Shopsmith Forums

Backhertz: Frequency(running in reverse)!:D

Dosmandan" I am STILL using DOS on more than one dumb(pickey) machine that will drive careless programmer(ME) bonkers!;) Also under XP(system32\command.com).

Don't tell anyone, but I still compile basic!

mickyd wrote:What's a computer?

That thing you are staring at in front of you!:rolleyes: Is it candy apple red with gold trim?:D

dosmandan wrote:DOS = Disk Operating System. Now, most people use Windows or a rotten Apple DOSManDan

I remember using the DOS prompt on the Ship back in the 90's. We used the (dosmandan correct me on this) 5 1/4" disk and the old FLOPPIES for all our reports.

navycop wrote:I remember using the DOS prompt on the Ship back in the 90's. We used the (dosmandan correct me on this) 5 1/4" disk and the old FLOPPIES for all our reports.

The floppies WERE 5¼". If you had a hard drive, they fit in the same space as a floppy and had a whopping capacity of 20 - 30 MB(maybe 40)! By then you were probably using half height drives.

JPG40504 wrote:The floppies WERE 5¼". If you had a hard drive, they fit in the same space as a floppy and had a whopping capacity of 20 - 30 MB(maybe 40)! By then you were probably using half height drives.

I started on computers when...

8" floppies, 16MB hard drive that was the size of a refrigerator and required a (cold) clean-room in which to operate.

affyx wrote:I started on computers when...

8" floppies, 16MB hard drive that was the size of a refrigerator and required a (cold) clean-room in which to operate.

They Didn't like smoke 'particles' either!:eek:

Remember what a "Ramac" was? Hint - Bigger than a refrigerator.

JPG40504 wrote:Remember what a "Ramac" was? Hint - Bigger than a refrigerator.

I'm old, but not quite "RAMAC old" :-)

I do remember my old man sorting punch cards, working for IBM at the GM tech center in Detroit.

Noticed "Red Grange" in your sig... I was supposed to head to Forksville PA tomorrow, Red's home town, although it looks like rain may spoil the trip.

affyx wrote:I do remember my old man sorting punch cards, working for IBM at the GM tech center in Detroit.

I first learned Fortran using punch cards. Boy have we come a long way...

tom_k/mo wrote:I first learned Fortran using punch cards. Boy have we come a long way...

Ditto! BION I started with Fortran II!

I got into data processing in about 1965 or 1966. Huge state of the art system that wouldn't fit in a 2 car garage. No monitor, no mouse, no keyboard. just a panel of lighted touch switches flashing in binary code... We read punch cards, mag tape, Paper tape and MICR encoded documents (mostly checks). Our line printer was fast even by many of today's standards. 132 characters wide, 1,140 lines a minute. Of course the characters didn't always line up perfectly.
We used thousands of reels of mag tape, mostly the big 2400 foot reels at 800 BPI. The big disk were just coming along about the time I left for less hectic pursuits. We did processing (mostly checks and monthly statements) for two banks, lots of sales analysis, lots of inventory and 45 payrolls. Everything we did crossed my desk. I used to buy Rolaids by the barrel... Our MICR reader sorter would read 1200 checks a minute. If it screwed up it would destroy 1200 checks a minute.
Programming was mostly using Burroughs Advanced Assembler II. About half of the small in-house utilities I wrote I did in machine code. I had up to 17 girls using key-tape machines on 3 shifts. We had only one key-punch (029) and it was not used for production. We did have a card punch with the computer, it punched about 300 cards a minute. Hey, it was fast back then.