HippsieGypsie
It's Gururrrrrr8!


- Messages
- 13,547
- Location
- Lilymoor, IL
Hi all,
I was reading the thread http://www.eightforums.com/crashes-debugging/7097-attempting-repair.html, which some older, knowledgeable, and experienced gentlemen were conversing in, not to say that I'm one. They're far above my head! It brought back a lot of memories for me, though. So I thought I would start another "Fun" thread to hopefully to add to the community. We all have memories young and old.
"Preserve you memories. They're all that's left you"
~ Simon and Garfunkel in the song "Old Friends" (last line)
Simon and Garfunkel-Old Friends, Bookends Theme -full version. - YouTube
Born June 29, 1951 - I Remember:
- As a child watching U.S. elections when some of the first mainframes predicted the results. I wasn't born yet for the prediction of the 1950 elections where the UNIVAC predicted a landslide for Eisenhower (100 to 1 odds) and the CBS news cast covered it up for unbelief, then recanted afterwards, but learned about it in early grade school reading an article in a school quarterly magazine. (For the life of me I cannot remember the name of the magazine. It's on the tip of my tongue but can't get it out. If anyone has a clue, please let me know.) You can read about it here: UNIVAC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Circa 1957: Some of my siblings and I recieved a transitor radio for Christmas. If I remember correctly it had no battery, for one would take the two alligator clips that the device had and clamp to some steel and listen through an ear plug speaker. (Pre-stereo for you younger folk) Many consider the transitor to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. It led to the invention of the IC. Smaller devices such as the PC, laptop, pads, etc. would not be possible without this invention. Transistor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- In grade school using a pencil to punch holes in cards for multiple answer questions on tests so they could run them through an IBM mainframe for correcting and scoring. That was high tech for those days. I remember the cards had the IBM logo on it. Talk about brain burning!
- In high school holding in my hand the first Cal Tech calculator by Texas Instruments that the rich kid had. I was mesmerized! If I remember correctly, it cost about $400 in 1960's money. I'd guess it to be about $1,000 in today's money. We're buying PCs for that now a days! I think it was my Junior year in 1967.
- Seeing the computer HAL in the Sci Fi "2001 A Space Odessy" in the summer of 69 right after I graduated high school. This is the same summer of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I rented and watched it again in 2001 for New Years eve. It blew me away as to how much has come to past so far as technology goes in the last 40-some-odd years! Incredible technology! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)
- Circa 1972: My best friend at the time graduated with a BA in mathematics and got a job at Kemper Insurance which no longer exists, but was revamped as Kemper Corp. He was on a team that were the liaisons between Kemper mainframes and companies that would rent time on them at night. He invited me to his work one afternoon and showed me around. The 1st floor was offices and data entry work stations. He took me to the 2nd floor and showed me bank after bank after bank of IBM main frames. It seemed to go on forever! My jaw dropped to the floor! And the noise and the heat! He also hired another buddy of ours to assemble harnesses for workstations at home for spare change.
- Stating to family and friends in 1975 that "Some day we would all own computers, that we would all be using, and that we would be communicating through them". They lQQked at me as if I was crazy! (Well I am, but that's beside the point) No, I didn't capitalize on it, for I guess I didn't believe in my prediction myself all that much. Now you know I'm crazy!
- Circa 1980: Hearing digitalized music on a CD for the first time. Without computers this would not be possible. It was like I heard music again for the first time! I heard instrumental parts that I didn't hear before, for prior to that in analogue stereo we were basically amplifying distortion. I remember a fellow that blew a picture window out in his house doing so! A CD has less than 1%. e.g. The Beatle song "Hey Jude" has 16 or so different parts not including a 36-piece orchestra. I didn't hear a lot of the parts until I heard it again on a CD.
- Getting my first computer in 1991. A used Commodore 64C with a floppy disc and monitor. I played with it some, but wasn't really serious about PCs yet. I think the kids destroyed it. I threw it out. Ouch! I wish I still had it! I got serious with PCs when a IT friend of mine gave me a Gateway 2000 with Win 95 loaded on it in 1997. My friend would teach me how to fix it when I broke it. Now I know enough to be dangerous! I still have it. It runs, but I put it in storage. I think I'll drag it out. It's got 98 SE loaded on it now. Then bought this Acer PC about 6 or 7 years ago.
- Circa 1996: Getting my first mobile phone account and bag phone, which led to the "Brick", which led to the dumb phone, then to the smart phone. They are actually very small computers. We carry in our pockets more computing power and MEM that took rooms to house some 30 odd years ago. I have not had and not needed a land line for about 13 years now.
- Getting my first charge and bank cards with the magnetic data strip on them and using it at stores and ATMs. Like the Church Lady said on SNL "How convenient!"
- Seeing a automobile ECU for the first time. They had and have more computing power than the Apollo missions had!
- Seeing a UPC barcode for the first time and wondering what it was for! Commonplace today.
- I remember throughout the years anticipating "The next Windows OS" or program with excitement just as I have done with Windows 8.
More to come as this older mind remembers.
Please share yours, "Fellow Forumeers".
