Way back machine: Pics from Sept 1986 PC Magazine
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Sales talk is always the same.
But these machines still worked great with the software available at the time and made our jobs much easier, and certainly more interesting.
In the late 80's we used AutoCAD under DOS to design complex industrial machines, and all in 3-D. Production CAD drawings used only a mere 70 KB of disk space each so "whopping" hard disk capacities like 115 MB were big enough to hold thousands.
But these machines still worked great with the software available at the time and made our jobs much easier, and certainly more interesting.
In the late 80's we used AutoCAD under DOS to design complex industrial machines, and all in 3-D. Production CAD drawings used only a mere 70 KB of disk space each so "whopping" hard disk capacities like 115 MB were big enough to hold thousands.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I was 8 when I got my first PC. We had some Commadore systems my mom brought home from the school board, as well as the Apple IIE, but this was a system my father purchased and the system I cut my teeth on.
It was a Hewitt Rand 8088. 640K of RAM, 20MB hard drive, 5.25" floppy (I added an HD 3.5" in 1990 IIRC), and a switch to go between Hercules "high res" Monochrome and CGA on the back.
With a 2400 baud modem and Procomm Plus, I used to go on BBS's (as Bill mentioned) such as Yak-Yak's; a prominent BBS at the time. I could also dial into the local University's VAX network, where my dad had primitive "E-Mail", and I could use Gopher to surf the "Internet", which consisted of other education institutions and NASA.
I still have that computer, along with an old Mac "Plus".
It was a Hewitt Rand 8088. 640K of RAM, 20MB hard drive, 5.25" floppy (I added an HD 3.5" in 1990 IIRC), and a switch to go between Hercules "high res" Monochrome and CGA on the back.
With a 2400 baud modem and Procomm Plus, I used to go on BBS's (as Bill mentioned) such as Yak-Yak's; a prominent BBS at the time. I could also dial into the local University's VAX network, where my dad had primitive "E-Mail", and I could use Gopher to surf the "Internet", which consisted of other education institutions and NASA.
I still have that computer, along with an old Mac "Plus".
Too funny! I actually do remember a lot of that stuff (I'm 29)
Same for me too -- what a trip down memory lane (very small memory lane...). I checked into my first operational squadron in 1986, and coincidentally, the S-1 shop (admin) had received their first PC a day or two before I arrived. Up until then, all the clerks had just IBM Selectrics on their desks. That computer was an ultra-lame 286 PC IIRC, and it had a thankfully long extinct software package known as "Enable" installed (a very primative version of what MS-Office is today). We quickly started calling it "Disable" as the computers spread, and we all learned how awful this software actually was.
Anyway, I still distinctly recall the reaction this first, new desktop computer caused. We had a hangar and flight-line full of super-high-tech EA-6B jets, and this lame little computer was garnering more attention than a brand-new S-class Mercedes would have if it were parked in the middle of the admin shop. Amazing...
Anyway, I still distinctly recall the reaction this first, new desktop computer caused. We had a hangar and flight-line full of super-high-tech EA-6B jets, and this lame little computer was garnering more attention than a brand-new S-class Mercedes would have if it were parked in the middle of the admin shop. Amazing...
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Apple ImageWriter dot matrix printer
I picked one of those out of the trash a few years ago, along with the Mac Performa it was connected to.
New dot-matrix printers are expensive these days.
Apple ImageWriter dot matrix printer
I picked one of those out of the trash a few years ago, along with the Mac Performa it was connected to.
New dot-matrix printers are expensive these days.
Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Same for me too -- what a trip down memory lane (very small memory lane...). I checked into my first operational squadron in 1986, and coincidentally, the S-1 shop (admin) had received their first PC a day or two before I arrived. Up until then, all the clerks had just IBM Selectrics on their desks. That computer was an ultra-lame 286 PC IIRC, and it had a thankfully long extinct software package known as "Enable" installed (a very primative version of what MS-Office is today). We quickly started calling it "Disable" as the computers spread, and we all learned how awful this software actually was.
Anyway, I still distinctly recall the reaction this first, new desktop computer caused. We had a hangar and flight-line full of super-high-tech EA-6B jets, and this lame little computer was garnering more attention than a brand-new S-class Mercedes would have if it were parked in the middle of the admin shop. Amazing...
I remember Enable. As a young 2LT, we were issued Zenith laptops at SOBC with Enable. What a pile...
Same for me too -- what a trip down memory lane (very small memory lane...). I checked into my first operational squadron in 1986, and coincidentally, the S-1 shop (admin) had received their first PC a day or two before I arrived. Up until then, all the clerks had just IBM Selectrics on their desks. That computer was an ultra-lame 286 PC IIRC, and it had a thankfully long extinct software package known as "Enable" installed (a very primative version of what MS-Office is today). We quickly started calling it "Disable" as the computers spread, and we all learned how awful this software actually was.
Anyway, I still distinctly recall the reaction this first, new desktop computer caused. We had a hangar and flight-line full of super-high-tech EA-6B jets, and this lame little computer was garnering more attention than a brand-new S-class Mercedes would have if it were parked in the middle of the admin shop. Amazing...
I remember Enable. As a young 2LT, we were issued Zenith laptops at SOBC with Enable. What a pile...
Originally Posted By: brianl703
New dot-matrix printers are expensive these days.
Good one with the find! They just don't quit, either. I have an old Panasonic KX-P1124, bought around 1989. It still works as new. I used it fairly recently for word processing in DOS, since that lets me use the native fonts. I've got an old clunker computer still laying around and will probably do that again. You can't beat the price of a $10 ribbon lasting for a year of reasonably heavy printing.
New dot-matrix printers are expensive these days.
Good one with the find! They just don't quit, either. I have an old Panasonic KX-P1124, bought around 1989. It still works as new. I used it fairly recently for word processing in DOS, since that lets me use the native fonts. I've got an old clunker computer still laying around and will probably do that again. You can't beat the price of a $10 ribbon lasting for a year of reasonably heavy printing.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I have a KX-P1180
I still have my 1124...
24 pins! Big step above the 9 pin ones. And no one could afford lasers. Color? Not a chance.
Times have changed.
24 pins! Big step above the 9 pin ones. And no one could afford lasers. Color? Not a chance.
Times have changed.
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
I have a KX-P1180
They, too, last forever. I wanted a 24-pin though, at the time.
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
24 pins! Big step above the 9 pin ones. And no one could afford lasers. Color? Not a chance.
I bought the KX-P1124 because of its durability. We had one in my high school computer lab, and it went a year solid without so much as a single paper jam, and only two ribbons.
When you actually look at its print quality, it is pretty darn good. A casual reader would consider it letter quality (assuming the print was done in LQ mode, of course).
For just high quality text with no graphics, it's hard to beat both its quality and cost. $80 toner cartridge or ~$10 OEM ribbon (actually closer to $15 now I think)?
I do a lot of basic text documents. It was stored from say 1995 until 2005, then I used it again for a couple years. I may have to bring out my old clunker on DOS and hook up that printer again. For straight, no frills word processing, it's hard to beat.
I have a KX-P1180
They, too, last forever. I wanted a 24-pin though, at the time.
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
24 pins! Big step above the 9 pin ones. And no one could afford lasers. Color? Not a chance.
I bought the KX-P1124 because of its durability. We had one in my high school computer lab, and it went a year solid without so much as a single paper jam, and only two ribbons.
When you actually look at its print quality, it is pretty darn good. A casual reader would consider it letter quality (assuming the print was done in LQ mode, of course).
For just high quality text with no graphics, it's hard to beat both its quality and cost. $80 toner cartridge or ~$10 OEM ribbon (actually closer to $15 now I think)?
I do a lot of basic text documents. It was stored from say 1995 until 2005, then I used it again for a couple years. I may have to bring out my old clunker on DOS and hook up that printer again. For straight, no frills word processing, it's hard to beat.
We had an Epson LQ 24 pin printer that most college papers were printed to back in the day. With Microsoft Works 2.0 and 3.0 for DOS. I really liked how simple that word processor and spreadsheet were for basic use. And the spreadsheet used Excel formulas to moving to Excel was a no-brainer.
Funny I found this thread today. I was just at the local liquidation store and they were handing out free 2 GB flash drives with every purchase. 2 GB! Free! I remember when a 20 MB drive used to cost $2000. Eesh.
My dad was a computer engineer so us kids got to play with all sorts of neat stuff. 4.77 Mhz processors that zoomed up to 8 Mhz when you punched turbo. 8 was a lot of Mhz, let me tell you. And 8" disk drives. Those disks were... big. I think they held 200 KB.
My dad was a computer engineer so us kids got to play with all sorts of neat stuff. 4.77 Mhz processors that zoomed up to 8 Mhz when you punched turbo. 8 was a lot of Mhz, let me tell you. And 8" disk drives. Those disks were... big. I think they held 200 KB.
Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
We had an Epson LQ 24 pin printer that most college papers were printed to back in the day. With Microsoft Works 2.0 and 3.0 for DOS. I really liked how simple that word processor and spreadsheet were for basic use. And the spreadsheet used Excel formulas to moving to Excel was a no-brainer.
Apparently, there are some offices out there that still like to stick to DOS with WordPerfect 5.1. The theory is that productivity improves when one concentrates on one's work, rather than tweaking the layout (and of course surfing the net). There are even a lot of DOS drivers for new laser printers.
We had an Epson LQ 24 pin printer that most college papers were printed to back in the day. With Microsoft Works 2.0 and 3.0 for DOS. I really liked how simple that word processor and spreadsheet were for basic use. And the spreadsheet used Excel formulas to moving to Excel was a no-brainer.
Apparently, there are some offices out there that still like to stick to DOS with WordPerfect 5.1. The theory is that productivity improves when one concentrates on one's work, rather than tweaking the layout (and of course surfing the net). There are even a lot of DOS drivers for new laser printers.
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