Living History
We all live history everyday. After all, today is history tomorrow. But I just read an article that really brought home the fact that "being history" gives one a unique perspective. I was there. In 1970, fresh out of high school and looking for a future, I began classes in computer programming. The main frame we worked on had no keyboard, so we had to give it instructions via keypunch cards. Those are the cards mentioned in the article. BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Big computer storage gets smaller
The computer itself had a huge 16K memory. For those of you who can't comprehend that--it is about the amount of memory it now takes to store part of a photograph (say the head, in a "full body" picture). That was the entire memory for our computer. With that tiny "speck" of memory, we had to not only give the computer it's instructions on what to do, but then use the tiny leftover bytes to manipulate the data into our desired outcome. And yet, we were amazed at such a technical marvel. That machine filled a 20 ft by 20 ft room, which required an elaborate air conditioning system to keep the room temperatures in the 60 degree (F) range. I was fascinated that man could ever achieve such a miracle of technology.
Around that same time, there was an episode of My Favorite Martian (another tip that I'm not exactly a youngster anymore) in which Uncle Martin was going to stow away on a rocket we were sending to Mars. There were elaborate goodbyes, as it seemed that Uncle Martin was finally going home. But in the end, he couldn't fit in the space capsule, because it was too full of computer equipment. When Tim asked him hadn't he known that before hand, Martin explained that he'd read that all the capsule had on board was a few computers--and that those would fit on the head of a pin on his world. When I saw this espisode, I remeber thinking that I could actually live to see that here on Earth. Well, I guess I have.
While I like the fact I'm still here, I'm not certain I relish the fact I was there. Talk about feeling like a techno-fossil!
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Big computer storage gets smaller
The computer itself had a huge 16K memory. For those of you who can't comprehend that--it is about the amount of memory it now takes to store part of a photograph (say the head, in a "full body" picture). That was the entire memory for our computer. With that tiny "speck" of memory, we had to not only give the computer it's instructions on what to do, but then use the tiny leftover bytes to manipulate the data into our desired outcome. And yet, we were amazed at such a technical marvel. That machine filled a 20 ft by 20 ft room, which required an elaborate air conditioning system to keep the room temperatures in the 60 degree (F) range. I was fascinated that man could ever achieve such a miracle of technology.
Around that same time, there was an episode of My Favorite Martian (another tip that I'm not exactly a youngster anymore) in which Uncle Martin was going to stow away on a rocket we were sending to Mars. There were elaborate goodbyes, as it seemed that Uncle Martin was finally going home. But in the end, he couldn't fit in the space capsule, because it was too full of computer equipment. When Tim asked him hadn't he known that before hand, Martin explained that he'd read that all the capsule had on board was a few computers--and that those would fit on the head of a pin on his world. When I saw this espisode, I remeber thinking that I could actually live to see that here on Earth. Well, I guess I have.
While I like the fact I'm still here, I'm not certain I relish the fact I was there. Talk about feeling like a techno-fossil!
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Big computer storage gets smaller
posted by Busted Boomer | Sunday, February 06, 2005
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