Old PC Technology

[a9127]

Back in 1954 this was one possible "vision" of what home computers of the future might look like.

Made by RAND Corporation, it was expected to be in use by 2004! According to the caption, it was "easy to use" with its Teletype interface and Fortran language.

My favorite part is the "wall mounted display."

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

Back in 1954 this was one possible "vision" of what home computers of the future might look like.

Made by RAND Corporation, it was expected to be in use by 2004! According to the caption, it was "easy to use" with its Teletype interface and Fortran language.

My favorite part is the "wall mounted display."

That "wall mounted display" looks like an old tv that I once had.

I got a laugh from what looks like a ship's wheel on the computer. I wonder if RAND thought their computer had to be steered.

I'll bet the energy consumption of that was measured in MWh.

[franalexes]

I remember of seeing pictures of computers in the 50's. They were as big as a room.
My brother used a computer in the late 60's. He put in a program , punched in a long code of numbers and letters for what seemed like twenty minutes. Then pushed one more button and the screen went totally red for 3 seconds. That was the program !

[a9127]

Originally Posted by ila

That "wall mounted display" looks like an old tv that I once had.

I got a laugh from what looks like a ship's wheel on the computer. I wonder if RAND thought their computer had to be steered.

I'll bet the energy consumption of that was measured in MWh.

Somehow the prospect of watching Internet porn on that doesn't seem so appealing. Wait, there wasn't any "Internet" back then!

I wondered about the "ship's wheel" as well. It kind of reminds me of an old movie I once saw about submarines. Looks sort of like the "control room."

Thinking the same thing. Wonder how much power "one in every household" would consume?

(Also Fortran isn't exactly "user friendly" and was mostly used in engineering applications. I can see entire families sitting around this thing at night writing code together... Mom: "Andy what are you doing in your room with the door locked?" Me: Trying to generate a picture of Marilyn Monroe. "Just 1057 more lines of code left, mom!")

[ila]

My very first computer was a sliderule. They were quite good and fast for multiplying, dividing, and trigonometry. The C and D scales were especially useful. I'm quite sure I could find that when I was proficient in using one that I could multiply or divide two numbers faster than someone using a calculator.

I've attached 3 sample pictures so that those that are unfamiliar with a sliderule know what one looks like.

[a9127]

Cisco 2500 series router. Have one similar to this sitting on a shelf in my office. Some company donated several to our school. I earned a CCNA years ago. Don't really work with this stuff anymore. Kept one just for fun. Who remembers "token ring"?

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

Cisco 2500 series router. Have one similar to this sitting on a shelf in my office. Some company donated several to our school. I earned a CCNA years ago. Don't really work with this stuff anymore. Kept one just for fun. Who remembers "token ring"?

Token ring - now there was a flashback to a nightmare of trying to understand what was meant by token ring when the person explaining had no clue himself. 'And, by the way, there's a test on this tomorrow.' Talk about having to hit the books.

[a9127]

Simple "token ring" example from 2001.

(My students find it amazing that computers once were connected with wires... )