Anybody else get anoyed when old people talk about computers in their day?

[thepd7]

Meh, the only thing that really annoys me is bad spelling.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: Hayabusa Rider

Originally posted by: Analog
C64... hehehe

I started programming on an 1802 microprocessor using nothing more than toggle switches and leds. There was no IBM PC, C64, VIC20, PET or Apple. Not tubes, but I did program using punch cards using IBM JCL assembly language on an IBM 360 mainframe. You want some computer geezer stories?

That's like analog!

The first compy I had was a Sinclair with a staggering 1K of RAM. It used a tape recorder for storage, and you could connect via phone at the staggering rate of 300 Baud.

Then I was hot shit

what is this unit of measurement you speak? i don't understand what a baud is. Is it like a gigabyte? How many songs, videos, or pictures could a baud hold?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Tell your IT manager how much better of a mobile phone user you are because you used to use a bag phone and/or brick phone. It was huge, heavy, had very few options, but you sure could use the hell out of it!

 

[fulltilt39]

Originally posted by: thepd7
Meh, the only thing that really annoys me is bad spelling.

wat do u meen?

(hi thepd )

 

[compuwiz1]

2 and 4mb simms were the shit, as were $1000 256mb hard drives.

The oldsters just wanna keep the young pups in touch with history.

 

[IronWing]

I don't think one can really learn to program on anything other than a Kaypro. The youngens try to learn on these new fangled machines but there are too many distractions and too many abstractions keeping the modern programmer from having any sense for the hardware they are programming.

 

[techs]

"Back in my day we had to go through 6 weeks of training before we could use our computers. They taught us how to type "run" and press the "enter" button. And if nothing happened we had to call I.T. and wait for help. Today you have it easy. All you have to do is look at a picture and click on it"

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: destrekor
computers used to be bigger than my bedroom!

now that's cute... not annoying.

i like hearing old people talk, as long as they aren't repeating the same story over and over and as long as they're not bitching.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: destrekor
computers used to be bigger than my bedroom!

now that's cute... not annoying.

i like hearing old people talk, as long as they aren't repeating the same story over and over and as long as they're not bitching.

i like listening to old people talk while I'm loitering on their lawn

 

[StinkyPinky]

Back in the day I had an It Manager that would complain to me about stuff back in the day. And their boss would complain to the It Manager about stuff back in the day. So they must have been talking about stuff from the 1940s.

That's old school.

Back in the day I didn't have to type this by the way. My secretary would.

 

[Modelworks]

The old school computer users know how the system works. The modern day users know how computers work, as long as you don't get too technical. I worry about the future as people that know the low level stuff are dropping in numbers fast.

Us old people could tell you how a key pressed on the keyboard made its way to being a character on the screen and could exploit that to make the machine do things it was never designed to do. Many programmers now depend on a API so much that they remain clueless if there isn't already a method for doing things. It is like many can't think outside the box.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Hardware is getting better, software is getting more complex. Whats your point?

Fixed.

 

[zerocool84]

Damn some of you are really old. The only things I coded by hand were C++ and HTML and that's because I wanted to learn the code. When I was in high school we pretty much had programs for everything to do it all for you.

 

[lxskllr]

It's amazing to the old timers looking back when referenced to what we have today. If you haven't done things the old way, you can't appreciate how easy things are now.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Why would that annoy you?

What annoys me is people who think what they know is "the right way" and refuse to learn today's technology but think they're so smart just because they're older and got to use the old stuff.

My IT manager is like that. He thinks he's all that and brags about all the certs and stuff, but can't even comprehend the concept of changing the local admin password, or other stuff that applies now but not then.

He actually thought our san migration was a simple file copy operation. LOL He was on our backs as to why it was not being done in an hour. (the san was not even racked yet). Because back in his day, the biggest drive was maybe 5mb, so yeah, it does not take all that long to transfer 5mb, and there was no fancy raid or virtualization technology to take into account.

don't get me wrong, it is cool to hear of how it was before, just don't use that to think you know more then someone who plays with current technology all day.

