Greetings from The Geekside

[michelen]

I am in the midst of re-reading Stephen Levy's "Hackers" for the third or fourth time. It's absolutely amazing what has happened in the last 30 years.

So I was trying to remember when I saw my first computer. I think it was in 1978 when I worked on my college newspaper, and we had some kind of typesetting machine. All I remember is that it displayed something like 6 lines of type at a time on a little LCD display.

The next time I saw a computer was when I was going to school at UC Berkeley and got a part-time job in the circulation department at the Oakland Tribune. In those days--1979--the Ganette-owned Tribune had just installed a state-of-the-art computer system, which broke down constantly, of course. In the circ department, we had terminals that were connected to the Hulking Giant up on the 7th floor. We had different passwords for different levels of access, and it took me a couple of days to hack into the system so that I could have whatever access I wanted. And I volunteered to work the graveyard shift on Friday nights, and...

My next computer was the Compugraphic Editwriter 7500 typesetting machine. Kathleen will know what I am talking about. Afte that, it was the first Linotronic typesetting system. A year after we spent $$$ on that system, these weird little machines called MacIntosh started showing up on our design clients' desks, and life was never the same.

My career as a typographer ended when I was diagnosed with severe tendinitis in both elbows and forced to go on temporary disability. So I rented a Mac 512 with a copy of Pagemaker 1.0, and got a job as a digital production artist at a local magazine. Around that same time, I built my first PC, a 286 with a whopping 2 MB of RAM, and produced newsletters with WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS. When I built my 286, I attached a modem and discovered CompuServe, and the DTP forum. At $12/hour!

And life went on...

From November of 1998 through April of 2007 I was very happily employed as Production Manager at IDG Entertainment, publisher of GamePro magazine. Then IDG decided that print was dead, and sent me off with a handshake and a check.

These days, I am a "Production Team Member" at the USENIX Association. At work, I have the latest, greatest dual processor Intel Mac. I do Web pages (manually coded HTML with a little CSS), I do every kind of print job you can imagine. I use UNIX. I am a geek.
I am very happy :)

[LoisWakeman]

My first real sighting of a computer was in 1976, when I joined ICL as a technical writer. A trip to the computer hall - an air conditioned palace in the basement - was a jaw-dropping experience for a new graduate. Rows and rows of orange and brown cabinets, whirring tape decks, and lots of blinking lights! Probably about the same processing power as a top-end PC these days.

Before that, I'd only seen the distant end of computing: card readers and a teletype when I worked at BP as a programming assistant.

But it was years before I could afford a PC (CPM) at home, or even saw one at work.

[annc]

My first real sighting of a computer was in 1976, when I joined ICL as a technical writer. A trip to the computer hall - an air conditioned palace in the basement - was a jaw-dropping experience for a new graduate. Rows and rows of orange and brown cabinets, whirring tape decks, and lots of blinking lights! Probably about the same processing power as a top-end PC these days.In those days I was working for a company that used ICL mainframes. I'd started using Lockheed Dialog for doing literature searches for the professional staff in 1977 (300 baud international dial-up on a paper terminal!) and when they moved to an ICL 2956 in 1979 I was offered Status to build the library catalogue, so got my first video screen and designed my first database at the same time.

We were forbidden to touch the screens, and even now I am finding it difficult to use the touch screen self checkout unit sitting beside my desk at work for testing.

[ktinkel]

Hi, Michele.

I haven’t read Hackers — sounds as if it would be great fun.

And congrats on your new job.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

My first computer experience was when my dad brought home the first "portable" computer that was the size of a suitcase. The keyboard flopped down to show a little tiny screen and my siblings and I used to fight over a turn to make "cinnamon buns" which was just rows and rows of the @ symbol. I was the one who discovered the backspace key to eat them all. :D

[ktinkel]

My first computer experience was when my dad brought home the first "portable" computer that was the size of a suitcase. The keyboard flopped down to show a little tiny screen and my siblings and I used to fight over a turn to make "cinnamon buns" which was just rows and rows of the @ symbol. I was the one who discovered the backspace key to eat them all. :DWas that the Compaq? I sort of remember when that came out. Had to be the late 70s, early 80s.

Ugly, too.

I got my first computer, an Apple ][, in 1979. Just missed getting one with only a tape drive; actually got a floppy.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Sounds like an Osborne (the tiny screen is the giveaway).

[iamback]

The name "Kaypro" is rumbling around in my mind... yup - easily found: Kaypro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro). As I remember they had "luggables" long before Compaq did.

There's an image here (http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html) - that's the one I had in mind!

(Amazing that the name popped up for me, I'm normally hopeless at rememebring names for anything/one.)

[ktinkel]

Sounds like an Osborne (the tiny screen is the giveaway).Right! I sort of knew it couldn’t be Compaq, which came later.

I do remember what it looked like, though — truly homely, very heavy.

Thanks.

[ktinkel]

The name "Kaypro" is rumbling around in my mind... yup - easily found: Kaypro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro). As I remember they had "luggables" long before Compaq did.

There's an image here (http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html) - that's the one I had in mind!That was a year or so later; notice all the styling!

Steve remembered correctly: It was the Osborne (http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html). Even uglier.

