Old Tech thread

When I first got a job in computing we worked on a computer like this one.
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The system which ran a manufacturing company of some 700 employees had a CPU with 64K of memory which took up the space of small van. It had four disk drives, each about the size of a washing machine, on which you could load removeable disks like a pile of 6 oversized pizzas (about 2 foot across). Programming was done on punched cards, (usually between 2000 and 9000 cards per program step, with 18 programs to run a payroll.)

Windows or other multiprocessing systems had yet to arrive. The 360 could run a staggering 1 process concurrently.

There were no screens. An operator would run the programs via a console consisting of an entry keyboard and a typewriter. (Think of the teletype on which the Grandstand football results used to come up). Error messages were restricted to 3 characters to save time. ("%14" for instance meant an employee who is no longer employed has been included in this pay run.)
The operators main job apart from monitoring these messages was swapping the disks after each program step.
A typical payroll run took over an hour to complete.
A cost analysis for the week, (run just after midnight on Wednesdays) took 3 1/2 hours.)

There was a big red emergency pull switch on the front, which was to be pulled if ever the CPU caught fire, which, happily, it never did. New staff were "initiated" by getting them to unscew said switch and screw it back on with a coke can tab hanging behind the red bit, without killing the system. (It would take half a day to reboot.)

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Ah! Simpler times.
 
My first 'real' job it IT was the payroll department of Lothian Regional Council in 1986. For the first half day I was sure they were winding me up, because the principle payroll program was 12,500 punch cards....
 
My first 'real' job it IT was the payroll department of Lothian Regional Council in 1986. For the first half day I was sure they were winding me up, because the principle payroll program was 12,500 punch cards....

Wasn't that antiquated equipment in 86?
 
My first computer was a 5.25" floppy thingy, $905 from Sears.

Hated it... went back to my Selectric 3.

First desktop I ever worked on was a Wang, with a - I'm not sure... 18"? floppy. A USArmy mistake. Took forever to load (step 1, disk 1) then you had to double the time, loading a program (step 2, disc 2). By the time it was ready to use, I'd have been done with the projects I needed to do, using my Selectric.
 
Then the stupid Army went and bought those stoopid scan-pens. "Look! You can scan a whole page onto the screen!"

> One line at a time...
> Then correct the mistakes...
> Then realize the finished product is incompatible with your print program.

Wonderful tool!
 
Wasn't that antiquated equipment in 86?

It was obsolete, but worked, and the current management had grown up with it (these were the days of career path within a single organisation) and were comfortable with it. It was still going strong in ‘88 when I left.
 
This was my first computer (albeit used at school). A Tandy TRS80 Model 3, from as far back as 1979/80. I can't recall the exact specs but I know it only had 4K of RAM (yes, 4K); a green on black screen; and a couple of either 7" or 5" floppy disk drives.

Looked the bees knees back then but it was incredibly slow, heavy and noisy!


 
a green on black screen; and a couple of either 7" or 5" floppy disk drives.

Looked the bees knees back then but it was incredibly slow, heavy and noisy!



You didn't like the loud buzzing noise of floppy disk drives? LOL

There was another model with 8" floppy drives. The word processing department used them at a hospital I worked at in the 1980.
They got chicken bones in the keyboard.s I was amazed.
 
Prior to working for Lothian Council I was with a local light engineering firm, running their job costing and stock control system. This was on a Commadore Business Machine (it said so, right on the front), with 32k memory and twin external 5 1/4 floppy drive.
 
Ah yes, the "good old days" with green lettered screens, two floppies, and (for me) a 20 meg hard drive. Running at 2.4 ghz (IRC).

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This is what my first computer looked like. Yep! True Blue IBM, a synagogue was updating to a 286 and they gave us/me this. Worked well for years and years, but soon it seemed SOOOOO SLOOOOOW.
 
Sinclair ZX81.

My first home computer, bought for £69.99 in 1981 from WH Smiths. I also had to buy a cassette recorder to save and load games. Also bought some computer magazines like "ZX Computing" and would spend hours copying gaming code line by line, and as soon as I clicked "Run" the game would crash without me saving the game to tape first!

Shortly after I bought the 16K RAM pack and the thermal printer (with the "silver" paper). Great fun, especially with the games on offer like "3D Monster Maze" and some text-only adventure games




 
Sinclair ZX81.

My first home computer, bought for £69.99 in 1981 from WH Smiths. I also had to buy a cassette recorder to save and load games. Also bought some computer magazines like "ZX Computing" and would spend hours copying gaming code line by line, and as soon as I clicked "Run" the game would crash without me saving the game to tape first!

Shortly after I bought the 16K RAM pack and the thermal printer (with the "silver" paper). Great fun, especially with the games on offer like "3D Monster Maze" and some text-only adventure games




Did you paint a stripe on the cassette player’s volume control so you could easily use it?
 
I've still got my Spectrum's thermal printer, and a box of paper rolls to go with it...:)
 
This was my first computer (albeit used at school). A Tandy TRS80 Model 3, from as far back as 1979/80. I can't recall the exact specs but I know it only had 4K of RAM (yes, 4K); a green on black screen; and a couple of either 7" or 5" floppy disk drives.

Looked the bees knees back then but it was incredibly slow, heavy and noisy!


Gads I hated these! No one who typed over 60wpm could use the slow-*ss things!!
 

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