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Groups > sci.electronics.design > #453351
| From | Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | sci.electronics.design |
| Subject | Re: big drives |
| Date | 2017-03-24 00:21 -0700 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <ob2h95$obg$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | (6 earlier) <20621a20-e013-44c2-a89f-8ebe2c0af752@googlegroups.com> <ob202m$p9d$1@dont-email.me> <04fd29cc-ec06-4458-92a9-a6d0c493debf@googlegroups.com> <ob2a9o$7ll$1@dont-email.me> <d6175337-d1ba-4d17-826f-5b0837ca6789@googlegroups.com> |
On 3/23/2017 11:08 PM, pcdhobbs@gmail.com wrote:
>> How much did you part with for the kit YOU were using in the mid 70's?
>
> Your reference was from 1970,
No, the MANUAL that I referenced was from 1970. My reference to the
*equipment* was:
"My first *hard* disk had a capacity of 256K words..."
John Larkin referenced 1970 (feel free to check back up-thread)
> when I was 10 years old and had just got a
> soldering gun and some plumber's solder for my birthday. (My parents were
> very supportive but didn't know much about radio. The debt I owe them has
> hopefully been paid to the next generation.)
>
> Soon after that point I had to save up a month's pocket money plus what I
> earned from extra chores to buy parts to build projects with.
I built my first computers from "samples" begged from sales reps (while
working my way through school). And, from bits of kit gifted to me by friends
who worked at firms like DEC (I could never afford to buy even USED kit of this
sort AND arrange to pay my tuition, rent, board, etc.)
> My programming career started in about 1973, writing programs for a small HP
> machine owned by the local school board, then a year or so later coding for
> various HP calculators. Subsequently I've gone on to greater things, but I
> still have an HP 41CV that I used just today.
My school district didn't own a computer until after I'd graduated. Prior
to that point, a glorified Wang "multi-terminal calculator" (with paper
cards punched with a stylus)) was the closest thing they had to a programmable
device.
However, I'd started writing code some 4 years earlier on a small time sharing
system using an ASR-33 with 103 modem. Then, "progressed" to punched cards
on a small mainframe while taking "night classes" at a local college. Later,
of course, the innumerable *different* computers each of my regular college
classes used to present their coursework (each professor seemed to have
designed their own OS and system to support their courses).
It wasn't until I was *in* college that the idea of OWNING a computer was a
realistic option -- the choice being between building something around the
i4004 or the i8085. The 8i and RS08's were "unexpected gifts" -- while the
few other classmates were tinkering with floppy disk drives, I had 512K words
of spinning rust (two RS08's). And, *16KB* of DRAM that I'd wirewrapped on
an Augat board (a sawwed-off portion of a "discard" I'd salvaged due to some
damage to the sockets on one end of the panel)
Of course, I'm a hardware person so not interested in writing programs to
"edit text" or "draw graphs" but, rather, to "control mechanisms". So, the
I/O's that are of interest don't stress "displays" or "keyboards". And, the
techniques with which machines are built even more interesting (e.g., the
"flip chip" approach of the PDP8 *seemed* clever -- until I actually had to
think about what the interconnects involved)
As a result, I didn't have to spend "real money" on kit until after I'd
left college. Yet, I'd been able to play with a fair bit of it for many
years before that -- independent of the kit supplied by the schools involved!
