Computers

[russotto]

1st computer experience: Printing terminal, acoustic coupler. Playing the old "Star Trek" game (uses LOTS of paper). This thing was ARPANet connected, too, though I never wrote anything on that net.

Then to the Apple ][+, Apple //e, Lisa 2/10, and on to various Macs and powermacs. Along the way I used a VAX 11/783 (a bit more powerful than a Mac II), PDP 11/70, a few Ultrix and Sun boxes, RS/6000s, and even a VAX being used as a front end for a Cray (never wrote anything for the Cray myself, though).

Oh yeah, and I learned enough PC crap to get by, though the first and only Intel box I owned is the laptop I picked up off an employer's scrapheap a year ago or so.

As I prepare to enter my fourth decade, all I can say about computer capability is "Holy shit!". When I used that 11/70, it took a while to draw a freaking monochrome circle on the Tektronics terminal. Now we can do 30fps of interactive full-color graphics?