All of you can return, edit, and add to your posts as you remember things.
I was reading the thread http://www.eightforums.com/crashes-debugging/7097-attempting-repair.html, which some older, knowledgeable, and experienced gentlemen were conversing in, not to say that I'm one. They're far above my head! It brought back a lot of memories for me, though. So I thought I would start another "Fun" thread to hopefully to add to the community. We all have memories young and old.
"Preserve you memories. They're all that's left you"
~ Simon and Garfunkel in the song "Old Friends" (last line)
Simon and Garfunkel-Old Friends, Bookends Theme -full version. - YouTube
Born June 29, 1951 - I Remember:
- As a child watching U.S. elections when some of the first mainframes predicted the results. I wasn't born yet for the prediction of the 1950 elections where the UNIVAC predicted a landslide for Eisenhower (100 to 1 odds) and the CBS news cast covered it up for unbelief, then recanted afterwards, but learned about it in early grade school reading an article in a school quarterly magazine. (For the life of me I cannot remember the name of the magazine. It's on the tip of my tongue but can't get it out. If anyone has a clue, please let me know.) You can read about it here: UNIVAC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Circa 1957: Some of my siblings and I recieved a transitor radio for Christmas. If I remember correctly it had no battery, for one would take the two alligator clips that the device had and clamp to some steel and listen through an ear plug speaker. (Pre-stereo for you younger folk) Many consider the transitor to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. It led to the invention of the IC. Smaller devices such as the PC, laptop, pads, etc. would not be possible without this invention. Transistor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- In grade school using a pencil to punch holes in cards for multiple answer questions on tests so they could run them through an IBM mainframe for correcting and scoring. That was high tech for those days. I remember the cards had the IBM logo on it. Talk about brain burning!
- In high school holding in my hand the first Cal Tech calculator by Texas Instruments that the rich kid had. I was mesmerized! If I remember correctly, it cost about $400 in 1960's money. I'd guess it to be about $1,000 in today's money. We're buying PCs for that now a days! I think it was my Junior year in 1967.
- Seeing the computer HAL in the Sci Fi "2001 A Space Odessy" in the summer of 69 right after I graduated high school. This is the same summer of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I rented and watched it again in 2001 for New Years eve. It blew me away as to how much has come to past so far as technology goes in the last 40-some-odd years! Incredible technology! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)
- Circa 1972: My best friend at the time graduated with a BA in mathematics and got a job at Kemper Insurance which no longer exists, but was revamped as Kemper Corp. He was on a team that were the liaisons between Kemper mainframes and companies that would rent time on them at night. He invited me to his work one afternoon and showed me around. The 1st floor was offices and data entry work stations. He took me to the 2nd floor and showed me bank after bank after bank of IBM main frames. It seemed to go on forever! My jaw dropped to the floor! And the noise and the heat! He also hired another buddy of ours to assemble harnesses for workstations at home for spare change.
- Stating to family and friends in 1975 that "Some day we would all own computers, that we would all be using, and that we would be communicating through them". They lQQked at me as if I was crazy! (Well I am, but that's beside the point) No, I didn't capitalize on it, for I guess I didn't believe in my prediction myself all that much. Now you know I'm crazy!
- Circa 1980: Hearing digitalized music on a CD for the first time. Without computers this would not be possible. It was like I heard music again for the first time! I heard instrumental parts that I didn't hear before, for prior to that in analogue stereo we were basically amplifying distortion. I remember a fellow that blew a picture window out in his house doing so! A CD has less than 1%. e.g. The Beatle song "Hey Jude" has 16 or so different parts not including a 36-piece orchestra. I didn't hear a lot of the parts until I heard it again on a CD.
- Getting my first computer in 1991. A used Commodore 64C with a floppy disc and monitor. I played with it some, but wasn't really serious about PCs yet. I think the kids destroyed it. I threw it out. Ouch! I wish I still had it! I got serious with PCs when a IT friend of mine gave me a Gateway 2000 with Win 95 loaded on it in 1997. My friend would teach me how to fix it when I broke it. Now I know enough to be dangerous! I still have it. It runs, but I put it in storage. I think I'll drag it out. It's got 98 SE loaded on it now. Then bought this Acer PC about 6 or 7 years ago.
- Circa 1996: Getting my first mobile phone account and bag phone, which led to the "Brick", which led to the dumb phone, then to the smart phone. They are actually very small computers. We carry in our pockets more computing power and MEM that took rooms to house some 30 odd years ago. I have not had and not needed a land line for about 13 years now.
- Getting my first charge and bank cards with the magnetic data strip on them and using it at stores and ATMs. Like the Church Lady said on SNL "How convenient!"
- Seeing a automobile ECU for the first time. They had and have more computing power than the Apollo missions had!
- Seeing a UPC barcode for the first time and wondering what it was for! Commonplace today.
- I remember throughout the years anticipating "The next Windows OS" or program with excitement just as I have done with Windows 8.
More to come as this older mind remembers.
Please share yours, "Fellow Forumeers".
All of you can return, edit, and add to your posts as you remember things.
Last edited: