Computers aint what they used to be

[Less]

Think back if you will to those early days of the first computers available to us the general public, we’re not talking about those Main Frame monstrosities of the sixties & seventies that took up so much room & generated so much heat that the paper would have a brown tinge as it emergered from the 110db dot matrix printer.

No we are talking about the real personal computers that started with Mr. Sinclairs Z80 & Z81 computers (strangely enough produced in 1980 & 1981) that had, if I remember correctly a whole 1K of memory. Oh how we looked in amazement when after spending hours trying again & again to get the information out of the cassette tape recorder, (on later models known as the data recorder). There for us to behold in genuine black & white would be some-ones basic program, they had spent hours, learning how to program and now here where the words:-

“HELLO WORLD”!

There was nothing else, no music, no movement just those two words, “HELLO WORLD”, did we the friends of this ground breaking genius take one fleeting glimpse & say “what a waste of time, why did you bother?” No, we all in one voice said “where can I get one?” At this point the proud owner would announce “I built it myself from a kit!” With this revelation forthcoming the more timid amongst us would express their doubts as to whether they had the technical know how to achieve such a monumental task. Now that he had the whole rooms attention the computer owner/expert would then let it be known that if you aren’t as ‘hands on’ as he is, then you can pay extra and buy one ready built.

The rest of that evening was spent with the assistance of several alcoholic beverages discussing the potential of such a ground breaking machine which, obviously would mean no more mundane tasks having to be performed by mankind ever again.

Within weeks many of that group would have their own ‘COMPUTER’ and had reached the level of competence to print the now familiar words “HELLO WORLD”, it was even rumoured that some where so advanced that they had displayed the phrase as;-



“HELLO WORLD”!!!





The main problem people were having was the same then as it is now, i.e. if you want extras then you have to pay extra, so most of us couldn’t afford the highly expensive computer & the Cassette recorder (sorry data recorder) as well, due to this whenever you did some programming you would have to copy it down using pen & paper & then enter it again by hand the next time you wanted to show how clever you were!

Despite all this with a few side tracks into such things as the Atari & Amiga, (Bless them both how I miss the hours of fun I had on each with their own quirky ways), we now have the all singing all dancing, P.C. that we are now so familiar with, just think, that piece of equipment on your desk is more powerful, contains a colossal amount more memory and is a zillion times faster than the one used to put man on the moon, and what do we use it for now? PLAYING CARDS!

[WillowTheWhisp]

You forgot to mention Amstrad. I had an Amstrad after my Spectrum.

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Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

You forgot to mention Amstrad. I had an Amstrad after my Spectrum.

I didn't forget it's just that there were so many to choose from back then I couldn't mention them all!

[KIPAX]

Amstrad was a side runner to the Atari ST and Amiga..

I started out with an Atari800XL which was a games console BUT had a keyboard.. The hello world syndrome peaked my interest enough to go out and buy a fantastic state of the art spectrum...

I went to Accrington library and got a book called "Idiots guide to BASIC" and learnt what I could of the language... lots of late nights and I made a crossword puzzle game

I outgrew this and went shopping for a new computer.. the one the spectrum magazines advertised was called something like samspade.. but as I was shopping the guy in the store said they have gone bust... It was down to a choice between an AtariST and an Amiga500 I opted for the Atari as it had a reputation as a serious computer as apposed to a games machine like the Amiga (hehe the old rivalry coming out there)

This machine had half a meg of memory and a 720k floppy disk drive... No hard drive.. thats it..

Let me tell you what i did with this half meg of memory and floppy disk..

I learnt how to program and over the next few years released over 60 titles into the public domain getting very good reviews in the magazines.. about 10 of my games got released on Future publishings ST Format magazine cover disk.. The mag eventualy commisioned me to write a series of programming articles for them. I released one commercial game but too late to make much money.

About 12 years or more ago I used this same machine to connect to the Internet. I was able to log into shell accounts and use the unix software remotely from my little atari.. So newsgroup;s emails and ftp... around about then the www stated (internet is over 30 yrs old.. www only about 12) I made a website with the Atari ST that is still out there now (But I aint saying where)

It took me a loooong time to go from my beloved atari over to the dark side.. the world of the PC but when I did I proceeded to learn the C programing language and released my first PD game to rave reviews... I probably have a copy somewhere..its a platform game if anyone interested... called Diamond Ice a conversion of one of my Atari releases.

