Re: CompUSA SALE!

Alan C. wrote:
> Okay - so the next person to post to this thread needs to have a
> story about core memory as to out-do the 8" floppy and tape:^). I'm a
> bit young to pull that one off.
>
> -Alan
>
> On Jul 18, 2007, at 4:23 PM, Michael Neverdosky wrote:
>
>> Hard drive????
>>
>> Try tape drive only, then moving up to floppy drive of 100K, then to
>> 200K floppy.
>> For a long time I wanted a pair of 8" floppy drives.
>>
>> The first hard drive available for home use was 5MB and cost about
>> $5000.
>> I didn't get one of those until many years later when they were a give
>> away item.
>>
>> I spent many years using Osborne or Kaypro CPM systems with 64K ram
>> and floppy drives only.
>>
>> I find it interesting that a major portion of the added power of
>> modern computers is spent on eye candy.
>>
>> Just part of the fun.
>>
>> michael
>>
>> On 7/18/07, Alan C. <r.andom@noshut.com> wrote:
>>> Break out the "Back in the day my first hard drive was 18 megabytes,
>>> MFM and cost $900" stories...
>>>
>>> -Alan
>>>
>>> On Jul 18, 2007, at 3:04 PM, Rick wrote:
>>>
>>>> Your dating yourself dude! Wasn't that back when dinosaurs flew?
>>>>
>>>> Rick
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<takes-bate>
(ahem...) Back in the late 50's (Fall Semester of the 1958/59 school
year) I was in my senior year at the University of Illinois at Urbana
(now known as UIUC). A friend who had received his BS in Electrical
Engineering, Communications Option (I was in the same program) that
June, was now in graduate school. He had a course in computer
programming so he showed me around the computer laboratory. At that
time, they were operating the ILLIAC I, a vacuum tube emulation of
mechanical relays that used Teletype punched paper tape for input and
output. (They didn't need no stinkin' core memory!)

Actually, I remember him mentioning something about core memory
development and the problem of the speed of light as the limiting factor
on the speed of the memory. The early core memory "modules" were
physically fairly large - 4 by 6 by 2 inches or so (my memory is quite
dim at this point).

In the 60's I think they built up an all solid state ILLIAC II which did
use core memory. I was well away from campus at this time so my memory
is even more unreliable.

These are the "good old days"!!!

-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards       Debian/GNU Linux
Fielder George Dowding, Chief Iceworm        "etch" Testing
dba Iceworm Enterprises, Anchorage, Alaska   User Number 269482
Since 1976 - Over 30 Years of Service.       "irad" 301256
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