New Appreciation for Old Computers

Reuters ^ | Wednesday, January 1, 2003 | Richard Chang

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Holy Cow, I may be rich...someday.

My first PC-Commodore PET Model 4032-It had 8K expandable to 16K -which then cost more than the base machine with 8K. Notice the micro non-QWERTY keyboard and the cassette drive. It had no hard drive. Programs were pre-coded on cassette or typed in and saved to cassette(if you and the guy who published the books of nearly 8K basic or assembly programs hadn't made any goofs). As I recall it took about 30 minutes to load/save an 8K program into/from memory from the cassette.

Next was a Vic-20, C-64, IBM-XT-4Mhz, (Cloned 286-12Mhz, 386-20Mhz,486-33,-66,-133, and Pentiums galore-now all part of my Beowulf project). There were numerous "portables" and notebooks along the way too.

I'm not addicted, I can stop anytime. ;-)

[hunter112]

I still have my TI-99.

I had one, too, got it in 1983, picked up a bunch of peripheral equipment in '84. I used it for my Seahawk card wantlist until 1997, when I started using my then-wife's computer. Eventually, I needed my own machine, and in '98, I bought a Compaq, and shoved all the TI stuff out to the garage. The wife bugged me to get rid of that stuff, just spend about $15, and take it all, hardware, software, and books, all to the dump.

Instead, I sold it all in 20+ separate lots on eBay, and got over $400 for it!

[ChemistCat]

I also had a Kaypro for awhile. Once, twice, almost a laptop......

[RadioAstronomer]

I think I have a few "vintage computers" that I'll hold onto...for awhile!

I do too! I still have a few vintage computers. I have an IMSAI 8080, Digital group, PDP-8M (with an ASR-33 Teletype), Hp-85, TRS-80 model 1, Heathkit H8/H9, and Minivac 6010 to name a few. :-)

p.s. I collect pre 1980 computers.

[RadioAstronomer]

Heck who wants DOS? I hated that black screen with the creepy blinking cursor waiting for you to type something. And no help menu, no clue how to get about to work on it!!!

Try CPM :-)

[general_re]

Try CPM

You can keep it, thanks. Remember DDT - the "Dynamic Debugging Tool"? Spent more time with that than I care to remember... ;)

[fnord]

My first, privately-owned 'computer':

Used to make it literally smoke when I tweaked the video card to higher resolutions. Had the Cyrus cartridge to play chess. Amazingly, it played even slower than real live chess, taking several days to play a game. I finally quit playing when I beat it 50 in a row (make a move - go to class; come back from class and make response move - go to dinner; etc. etc.

CoCo site
CoCo carts

[afraidfortherepublic]

Hey, I've got a cartful of Wyse dumb terminals and keyboards, vintage 1987. Any takers?

[HAL9000]

I still have my hand-built Apple ][ (circa 1978, Revision A, Serial #4083). It still works.

[dljordan]

Good lord! I remember playing with those things. I had a friend that built one of the first Altairs and I thought it was so cool. We both worked for the State of Tennessee on a screaming IBM mod 50 with a typewriter keyboard and 128k of memory. We thought we were so cool.

[Willie Green]

I still have my hand-built Apple ][ (circa 1978, Revision A, Serial #4083). It still works.

My first exposure to desktop computers was sharing use of an Apple III where I was employed in '83. Boy did I LOVE Visicalc! I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

Unfortunately, the only computer that I considered personally affordable at the time was a Commodore 64. I suppose I must've learned something for all the time I spent playing with the thing. But I sure did pi$$ away $100 when I picked up a version of Microsoft Excel for the little bugger (if my memory isn't too fuzzy, they may even have called it XL). Anyway, that poor little pile of electronic junk was WAY too underpowered to do anything like I had been doing on the Apple III with Visicalc. I've been pi$$ed off at Bill Gates ever since.

[LibKill]

The very first computer I owned was an Epson PX-8 'Geneva'. CPM OS, nice peripherals, it was a laptop.

I got it from DAK in 1984.

I still have it, but it is currently non-functional.

[altura]

But NOBODY but me has a Vector VSX, the worst computer ever made. That's cuz nobody had it when it was new except the most gullible man in the world, my boss.

[LibKill]

The worst computers ever made were purchased by the USMC in 1982. They were made for unit-level supply and admin.

They cost about 40,000 (1982) dollars, if memory serves. They broke down about every other day and would wipe out their 8-inch disks at the drop of a hat.

The Corps is very conservative with taxpayer dollars, and delivers great "bang for the buck." But that time we got snooked, BAD!!!

[martin_fierro]

My Visual Commuter also had a "portable option": a tiny optional LCD flip-up panel!

No internal batteries, though, and the unit weighed a TON! <|:)~

[martin_fierro]

Epson PX-8 'Geneva'

Oh, I remember that one from the DAK catalog! Didn't know it was CP/M, tho.