Feeling Old?

[StanAE86]

I was sitting here and starting thinking about how life was when the computer world was much smaller. Does anyone remember:

2400 baud modems
14.4 baud modems
300 baud modems

Dialing up to a "BBS" where we do basically what we do now on various "homepages", but at a slower and much more non-graphical manner

Apple II+ or IIe computers

When references to non-Apple computers was "and IBM based computer" versus "PC based computer"

That big orange power switch on the back/side corner of IBM computers

5.25" floppy disks

Green or amber monitors

The Macintosh commercial (a la George Orwell's book, 1984) that was shown during the Super Bowl

Choplifter

When 3D games were new - Dragon's Lair

When Attari still owned Chuck E. Cheese Pizza and they had all the best games and didn't have that stupid plastic ball thing kids jump and play in these days

10 print "StanAE86"
20 goto 10

run

[RC45]

No comment...

[BADMIHAI]

I still remember some of that but only because my mom is a computer engineer and has been for more than 20 years.

[graywolf624]

You guys are all youngins..

First computer I used.. trs 80.
First computer I personally owned.. comodore 64 with 300 baud modem.. yes you read it right.. 300 baud..

[BADMIHAI]

Originally Posted by graywolf624 You guys are all youngins.. First computer I used.. trs 80. First computer I personally owned.. comodore 64 with 300 baud modem.. yes you read it right.. 300 baud..

That's just because you're a ghetto banger.

[StanAE86]

My Apple II+ was during the same generation as the Commodore 64. I was rocking 300 baud back then too. My "upgrade" later was a Packard Bell computer with an 80286 cpu. That's a 286 and it was cutting edge fast at 12mhz. Storage capacity? 40MB harddrive. My computer ran on DOS and there was no such thing as Windows for another few years...and that was Windows 3.1.

My first game system was Pong by Colecovision...

[BADMIHAI]

My computer ran on DOS and there was no such thing as Windows for another few years

I still remember using DOS on my 286...later upgraded to a super-fast 486. 8)

[RC45]

I actually bought a NEW IBM-clone - one with the hotrod NEC-V20 8086 processor..

That baby hummed at an awesome 8mhz... (we found a way to clock it up to 10mhz as well ) and not only came with 640k of RAM, but had an upgarde option for an extra 384k of LIMS/EMS memory - to crack the 1mb barrier - IF you had the right software to use it..

[antonioledesma]

lets see. guys from 17 to 35 years, in countries were computers were more available. I'm 25 and I didn't really used a computer. only played a hotwheels game with a friend's computer, maybe IBM, and used a 5.25" floppy. That was way back in... 89-90.
Now the next time I saw a computer was a monocromatic (green) pc, again in a friend's house around 91.

then. in 94 in my school (Kids, don't touch or do anything we don't tell you), using windows 3.1. They treated us like retards (and we were)

computers stayed out of my life until the 96 when my dad (my parents are tech-idiots) decided we needed one (and we needed it, just imagine typing 35 pages of schools assignments, etc). A gigantic 1.2 GB HD, 16 MB of RAM, 166MHz, a whooping 16x cd-rom. A 28kpbs modem

just make the comparison of your lifes and mine

[RC45]

Originally Posted by StanAE86 My computer ran on DOS and there was no such thing as Windows for another few years...and that was Windows 3.1.

I have been using Windows since Versoin 1.0

Yep.. HP and Xerox used to ship a Runtime version of Windows 1.0 with the HP SCanJet I and Xerox Venturer Publisher DTP software - but that was only for real powerhouse Desktop Publishing uses...

That baby had Notepad, Othello, Calculator AND Paint - as well as the Xerox/HP image viewing software.

If I dig around, I may even be able to find one of the drawings I made (of the then brand new 1989/90 Kawaski ZXR400RR) and a few scanned images... hehehe

[StanAE86]

Originally Posted by RC45 I actually bought a NEW IBM-clone - one with the hotrod NEC-V20 8086 processor.. That baby hummed at an awesome 8mhz... (we found a way to clock it up to 10mhz as well ) and not only came with 640k of RAM, but had an upgarde option for an extra 384k of LIMS/EMS memory - to crack the 1mb barrier - IF you had the right software to use it..

Damn...8086? You got me. But you have to give me props for having had a Pong system...

[troskap]

OK, this is sort of going to date me here.

My first computer - an Atari 400, with a grand whopping 8K of RAM. How I remember learning how to program in Basic, just so I could get the text-graphics Defender game programmed in. And oh, the SPEED of that tape recorder drive - mmmm-hmmm, was that ever fast! Athlon 64, what?

Though the ancient computer up at the Uni that I played with once was the worst of the bunch, I think. You had to enter everything into the computer using punch cards....

[X-ale]

Texas Instruments TI-99/4A
Released:............ June 1981
Price:.................. US$525 (without monitor) :arrow: that was a normal TV
CPU:................... TI TMS9900, 3MHz
Memory:.............. 16K RAM, 26K ROM
Display:............... Video via an RF modulator
........................... 32 characters by 24 lines text
........................... 192 X 256, 16 color graphics
Ports:.................. ROM cartridge (on front)
........................... Data storage cassette
........................... Audio/Video output
........................... Joystick input
........................... CPU bus expansion
Peripherals:.......... Speech Synthesizer
........................... Peripheral Expansion Box
........................... Data storage cassette
........................... 300 baud modem
OS:...................... ROM BASIC




And Parsec was the name of the game



Or a rip-off of Space Invaders... check out the 2 difficulty levels

[graywolf624]

Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Released:............ June 1981 Price:.................. US$525 (without monitor) that was a normal TV CPU:................... TI TMS9900, 3MHz Memory:.............. 16K RAM, 26K ROM Display:............... Video via an RF modulator ........................... 32 characters by 24 lines text ........................... 192 X 256, 16 color graphics Ports:.................. ROM cartridge (on front) ........................... Data storage cassette ........................... Audio/Video output ........................... Joystick input ........................... CPU bus expansion Peripherals:.......... Speech Synthesizer ........................... Peripheral Expansion Box ........................... Data storage cassette ........................... 300 baud modem OS:...................... ROM BASIC

My old man had one of them too.. but he only let me use the trash 80..
still the guy with the oldest computer.. woohoo.. what do i win
lolj/k

[StanAE86]

Oh damn...punch cards and tape drives...that's old school.

Atari 400? I only remember the 2600.