Tim Greer
04-03-2001, 07:59 AM
This is really strange, because I was just about to post about this and saw another poster that just posted a little while ago about this same company. What was your first computer or first few and how long ago? Looking at this, I feel old!
After begging my mother and grandmother (my siblings were helpful with this too, btw) and getting an Atari 2600 video game system, to play Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-man (I figured out a pattern, btw, to where I could never die and stay up for days playing it getting the highest score -- to the point that I fell asleep in school the next day, which was the only time that ever happened), Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pole Position, Astroids and Jungle Pit (go left, backwards, btw, it makes the game easier), etc. We got it, and promised to "be good for the rest of our lives, because this is all we wanted".
THIS is wall I wanted??? Okay, be understanding, it was like 1978 or 1979 and I was 6 or 7 years old.
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/pictures/atari-2600-large.jpg
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/manufacturer-atari/2600.html
Well, that didn't last long, since I now needed a computer to make my own games. So, my mother bought my brother and I an Atari 400 with membrane keyboard an a nice 600 baud tape drive/recorder. *l*
This beauty brings back memories:
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/pictures/atari-400-large.jpg
Information about this wonder junk:
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_400.HTML
I recall buying computer magazine's like Antic and going through all the books I could read or find or buy about programming. I recall making all the graphics, plotting them out, doing images and animation's, making things move.. doing the ocean waves on the beach and programming in the sound of seagulls, etc. It was very cool.
At the time, computer science was just being introduced into schools. I wasn't old enough and had to wait a few years, so my brother and I had to sneak into the computer class on recess and use the cool Apple's and Franklin Apple knockoff's and play the cool games it had and program a little.
Then, we were lucky enough to get a faster system with real keys, an Atari 800, like my cousin was bragging about at the time.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_800.HTML
Oh, that thing rocked! We started going to local Atari club meetings at the local Rico's Pizza and meeting a lot of dateless nerds. Needless to say, I stopped going and just spent a reasonable amount of time at home and at friend's houses, not dedicated special days to hang around a lot of the people at the time.. I was young (like 10 or 12) and had my reputation to worry about. *L*
Not too long after, we moved up the the XL model, which was even cooler. I tell you, those keyboards are not to be taken apart above a shag carpet! Two tiny springs under each key and not way to stop them from popping all over the floor! What else can you do, when nice sticky Pepsi spills into the keyboard? However, the keyboards were a lot better built than these crappy one's I see today.. I want one with springs, etc., not one that gets worn the more you type, and you all know about me and typing. I go through a ton of keyboards.. Well, not a ton, more like 3/4 a ton.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_800XL.HTML
I always dreamed about the 1200 XL and then the 1500 or 5000? I don't recall, but it had great graphics and was the best out at the time. Of course, I never got this beauty.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_1200XL.HTML
[Edit: I actually think I went from the 400, to the 600, then 800 and then 800 XL and then finally to the 800 XL with the expansion, which was better than the 1200 XL... but there was something better, right before Amega bought out Atari (I think that's what happened?) and it had all the cool 5 and 1/4" floppies.. oh yeah!]
More information:
http://www.computingmuseum.com/museum/ata800.htm
Atari was very advances and cool, for it's time and some of the ideas have yet to be improved upon (advocate), but it does suck pretty bad (attack).
By now, were figured out all the cool things, like certain numbers, dialing BBS's across the world, free of charge, downloading all the new cool games, (yes, they had modems) and ran our own BBS. After about 1985 or 86 or 87', Atari was fading fast and I wasn't much into it anymore anyway, although my brother was still hanging out with those Rico's Pizza guys and going to meetings and staying in the computer programming stuff.
I didn't want to try and use all those "PC Jr.'s" I was hearing about and the languages, etc. I was to the point of doing binary and assembly, not just basic. I didn't want to use another platform. PC, bah!
I got back into it in the late, late 80's (89, possibly early 90's) and starting using the Internet and BBS's and eventually started doing web design, HTML, etc. I did that and needed to do more and more. So, I got into Unix variants, used everything I could, started programming in various languages for purposes of the Internet for CGI in languages like Perl, etc. Of course, the need for doing things, became my tasks, as I had to, over the course, learn how to do an abundance of tasks, using web servers, configuring systems, programming fast and secure scripts, etc.
Always having fun, improving, learning more. I had to, this was when Apache was first out, systems had low hardware specs. I couldn't get away with sloppy code or slow code or buggy code, because it'd crash that monster server with the Pentium 75 MHZ CPU and 16 Megs RAM... yes a server... I couldn't do what a lot of people still do today and write slow code and assume it'll run properly on a 500+ MHZ CPU with lots of RAM. Ever wonder why servers don't really seem to run much better now-a-days? In certain areas, they do, but servers like NT, ISP's ran NT servers with 32 to 64 Megs RAM, with 100, 120 to 133 MHZ CPU's for dialin customers with largish modem pools and didn't have any problems. Now, Win2K REQUIRES at least 128 Megs RAM? I'll never use any system that requires so much hardware resources. Why build faster systems, if the software is going to just going to require more of it and balance out to be the same? Screw that! Give me a Unix dog slow system and I'll tweak it to run right! What is the cyber-world coming to!!?!? *panic!*
Well, that's my story in a nut shell, just looking at those old Atari's really was fun, and kind of scary too! People have ported things like Perl over to it, years ago and still do. Interesting idea, to get some system none of the younger system crackers can figure out and program your own customized protocols and services. It would be cool to see some dork get lost trying to figure out what to do. *l* And YES, I AM bored. :-)
[Edited by Tim_Greer on 04-03-2001 at 08:15 AM]
After begging my mother and grandmother (my siblings were helpful with this too, btw) and getting an Atari 2600 video game system, to play Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-man (I figured out a pattern, btw, to where I could never die and stay up for days playing it getting the highest score -- to the point that I fell asleep in school the next day, which was the only time that ever happened), Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pole Position, Astroids and Jungle Pit (go left, backwards, btw, it makes the game easier), etc. We got it, and promised to "be good for the rest of our lives, because this is all we wanted".
THIS is wall I wanted??? Okay, be understanding, it was like 1978 or 1979 and I was 6 or 7 years old.
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/pictures/atari-2600-large.jpg
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/manufacturer-atari/2600.html
Well, that didn't last long, since I now needed a computer to make my own games. So, my mother bought my brother and I an Atari 400 with membrane keyboard an a nice 600 baud tape drive/recorder. *l*
This beauty brings back memories:
http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/pictures/atari-400-large.jpg
Information about this wonder junk:
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_400.HTML
I recall buying computer magazine's like Antic and going through all the books I could read or find or buy about programming. I recall making all the graphics, plotting them out, doing images and animation's, making things move.. doing the ocean waves on the beach and programming in the sound of seagulls, etc. It was very cool.
At the time, computer science was just being introduced into schools. I wasn't old enough and had to wait a few years, so my brother and I had to sneak into the computer class on recess and use the cool Apple's and Franklin Apple knockoff's and play the cool games it had and program a little.
Then, we were lucky enough to get a faster system with real keys, an Atari 800, like my cousin was bragging about at the time.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_800.HTML
Oh, that thing rocked! We started going to local Atari club meetings at the local Rico's Pizza and meeting a lot of dateless nerds. Needless to say, I stopped going and just spent a reasonable amount of time at home and at friend's houses, not dedicated special days to hang around a lot of the people at the time.. I was young (like 10 or 12) and had my reputation to worry about. *L*
Not too long after, we moved up the the XL model, which was even cooler. I tell you, those keyboards are not to be taken apart above a shag carpet! Two tiny springs under each key and not way to stop them from popping all over the floor! What else can you do, when nice sticky Pepsi spills into the keyboard? However, the keyboards were a lot better built than these crappy one's I see today.. I want one with springs, etc., not one that gets worn the more you type, and you all know about me and typing. I go through a ton of keyboards.. Well, not a ton, more like 3/4 a ton.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_800XL.HTML
I always dreamed about the 1200 XL and then the 1500 or 5000? I don't recall, but it had great graphics and was the best out at the time. Of course, I never got this beauty.
http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_1200XL.HTML
[Edit: I actually think I went from the 400, to the 600, then 800 and then 800 XL and then finally to the 800 XL with the expansion, which was better than the 1200 XL... but there was something better, right before Amega bought out Atari (I think that's what happened?) and it had all the cool 5 and 1/4" floppies.. oh yeah!]
More information:
http://www.computingmuseum.com/museum/ata800.htm
Atari was very advances and cool, for it's time and some of the ideas have yet to be improved upon (advocate), but it does suck pretty bad (attack).
By now, were figured out all the cool things, like certain numbers, dialing BBS's across the world, free of charge, downloading all the new cool games, (yes, they had modems) and ran our own BBS. After about 1985 or 86 or 87', Atari was fading fast and I wasn't much into it anymore anyway, although my brother was still hanging out with those Rico's Pizza guys and going to meetings and staying in the computer programming stuff.
I didn't want to try and use all those "PC Jr.'s" I was hearing about and the languages, etc. I was to the point of doing binary and assembly, not just basic. I didn't want to use another platform. PC, bah!
I got back into it in the late, late 80's (89, possibly early 90's) and starting using the Internet and BBS's and eventually started doing web design, HTML, etc. I did that and needed to do more and more. So, I got into Unix variants, used everything I could, started programming in various languages for purposes of the Internet for CGI in languages like Perl, etc. Of course, the need for doing things, became my tasks, as I had to, over the course, learn how to do an abundance of tasks, using web servers, configuring systems, programming fast and secure scripts, etc.
Always having fun, improving, learning more. I had to, this was when Apache was first out, systems had low hardware specs. I couldn't get away with sloppy code or slow code or buggy code, because it'd crash that monster server with the Pentium 75 MHZ CPU and 16 Megs RAM... yes a server... I couldn't do what a lot of people still do today and write slow code and assume it'll run properly on a 500+ MHZ CPU with lots of RAM. Ever wonder why servers don't really seem to run much better now-a-days? In certain areas, they do, but servers like NT, ISP's ran NT servers with 32 to 64 Megs RAM, with 100, 120 to 133 MHZ CPU's for dialin customers with largish modem pools and didn't have any problems. Now, Win2K REQUIRES at least 128 Megs RAM? I'll never use any system that requires so much hardware resources. Why build faster systems, if the software is going to just going to require more of it and balance out to be the same? Screw that! Give me a Unix dog slow system and I'll tweak it to run right! What is the cyber-world coming to!!?!? *panic!*
Well, that's my story in a nut shell, just looking at those old Atari's really was fun, and kind of scary too! People have ported things like Perl over to it, years ago and still do. Interesting idea, to get some system none of the younger system crackers can figure out and program your own customized protocols and services. It would be cool to see some dork get lost trying to figure out what to do. *l* And YES, I AM bored. :-)
[Edited by Tim_Greer on 04-03-2001 at 08:15 AM]