Around about this time I was also developing my web skills and got quite prolific with Javascript.. so much so that I replied to an newsgroup add asking for someone to convert a muimedia atlas CD into a website.. i got the contract for 500 quid and did such a good job the people wanted me to do more... I showed them a game I was working on.
A large scrolling semi3d adventure game called Droplets of Time .. Anyway we ended up turning that game engine into a 3d petsite released by hi2.com or www.tvml.co.uk who had at one point over 10 thousand users with pets.

TVML then offered me a job as a full time games programmer using there own in house programming language that I had learnt...

At the same time I was developing web applications for an Atari contact.. when I told him of the offer and how I couldnt help him anymore I ended up in what can only be described as an auction for my services ....

I decided rather than take the gamemaking job and devlope an in house language that would be no good later.. I would go with the web stuff and started to learn Perl (By far the hardest programming language I have ever tackled) I made an application called WebWho+ currently now at www.webwho.co.uk it was a domain checker that would check mutiple tlds (co.uk, com, net , org etc) but with a nice interface and could be hooked to a shopping cart.... This has been downloaded over a hundred thuosand times and is used in many website selling domains either as-is or in a changed form. This script made me quite famous and got me lots of work that I am still prospering from today..

I am now addicted to the internet. I was the first person in accy to get broadband about 3.5 years ago on test and I cant go more than a day without checking my system. I am a programmer but dont make websites.. I make backends to websites.. the bits you dont see.. control panels.. shopping carts, secure areas. database systems blah blah.

OK boored enough now?

[Ceejache]

I had a BBC Model 'B' (later with a Cumano 5 1/4 inch disk drive)! 32K of memory, great for learning BASIC.

An analogy lies in the technical equipment used in the recording of music - one can pick up a modern four-track recorder with capabilities surpassing those that The Beatles recorded Sgt.Peppers with for less than £100. Todays equipment (which includes computers to a large extent) is far, far, far more powerful with infinite channels and 'tracks', an almost infinite array of effects and send/return buses, digital compression and limiters, automated mixing desks, MIDI communication between every outboards piece of equipment, virtual synths etc. etc. - and what does the industry relentlessly churn out? Girls Aloud, Busted and the like..........!

[Ceejache]

On the contrary Kipax I found it very interesting! I figured that you must be working in some kind of freelance programmer-type capacity like that to spend as much time as you do on here!

The Atari ST is still used by some music programmers who use MIDI! In the early heady days of 'rave' (late 80's/early 90's) most of the music was produced using ST's as the main MIDI controller - there was no question of using the Amiga!

[Less]

Thanks Kipax I enjoyed that. It might just be worth while asking Roy about his first attempts @ P.C. comms using an old 286 with a 20 meg hard drive & a 2400 baud modem, he was helping some guys from Burnley run their own bulletin board. He tends to get embarassed if I mention it but perhaps you could tease it out of him! (He was just about thirteen at the time but oviously destined to do what he does now).

ops:

[KIPAX]

My first modem was a 9600 IIRC and I was using a BBS before going on the internet.. just as a user though... I couldnt find a local Atari BBS so used to log into the one in durham. First phone bill was about 300 quid and that was for a month

Ceejache : Yes many years ago on the newsgroups such as 'comp.sys.atari.st' people used to star watch.. see how many groups on top of the pops had an atari in the setup , or concerts etc. My most recent one was a couple of years ago there was a house interview with Carley Simon and going into the room where she does her work.. there it was.. an atari st..... I never got into the music side of it... which means even though I did so much with mine.. I probably didnt get the best out of it... There wasnt another computer at the time to rival the atari midi ports.

[WillowTheWhisp]

That was fascinating Kipax. All I can say in favour of my old Amstrad is that I actually liked Locoscript and it took me quite a while before I would acknowledge the advantages of Word. We used to play some very simple dungeons and dragons type games on it too.

In the dim and distant Sinclair days I recall typing in programs (out of magazines) only to have someone distract me before I finished and then I'd discover I was on the wrong line and end up getting thoroughly confused. Mine wasn't too hot on reading the cassettes tapes.

[KIPAX]

haha oh dear yes i remeber that now... waiting 15 minutes for a game to load on tape only for it not wo work hehe the local computer shop used to charge a fiver to realign the heads.... until i found out how simple a task that was and did it myself.. such a long time ago...

[Less]

Originally Posted by Less

The rest of that evening was spent with the assistance of several alcoholic beverages discussing the potential of such a ground breaking machine which, obviously would mean no more mundane tasks having to be performed by mankind ever again.

What I forgot to mention was the Ladies in that little group who, although just as fascinated by this marvelous piece of kit could be heard whispering as if in unison, "Yes, but will it do the ironing?"

Well girls the answer to that one is YES but you first have to warm the keyboard up on the processor before it will work efficiently as a smoothing iron.