[geeks] Software Bloat

[Michael S Schiller]

Joshua D Boyd wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2001 at 02:16:10PM -0800, Ken Hansen wrote:
> > Wow, is it just me or does anyone else feel old too?
> >
> > "... when BASIC had line numbers" indeed!
> 
> Well, of course, saying when BASIC had line numbers isn't the best way to put
> it since my understanding is that BASIC originally didn't have line numbers.

When was BASIC written? I remember taking a computer programming class
in 1976 using as PDP-11/70 running rsts/e and the BASIC there used line
numbers. The terminals in the class were Teletype ASR-33's and the only
method of saving a file (other than on the disk) was paper tape. We used
to carry our programs around in 35mm film cans.
 
> I did do quite a bit of line number hacking in the late 80s (I was so proud of
> drawing houses and triangles and stuff on the screen on my Toshiba T100).  And
> then I continued using line numbers in basic until 1992ish when someone showed
> me how to use labels in quickbasic on the mac.  Woo wee.  That sure made life a
> lot more fun.  Quickbasic on the mac was so cool.  I used it at a local
> university (not the one I'm now at though).
> 
> > Joshua, you crack me up... Maybe some day I'll explain
> > to you why real programers only code up to column 71,
> > and what it means to have a character in the 72nd
> > column... ;^)
> 
> Hmm.
> 
> > Of course, you'll have to come visit me at the "old
> > Coders Home", where we sit around and reminisce about
> > punching humorous patterns with the papertape punch...
> 
> And where were you doing that?  Wasn't paper tape mostly gone by the time you
> were a teen?  I know that where my dad worked (which wasn't cutting edge by any
> means, being a mennonite church owned company in the thick of Lancaster PA ) in
> the mid to late 80s paper tape wasn't around.  Before that they rented time on
> another church owned companies computer, and I'm pretty sure that that also
> didn't use paper tape, though I could be wrong.
> 
> > Oh, and the joy we felt when we could upgrade to the
> > "god-like" speed of 300 baud dial-up access to the
> > mainframe!
> 
> I never upgraded to that ole 300 baud.  That's were I started with my cutting
> edge Tandy M100.  OK, the closest I've ever had to a cutting edge computer was
> a low end 386 after 486s had long been out, a P200 when P300s were the norm,
> and a P2-350 dual when all my friends where getting P3-600s and better.  The
> only the cutting edge about computers around here is how the get used.
> 
> --
> Joshua D. Boyd
> _______________________________________________
> GEEKS:  http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/geeks

-- 
-Mike
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