 

[El Guaraguao]

is your managers name nick burns?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TzHbcXYwI4

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

What annoys me is young programmers who want to be left alone in a cubicle to code and are totally unable, as well as unwilling, to explain their approach to solving the problem. They are unable to work in a team and yet they expect the team leader to trust them to do their part of the job. They look at you blankly when you tell them for the 50th time that communication between team members is just as important as the code.

Oh and, get off my lawn.

 

[Linflas]

Clue for you: Old people are not only working on and supporting todays technology but working on developing tomorrow's technology as well. Some of you sound more closed minded than the "old people" you whine about.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
The old school computer users know how the system works. The modern day users know how computers work, as long as you don't get too technical. I worry about the future as people that know the low level stuff are dropping in numbers fast.

Us old people could tell you how a key pressed on the keyboard made its way to being a character on the screen and could exploit that to make the machine do things it was never designed to do. Many programmers now depend on a API so much that they remain clueless if there isn't already a method for doing things. It is like many can't think outside the box.

Speaking for my university. I'm doing both CS and CE, so I can speak for both sides.

Computer Science are what you describe. They take one very basic course on computer architecture, but mostly use high level langauges.

Computer Engineers still have to take semiconductors, a few digital logic courses, and a few computer architecture courses. They also program in assembly and do low some lower level embedded type programming.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
I taught myself BASIC 2.0 (R2) and some minimalist impractical ASM on a C64. I couldn't write a snippet of code to save my own life, today.

Basic v2.0 was crippled compared to 4.0 and eventually 7.0.

8 bit assembly code was easy and fun.

I miss programming on my old C64 and C128D. I still have all that equipment and more. Someday I will set up a Commodore room just for fun.

 

[theflyingpig]

When old people start talking, I start punching. Then they shut up.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
What annoys me is young programmers who want to be left alone in a cubicle to code and are totally unable, as well as unwilling, to explain their approach to solving the problem. They are unable to work in a team and yet they expect the team leader to trust them to do their part of the job. They look at you blankly when you tell them for the 50th time that communication between team members is just as important as the code.

Oh and, get off my lawn.

My co-worker is like that, except using more cusswords when he's told that 60 seconds of small talk with save him 20 minutes of redoing a fix because the customers will actually make the effort to explain their needs to him. I love hanging out with him, he's an awesome guy, but every customer in the department comes to me with needs because I ask, "how are you?" before asking what they need.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
I remember writing dos .bat files for my no cd copy of Command and Conquer with an onion tied on my belt, which was the style of the time.

Gimme 5 bees!

 

[Sea Moose]

Originally posted by: venkman
In my day we didn't have computers, we did our programing with a rock and a dull knife. You have any idea how hard it is to carve binary into a rock?

well, its good these days! Its even better to use key board to type names of prn stars

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Hardware is getting better, software is getting crappier. Whats your point?

^^^^ In a nutshell! Better hardware enabled Microsoft's asshole multi-contracted out bloat code to reign. Anyone remember Borland? Back in the very last days of it mattering, they made competing programs that handed MS their bloated gargantuan ass.

***Geezer Stories Alert!***

I remember first learning to program in Fortran using punch cards in college. Later I worked (briefly enough) as a Cobol programmer on remote "dumb" terminals hooked to an IBM mainframe. Programmers knew Assembly language intimately as a matter of course and survival back then, often walking several miles through the snow uphill both ways to get to work.

As a private user, I LOVED the compact, ordered world of DOS. Make a directory, load your new proggie in that directory, and if you didn't want it anymore, delete the proggie and remove that directory -- no bloody insane aftermath of zombie DLL's to haunt your hard drive!

Early versions of Norton Utilities used to let you look at memory maps directly. You could fuck with proggies at the most basic leve!

Plus, fewer 12 year old assholes were on the BBS's, as well as for quite a few early years of the intarweb. Those who were really into computers were a select few who were generally a bit older than 12 and really knew their shit, such as it was.

The early overclocking enthusiast community was beyond awesome. Back then, onions tied to their belts (as was the custom), GIANTS roamed the land!

GIANTS I tell you, GIANTS!! :laugh: