This made me realize how much money my parents had to save in order to buy us a computer for our home. They must have had to save up for months and months for it. My father was a loan officer at a small community bank and my mom was a homemaker (is that still PC?). Now I work in IT. Thanks for the investment, mom and dad. How humbling.
A computer in the 70s/80s was a serious expense, similar to buying a nice used car, or a year of state college.
My folks bought me an Apple ][ around 1980. $2500 bought : 1mhz, 48k of ram, 1 floppy drive, a 9" Sanyo monochrome monitor, and what seemed like an endless universe of possibilities. The next six years were a blur of Assembly (Lazer Systems Interactive Compiler), and Applesoft Basic, trying to unlock the secrets of that machine and write my own games. It was magic! I am 100% certain that $2500 investment by my folks is the reason I have had a career in software.
I remember riding a 10-speed bike downtown to Computerland to buy an individual floppy disc @ $5/each. The university bookstore only sold Gorilla brand, and they were around $7 each.
Imagine the joy when I learned to use a scissors (later, a nibbler tool) to cut a notch out of floppy case so I could use both sides. Like finding free money!
Now a RaspPi Zero is $5 and information is limitless. This is a gilded age.
That is quite possibly the biggest understatement in the history of humanity. And it's not just because computer hardware has become essentially free. When I was a kid, to get any kind of information meant waiting for the daily newspaper to be delivered, or a trip to the library, or, if you were lucky, pulling out a volume from the encyclopedia on the book shelf (another very pricey commodity in those days). It still boggles my mind that you can buy a full-featured Gnu/Linux server for the price of a hamburger, and Wikipedia is literally free. It's a freakin' miracle.
And your local library often didn't even have any books in whatever interest area you were looking for. Or maybe it had one from 1967 that was hopelessly out of date with the current state of the art.
My parents bought a Commodore 64 when I was a kid and I loved the thing, but I've come to realize over the years that I knew almost nothing about it as a kid. I had never even heard of PEEK/POKE and if it wasn't in the (admittedly pretty good) manual then there was basically no chance that I would. I remember the manual briefly touched on the sprite generator, but not in enough detail that a kid who only knows BASIC could use it. It never even mentioned the SID sound chip. The only "computer" books my library had were talking about CDC machines and IBM mainframes, or extremely general discussions about core memory and them fancy new transistor things. I think they might have had some programming language books too, but since I didn't have any compilers they were useless. This was in the 80s.
Today's kids can get in depth information on almost anything, and have ways of talking with experts if they get stuck. I'm excited to see how they turn out.
As a kid I didn't really understand much of it, I remember making a simple sprite move around the screen, and designing my own sprite using the grid example it gave.
However looking back at the manual now, it's amazing how much detail it goes into, from sprite positioning, sprite expansion, drawing multiple sprites ( all via POKE and PEEK) to programming the SID chip (one whole chapter on this).
It doesn't deal with handling sprite collision though, so you would struggle to make a game I suppose. But the manual is surprisingly in depth. It does mention that for more advanced topics you would need the "C64 programmers reference guide".
My father bought an Oric Atmos when I was a kid, and it came with a full documentation of the 6502 instruction set (or so I think, I don't know if it actually came with it or if my father bought it separately, but I tend to doubt the latter).
> Today's kids can get in depth information on almost anything
OTOH, in the 80's, CPU instruction sets were tractable, and writing machine code was in the realm of possibilities for kids (I should know, I did it ; it was loads of fun).
I remember reading a book around 1970 or so where a kid gets a computer that would answer questions. The one I remember is:
"What is the main export of Bolivia?"
and it answered "tin". I don't remember anything else about the story. I remember thinking that such a machine was an impossibility. Asking such questions of a computer now is trite.
I was more interested in rockets at the time :-) Computers didn't exist for me outside of scifi.
My high school acquired a Business Basic 4 computer my senior year. The math teacher decided to teach a BASIC programming class, where we'd use a punch card machine to write our programs, give the card decks to him, and he'd run them. He wouldn't let any of us touch the computer, or even be in the same room with it.
My most advanced program was a quadratic equation solver, just a few lines of BASIC. (The class was more or less a joke.)
But when I got to Caltech a year later, they gave all students an account on a DECSystem 10 timesharing system, and everything went downhill for me after that. I'd go to class in the day, and spent all night in the computer center playing with it.
It is amazing to me how we even learned anything advanced back then. It was almost like we were so "dumb" compared to today's kids. The library and the bookstore at the mall (WaldenBooks) was my main staple as a young pre-teen kid. I'd never pass up a chance to go with my mom to either the library or the mall.
I remember as a 16yo trying to buy my first car (used 1979 Camaro) and how I thought knowing about the NADA guide you could browse through at the library was secret knowledge and used the copied page as negotiations tool. Now that info and more is readily available in few clicks on your portable phone/computer you carry in you pocket when at the dealer.
I had three different TRS-80s. There seemed to be a new computer every two weeks or so in the house. My fondest memories of the TRS-80 were on the Model III and I remember being discouraged by the lack of documentation, multiple operating systems, the quality of instruction I could get, and of course access time. I remember feeling lucky not having to use a tape cassette. Apparently, I also learned to swear and type simultaneously.
It was such a strange time because of all of the different form factors and sizes. I had a DOS computer that looked like a metal waste bin with a monitor embedded. The keyboard would clip onto the monitor: "Portable" The Apple II, Atari 1200XL, and Commie were all short lived, as they are not 'business computers'. There were also countless 'bubble pop' keyboard computers that I only remember because of the feeling of pressing on the keys. The standard IBM Personal Computer XT was my sole computer until the 486 era. The lack of EGA/VGA in that time meant that I increasingly wandered onto BBS systems until I found several that actually had Internet access by syncing with the University. I had two email address in 1986. It took me about a year to discover the difference between electronic mail on the bulletin board that I was used to and e-mail. As for modems, the jump from the TRS-80 Direct-Connect Modem on page 12 of the catalog that connected at 300bps to a 2400bps internal modem on the XT was mind blowing.
I also remember being disgusted by GW-BASIC and being on a programming bulletin board called McAffee's. It was so frustrating because I did not have access to a C compiler and was crushed to find out from the SysOp how much it cost back then. When I finally managed to get a pirated version of Borland Turbo C, I was ecstatic.
I had a bunch of floppies in a box fail in a peculiar manner according to the Fibonacci sequence. Luckily the important stuff was clustered in the back.
My grandparents always encouraged my interest in computers and I owned a lot of the toy computers (C64, tandy et. al.) but the first "real" computer as in over a grand was an Amiga they bought me, I think they put 4K into that thing with all the bells and whistles. That is a lot of coin for a citrus farmer, especially back then. My grandpa who was an engineer in the Air Force before retiring and going back to the family farm, was convinced that computers where going to change the world. He would always say one day these things are going to talk to each other all over the world and it's going to change everything. Anyways long story short, they always boasted about it being the best money they ever spent.
My wife calls herself a homemaker (she is a stay-at-home mom), I'm sure the term offends someone out there...oh well. That is just the inevitability of communicating these days.
I don't know if it's considered PC (can't honestly see why not, if anything other than neutral it's actually offering more respect) but it's certainly US-centric. I've never heard it outside of US TV/films.
And yet, people complain about how expensive an Apple computer is- when they are cheaper than ever. A fully loaded Macbook Pro with every option is still less than the entry "business model" of any of these computers in 1980
To be honest, the Apple ][ even back in its days was expensive compared to the other 8-bit machines. My parents could never afford an Apple, but we could afford an Atari 400[1]. The first Apples I saw were bought by my high school (IIe). For the price of just the IIe, I could get a machine with a floppy, printer, and monitor. Apple has always been more expensive than its competitors.
1) thanks to Jay Miner and company had better graphics and sound than the Apple ][
The first computers were built like tanks and typically were in use for a decade or more before being deprecated.
That fully loaded Macbook Pro will be outdated before the ink of the advert is properly dried.
It's a huge difference if you can deprecate an investment over a large number of years or if you're expected to buy something new every one or two years.
Tablets and phones are even worse when it comes to aging.
Look back to the story a few days ago about the C64 still in use in a Polish garage more than 25 years later. And C64 were not anywhere near as expensive as Apples. Cheaper stuff could still go on and on for years too.
Biggest problem I see is that we're continuing the trend of specialized hardware and specialized software for that hardware. I can't run current ios software on an iphone 4 - it might be possible for people to write software for it, but they can't distribute it. Possibly similar for android - haven't done as much dev there.
When I wrote for c64, I didn't have to worry about what version of stuff people had - they had a c64, same in 1983 as it was in 1990 - an entire 7 years, and new code would work on old systems. We're increasingly moving away from that. :/
I disagree. My father bought one of those TRS-80 Model IIIs in 1980, and I used it tons. By 1985, though, we had migrated over to a PC. Our Model III had been really decked out (even had a 5MB hard drive that we had gotten in a closeout deal). The difference between what you could do with a 1985 PC and a 1980 Model III was huge.
In contrast, we have a 2009 MacBook Pro. Still works just fine for web browsing, word processing and things of that nature. Mobile phone hardware is moving super fast as desktop computers were in the '80s, but I think that the improvements in desktop (well, laptop is the equivalent today) hardware are less important for most people.
When you migrate from one architecture to another it is kind of logical that you would get a new machine. The TRS-80 wasn't able to compete with the PC for very long (though in the beginning there was of course more software available for the TRS-80).
But if you had stuck with the CP/M world you would have been able to run that old hardware for many years more.
Note how you have relegated your 2009 MacBook Pro to 'web browsing, words processing and things of that nature', whereas as a developers machine it is likely quite underpowered.
We are also at the end of the easy pickings from Moore's law so this too means that machine replacement pace is now (fortunately) finally dropping off a bit.
But phones and tablets are basically an exercise in planned obsolescence and computers while they last a bit longer than in the past are still being replaced quite frequently. Your MacBook Pro is on it's 'second life', no longer in use for its primary purpose.
My point was in relation to your comment about these old machines being in use for a decade whereas "That fully loaded Macbook Pro will be outdated before the ink of the advert is properly dried."
I think that software developers and computer enthusiasts back then wanted to upgrade as often as they would now (though I might still argue that even for developers the pace is less today than it was back then). For your "average office worker" or "average home computer user", I'm guessing that their computer will serve them well for longer today with less clear incentive for upgrading.
I mentioned the web browser, word processing and such because those are things that many non-developers commonly do with computers. That 2009 MacBook Pro would likely continue to serve a non-developer just fine and the only reason they might consider upgrading is that Mac OS Sierra doesn't support it.
In short, I think desktop/laptop machine replacement pace started dropping off for most people years ago. In the 80s the performance and storage improvements were way more meaningful than they are for many people than any time recently.
Eh, my 2010 MBP 15" spec-wise seems around as fast as some of the new ones (has a real GPU, was able to update the memory to 16GB and throw an SSD in there). I'm still using it for Protools and it's just as good now as it was then (I don't use plugins, all outboard)
But- I see your point. I have a 2013 MBP as my developer machine and it's being replaced the day the new one comes out.
Simply not true. Average usage life of the Macs I've bought over the last 30 years has been around 10 years. My 2007 iMac is no longer my primary Mac, but it's still in use as a server. Most of them have been sold and continued to be used by future owners after I upgraded.
My Mac Pro has been running for over a decade with only the addition of an SSD... Assuming the PSU doesn't die on me, it should be able to run for at least 5 more years.
I don't get using the word outdated, yes technology is always moving forward so things become "outdated" really quickly but they don't become obsolete quickly at all.
Exactly same situation. trying to give back a bit by financing reconstruction of house i bought from rest of family for them after grandparents died. Humble place, but much better compared to relatively crappy flat I grew up in crammed with 31 other flats in 1 concrete building. So for their retirement they have more privacy, calm and a tiny land around.
Same here. Pre-teen kid fascinated by this new tech. Looking back I have no idea how my mom/dad afforded it. In fact, my mom went behind my dad's back to buy it for me as he said they could not afford it. I remember the exact location of the store we went to at the time still. I actually got a genuine IBM (only the best mom.. THANKS!). Something like $3000+ at the time. Later added a $300 modem after seeing War Games.
I attribute a large part to my mom, basically no questions asked, in getting me that first PC to my whole career in IT. As well as a tinkerer of tech stuff and still prefer fixing electronic stuff and building my own PC from parts than buying name brand ones. I'm 43.
I need to tell her thanks again next time I see her for basically taking a $9k loan out (in today's $$) for her 10yo son for this gadget computer stuff that was starting to take off that no one else in our circle of friends really even knew much about.
In the late 70's my friend's dad bought a Poly-88 (http://www.polymorphic-computers.com/poly88.html) for engineering work. I think that cost about $2k. I believe the Apple IIe that my parents bought me in the early-mid 80s was around 2k. The Commodore 64 that I had before the Apple IIe was much priced much more reasonably, but that thing conked out on me within a week.
Also consider that those dollars in 1981 are worth maybe 3 and a half of our dollars today. So for a $249 pocket computer, which I have fond memories of. Assume that 16 K memory device would cost about, let's say, $800 today.
That makes a much stronger impression of how much cheaper hardware has become, as well as more capable.