[When its *your* money at stake, you're a lot less fussy about the size,
speed, quality, noise, capacity, etc. of that kit! "Free" forgives a lot
of shortcomings! And, you don't have any "attachment" to the kit when
it becomes to cumbersome to cart around to each new residence! :> ]
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big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-21 10:21 -0700
Re: big drives bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-03-21 13:47 -0400
Re: big drives George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-21 12:42 -0700
Re: big drives dagmargoodboat@yahoo.com - 2017-03-21 12:55 -0700
Re: big drives George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-21 13:37 -0700
Re: big drives bill.sloman@ieee.org - 2017-03-21 21:51 -0700
Re: big drives George Herold <gherold@teachspin.com> - 2017-03-22 07:26 -0700
Re: big drives Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu> - 2017-03-22 03:38 -0700
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-22 14:23 +0000
Re: big drives David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-03-22 16:43 +0100
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-22 18:35 +0000
Re: big drives David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-03-23 10:24 +0100
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-23 16:11 +0000
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-23 13:05 -0400
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-23 17:39 +0000
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-23 21:05 -0400
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-24 03:01 +0000
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-23 23:09 -0400
Re: big drives Don Kuenz <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-03-24 04:15 +0000
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-24 22:34 -0400
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 12:25 -0700
Re: big drives dplatt@coop.radagast.org (Dave Platt) - 2017-03-22 13:57 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 16:03 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-22 20:29 -0400
Re: big drives tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-22 04:36 -0700
Re: big drives Spehro Pefhany <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> - 2017-03-22 08:57 -0400
Re: big drives Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2017-03-22 11:59 -0400
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-22 13:23 -0400
Re: big drives Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> - 2017-03-22 16:38 -0500
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-22 20:31 -0400
Re: big drives gray_wolf <g_wolf@nospam.com> - 2017-03-23 20:59 -0500
Re: big drives gray_wolf <g_wolf@nospam.com> - 2017-03-23 21:00 -0500
Re: big drives Robert Baer <robertbaer@localnet.com> - 2017-03-23 22:21 -0800
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-22 07:51 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-22 13:23 -0400
Re: big drives Robert Baer <robertbaer@localnet.com> - 2017-03-23 22:19 -0800
Re: big drives tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-24 04:26 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 08:38 -0700
Re: big drives Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> - 2017-03-22 16:37 -0500
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-22 16:07 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 16:21 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-22 16:45 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 23:21 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 13:06 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 16:56 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 17:35 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 21:47 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 16:19 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-22 16:50 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 17:58 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-22 21:00 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-22 22:50 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-23 08:27 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 12:25 -0700
Re: big drives tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-24 04:31 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 06:38 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 08:41 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 11:38 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 13:55 -0700
Re: big drives tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-24 17:14 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 17:41 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 18:00 -0700
Re: big drives Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> - 2017-03-23 09:35 -0700
Re: big drives "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> - 2017-03-23 18:38 -0400
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 16:18 -0700
Re: big drives Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2017-03-23 18:29 -0400
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 18:38 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 18:54 -0700
Re: big drives pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-23 19:16 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 19:28 -0700
Re: big drives pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-23 19:55 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-23 23:04 -0400
Re: big drives pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-23 22:00 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 08:46 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-24 22:38 -0400
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-23 22:22 -0700
Re: big drives pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-23 23:08 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 00:21 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 09:00 -0700
Re: big drives David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-03-24 17:14 +0100
Re: big drives tabbypurr@gmail.com - 2017-03-24 09:19 -0700
Re: big drives David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-03-24 17:47 +0100
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 12:01 -0700
Re: big drives Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2017-03-24 20:30 +0000
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 14:06 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 11:55 -0700
Re: big drives "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> - 2017-03-25 04:00 -0400
Re: big drives upsidedown@downunder.com - 2017-03-24 22:18 +0200
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 14:15 -0700
Re: big drives Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2017-03-25 13:21 +0200
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-25 07:54 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-25 10:53 -0700
Re: big drives upsidedown@downunder.com - 2017-03-25 23:11 +0200
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-25 15:14 -0700
Re: big drives upsidedown@downunder.com - 2017-03-26 12:18 +0300
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-26 03:33 -0700
Re: big drives Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2017-03-26 16:36 -0400
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-26 14:13 -0700
Re: big drives Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2017-03-25 21:04 +0200
Re: big drives pcdhobbs@gmail.com - 2017-03-24 19:03 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 08:53 -0700
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 12:12 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkinxyxy@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 14:20 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-24 22:43 -0400
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 20:10 -0700
Re: big drives krw@notreal.com - 2017-03-24 23:23 -0400
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-24 22:25 -0700
Re: big drives Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2017-03-25 13:23 +0200
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-23 19:36 -0700
Re: big drives upsidedown@downunder.com - 2017-03-24 10:14 +0200
Re: big drives Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-03-24 01:31 -0700
Re: big drives John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> - 2017-03-23 16:21 -0700
Re: big drives "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> - 2017-03-24 08:54 -0400
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