Looks like a time for war stories so will jump in and add a few bits
for history.

IBM came out with their PC computer and I bought from a firm in
Dallas a mother board, 1000 resistors, capacitors, etc and a chip set
(CPU was a 8080). I soldered all the parts in and put the chip set in
and didn't work. Testing did not find the problem and company who
sold the "kit' had a testing program you could pay for. Sent system
back to them and they found that they had included a chip that would
not work in their system.They replace the chip and sent back no
charge, their error.

Then went to the Z80 and on into the new chips and accessories. Now
running a 2 cpu built by AMD and is fast enough for me. Have a small
secure LAN and can connect WIFI with LT from house.

Just installed a 22 inch LCD monitor today. So big I have to move my
head to read from side to side )

In USAF flew Air Defense Fighters with Radar and attack computers.
Radar steered you in the proper position to attack fire and at 20
seconds to go you held the trigger down and continues to follow the
computer instructions and when the solution was correct in computer it
launched your rockets, missile or atomic rocket.

During the Cuban missile crisis I ran the dias in a 8 hour
shift in the Sage system. First real time computer ever made. 50,000
tubes in the two computers and lots of A/C (40 degrees to cool the
tubes) in the big concrete sector block house that would stand a near
by atomic explosion.

Had some micky mouse computers before the IBM clone but very limited
ability compared to Windows, etc. Ran TRSDOS (Trash DOS) on some Model
II's in my company. Model II's would run CPM so changed to that. I'm
sure many of you went thru the same progression to the current Mac and
Windows computers.

SAC was using punch cards in a lot of their computers as late a 72. I
build their MIS program to brief Commander SAC using punch cards.

I haven't heard yet what was hot at the convention just held in Los
Vegas.

Enough war stories. Some one needs to take the old time postings and
put together on Internet for posterity.

OK, no acro just straight and level )

Big John

************************************************** ***************************
On Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:35:22 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Jan 5, 6:37*pm, "Maxwell" #$$9#@%%%.^^^ wrote:

Then shame on you for not keeping up. These things have only been around for
25 years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ummm, well... the PC has only been with us since 1982 but the first
stored-program computer system was installed at the Detroit Firemans
Insurance Fund in 1948.

The Navy of course had been using rather primitive 'computer' systems
based on punched-cards for file storage and vacuum tubes for 'memory'
since 1941 and by the mid-1950's such systems were commonly found not
only at shore stations but afloat, on certain classes of Supply
ships. My own involvement with computer systems dates from 1956 and
there were plenty of old hands in the ranks by that time.


----clip----