I knew someone who had one, though I don’t remember who. But I did get to play with it a little bit.

[Andrew B.]

Sounds like an Osborne (the tiny screen is the giveaway).It could be. Here is a picture of the Osborne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1)

And on the topic of early computers, here's a fun timeline (http://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml) about early personal computers. According to this, the first personal desktop computer was the Simon from Berkeley Enterprises in 1950. Cost about $300. But without software, it would not be much use for me.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

Sounds like an Osborne (the tiny screen is the giveaway)

and

'the first "portable" computer that was the size of a suitcase'.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Ah, but that was a HUGE screen to Osborne trained (perhaps that needs an "s" in front of it?) eyes.
http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html

To give it scale, the overall computer size was just slightly smaller than the Kaypro, but look at the difference in screen sizes.

(I owned both at one time or another)

[Steve Rindsberg]

The later ones were more stylish; gray case and they lost that ugly cable between the keyboard and the main unit.

There weren't many computers at the time worthy of design prizes (but there's one of that model Osborne in the Smithsonian, and there's one of the 10mb HDD versions of the Kaypro (see Marjolein's link) in a tech museum in Toronto. I gave it to a friend's mom when her Kaypro II or IV died and they passed it along to a good home when she didn't need it any longer.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Michael,

I wasn't sure it was the first on the market. The Compaq did arrive fairly soon after, as did the Kaypro.

I always thought of it more as "sewing machine" rather than suitcase sized. It was almost exactly the same size and weight as my wife's sweing machine.

[ktinkel]

I wasn't sure it was the first on the market. The Compaq did arrive fairly soon after, as did the Kaypro.

I always thought of it more as "sewing machine" rather than suitcase sized. It was almost exactly the same size and weight as my wife's sweing machine.She must have (had) a Singer Featherweight — it is of similar size, shape, and weight.

Worth their weight in gold, these days.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Urk. That'd be "sewing" not "sweng". Hers is a Sears/Kenmore (and it's actually a bit smaller than the Ozzie was).

[cdanddvdpublisher]

To tell you the truth, I have no idea what it was. At that point I really didn't care all that much about computers. Oh how the years change you. :)

[Mike]

I just Googled for a picture of the first computer I worked on in 1969 - the ICL 1904 (http://www.answers.com/topic/international-computers-ltd?cat=technology)

It had 4 exchangeable disc drives and a CPU the size of a dozen filing cabinets.

Anyway, Google also turned up this (http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/archive/index.php/t-963.html).

Wow! I also came up with this (http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-3623(197212)23%3A4%3C549%3ACAPSS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C) which describes the work I was doing with it. I was the programmer in the latter stages of the project and Chris was the brains.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

The Osborne must have caught my eye for some reason; I was reading Chip (a German computer magazine) then, which I started reading in 1987. I had decided to use a computer for word processing and didn't know what to get.

[iamback]

That was a year or so later; notice all the styling!

Steve remembered correctly: It was the Osborne (http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html). Even uglier.Ah yes, I remember that, too! Earlier indeed. But these were really exciting machines at the time!

[iamback]

Well, even to a child the location of the screen must have been clear - can you remember yourself behind it? Was the screen in the middle or at the left?

[Steve Rindsberg]

Exciting indeed. Especially as both of them (Kaypro and Osborne) broke the $2000 barrier for hardware and threw in an amazing amount of free software; there weren't any discounters at the time; the bundled software alone would have cost more than the computers sold for. dBase II, SuperCalc, WordStar and bunches of other stuff, all came with my Osborne.

[Steve Rindsberg]

Steve:

The Osborne must have caught my eye for some reason; I was reading Chip (a German computer magazine) then, which I started reading in 1987. I had decided to use a computer for word processing and didn't know what to get.
1987? By then, Osborne would have long since gone down in flames.

My dad had gotten interested in personal computers back when you built your own 2k RAM machines from kits, and I'd had a little fun playing with his. I'd been reading (without really understanding) his Byte magazines and asking him "Is it time yet?" once a year or so. I wanted to use a computer for word processing too, but the answer was always "No."

When the Osborne came out (in 1980 or 1981?) he phoned me up and said "It's time."

None of the CP/M system manufacturers lasted long after the IBM PC came out. Kaypro released a very sleek MSDOS laptop, the Kaypro 2000

http://oldcomputers.net/kaypro2000.html - the photo makes it look chubbier than it actually was, but gives an accurate rendition of the screen, which was truly horrible.

I suspect that Kaypro's company image was so tied to CP/M that the world pretty much left them behind in the rush to PC-compatibles. The 2000 didn't help.

[Michael Rowley]

Steve:

1987? By then, Osborne would have long since gone down in flames

It wasn't necessarily the Osborne 1, and anyway, Germany was always reckoned to be a bit backward in some respects. It was probably a bit earlier than 1987 that I took an interest, since I had decided I needed a computer by then and was ready to spend money (a lot of money, I thought).

[cdanddvdpublisher]

It was in the middle

[iamback]

It was in the middleSee? ;)
Then it was an Osborne. The Kaypro "suitcases" all had their screen to the left, with two floppy drives above each other to the right.