ah, the good old days. <grin> Right, and now every Johnny-come-lately who signed up with Prodigy or AOL think's he's a pioneer! --- Walt
From: tom ronson on 9 Jul 2010 22:35 Walt wrote: > Right, and now every Johnny-come-lately who signed up with Prodigy or AOL > think's he's a pioneer! <smirk> tell me about it. -- "How can one little Street swallow so many lives?" -- The Offspring, The Kids Aren't Alright --tr
From: Las Vegas Don on 9 Jul 2010 22:45 On Jul 9, 7:32 pm, Kurt Ullman <kurtull...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > In article <i18fde$f5...(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > tom ronson <theavlv.ron...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Walt wrote: > > > > Big effin deal. I was communicating on CompuServe and The Source back in > > > 1980 > > > with a 0.3k modem, > > > yikes --- I recall those days, and the horrific bills you'd get on your > > per minute charges. (shiver) That ain't nuthin!! I was screamin at strangers on the street corners and cats in the trees in 1979, and almost got away with it. When I did it I wore my best flip flops and tried to tuck mah bellie under mah shirt, ...always came out tho. I did not have to pay charges like you did. They made me take pills tho. I still have these funny flashbacks at times to these things that shot electricity put up yonder to the sides a mah head. I used win 3.1, and hated it. Don, and phasing into Otto :) Don
From: Las Vegas Don on 9 Jul 2010 22:48 On Jul 9, 8:07 pm, Walt <n...(a)none.void> wrote: > In article <i18fde$f5...(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > tom ronson <theavlv.ron...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Walt wrote: > > > > Big effin deal. I was communicating on CompuServe and The Source back in > > > 1980 > > > with a 0.3k modem, > > > yikes --- I recall those days, and the horrific bills you'd get on your > > per minute charges. (shiver) > > Yeah, you had to plan your session beforehand and then hit-and-run. Later in > the mid-80's I was in a fantasy baseball league on Compuserve and on draft day > we'd be online in a chat room for 4-5 hours straight. Fortunately the connect > charges had decreased by then, plus the draft was only one day a year. There > weren't any prizes for winning, though, so you had to be in it for the > enjoyment. > > > > > > Prodigy or Mindspring even existed, > > > oh, I forgot --- these two had nothing to do with the creation of the > > internet. sure we could joke that AlGore did --- but I'm sure wiki has > > the time line down better than Donnie does. > > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet > > > > And even farther back, in 1970, I took a > > > BASIC programming class in high school, where we keyed in our programs on > > > punch tape. > > > remember the old DEC stuff where you'd toggle switches on the front > > panel? The Altair 8080 (as I recall) was the first "home" kit. > > I only read about those in magazines at the time. Before I ever bought a > computer I subscribed to Creative Computing for a year or two. After > educating myself about TRS-80s, Ohio Scientifics, et al., in early 1980 I > decided to splurge on an Apple II because it had color and a bunch of slots > for add-on cards. Cost me around $2,300 with the full 48K memory and a 300bps > modem. And of course I later spent mucho more bucks on printers and stuff. I > don't even want to know how much that is in current dollars! But it sure was > fun back then. Apple turned out to be a great choice and I've been buying > them ever since. > > > In those days smart asses like me would plant "bombs" on those mighty > > computers. Something along the lines of a "do loop" and then a call to a > > non-existent port. I'd be long home and in bed when your overnight > > program would crash without explanation. lol > > My crashes always had explanations, unfortunately! > > > ah, the good old days. <grin> > > Right, and now every Johnny-come-lately who signed up with Prodigy or AOL > think's he's a pioneer! > > --- Walt Apples have always been better systems than PC's. Is Prodigy still around?? How about Compuserve?? Don
From: JRogow on 9 Jul 2010 23:37
Walt wrote: > In article <i18fde$f5k$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > tom ronson <theavlv.ronson(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> Walt wrote: >> >>> Big effin deal. I was communicating on CompuServe and The Source back in >>> 1980 >>> with a 0.3k modem, >> yikes --- I recall those days, and the horrific bills you'd get on your >> per minute charges. (shiver) > > Yeah, you had to plan your session beforehand and then hit-and-run. Later in > the mid-80's I was in a fantasy baseball league on Compuserve and on draft day > we'd be online in a chat room for 4-5 hours straight. Fortunately the connect > charges had decreased by then, plus the draft was only one day a year. There > weren't any prizes for winning, though, so you had to be in it for the > enjoyment. >>> Prodigy or Mindspring even existed, >> oh, I forgot --- these two had nothing to do with the creation of the >> internet. sure we could joke that AlGore did --- but I'm sure wiki has >> the time line down better than Donnie does. >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet >> >>> And even farther back, in 1970, I took a >>> BASIC programming class in high school, where we keyed in our programs on >>> punch tape. >> remember the old DEC stuff where you'd toggle switches on the front >> panel? The Altair 8080 (as I recall) was the first "home" kit. > > I only read about those in magazines at the time. Before I ever bought a > computer I subscribed to Creative Computing for a year or two. After > educating myself about TRS-80s, Ohio Scientifics, et al., in early 1980 I > decided to splurge on an Apple II because it had color and a bunch of slots > for add-on cards. Cost me around $2,300 with the full 48K memory and a 300bps > modem. And of course I later spent mucho more bucks on printers and stuff. I > don't even want to know how much that is in current dollars! But it sure was > fun back then. Apple turned out to be a great choice and I've been buying > them ever since. > >> In those days smart asses like me would plant "bombs" on those mighty >> computers. Something along the lines of a "do loop" and then a call to a >> non-existent port. I'd be long home and in bed when your overnight >> program would crash without explanation. lol > > My crashes always had explanations, unfortunately! > >> ah, the good old days. <grin> > > Right, and now every Johnny-come-lately who signed up with Prodigy or AOL > think's he's a pioneer! > > --- Walt Oh, Compuserve, I remember the first time I sent an article in using IIRC a 9.6 baud modem. It whirled and clanked, and then the editor telephoned me to say it had been received. What a feeling! Now, I sit on the porch and send my work via our Wi-Fi connection, and pretty much all my communication is via email. |