Let's see - in 1971, our school had a PDP 8e, with 4k of memory, 4 teletypes and a paper tape reader. You had to set the first 16 bytes of the bootstrap manually, through the front panel switches, then it loaded the OS from paper tape (about an hour on the teletypes, so a system crash was a real bummer - then we got the optical tape reader )
IIRC it was programmed in a language called FOCAL - I think I've still got tthe manual in the loft ...... )
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Reply to: Pretty Good New Guide for Dummies
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Previously on "Pretty Good New Guide for Dummies"
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At my school, we had the mighty RM Nimbus 186.
Only the dumb kids were allowed to use them, as they could draw colourful shapes on them. Needless to say, I spent many a happy hour there
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Originally posted by ControlGIn 1976 my school linked up with a local technical college where they had one computer (Data Nova General). A small group (15) were given the chance to leave the school for one afternoon per week and visit the college to do Computer Studies.
Programming in BASIC via teletypes or one VDU.
Hmmm, ControlG, that rings a bell...
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Originally posted by BagpussI thought computer studies didnt make it into the curriculum until the early 80s?
Programming in BASIC via teletypes or one VDU.
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Still got one of those Bagpuss - with the 4 disk external floppy thingy. And it still works. Didn't get the Winchester HD.
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Originally posted by ControlGMemories came flooding back when I saw this picture.
In 1976 I did an O-Level in Computer Studies and we were actually recommended to get this book as it provided a good overview.
ALthough I never studied it, the school used the acorn BBC computers. What did they have in the 70s?
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Originally posted by Lucifer BoxDon't be silly, birds were spontaneously created and Zeitghost has been planted here by Satan to deceive the non-believers.
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Originally posted by FranckoShouldn't you evolve into a bird now?
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The smell of punched cards and mylar tape in the morning!
And the racket made by the card punch and tape punch.
And those nice 250k 8 inch floppy diskettes.
Glory days...
Shouldn't you evolve into a bird now?
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Originally posted by Lucifer BoxGiven the state of most public sector IT projects, perhaps you should recommend that they read it?
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Originally posted by WageSlaveSeriously: my current client has a book called 'An Introduction to BASIC', second edition, by M R Eagle (1976)
This is the public sector, so perhaps it's to be expected.
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Originally posted by Lucifer BoxI was working at one blue chip in the late 1980s where very little seemed to have changed in the interim. They were still using coding pads and punch cards, and had only recently decomissioned their paper tape streamer.
This is the public sector, so perhaps it's to be expected.
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Originally posted by ControlGMemories came flooding back when I saw this picture.
In 1976 I did an O-Level in Computer Studies and we were actually recommended to get this book as it provided a good overview.
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Originally posted by Lucifer BoxProbably one of the most useful ones I've seen yet. I think DCJ learned everything he knows about IT from it.
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re: Pretty Good New Guide
Memories came flooding back when I saw this picture.
In 1976 I did an O-Level in Computer Studies and we were actually recommended to get this book as it provided a good overview.
Leave a comment:
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