I was a chem major and back in the day, all chemical instrumentation was by graphs and knowing what caused the peaks and dips. It was tough. The theory that one day these instruments, larger than a tesla truck could one day be able to just tell what the compound was. I even took a class in punch cards. My first teaching gig was in Williamsburg,IA. They just got a dedicated phone line to the big computer in Cedar Rapids over at Collins Radio. I got permission to use the Dec Writer which was a typewriter hooked up to this modem and more frequently as not, half way through writing a program, I'd look up and see that the modem had disconnected from the server and what I had done, was lost. I learned to frequently back up. I used it for the science and athletic medicine inventory. Later I graduated to a TRS80 with a stringy floppy. From there to the computer at Dial center at Drake. I was a lab instructor in chemistry and had access. Onward to running the server at the Register learning center and eventually to the world of my own Gateway, Dell and now iMac. It amuses me greatly when I am somewhere some salesman wants to impress me with his computer facts, and I interupt him, saying, "You ever use a Dec Writer?" Stops them cold . The chemistry instrumentation is now smaller than a laser printer and yes, prepare the sample, put it in the machine, and the magic begins, a graph and a solution as to which of the billions of compounds there are prints out. I don't use them anymore, retired from high school teaching, I do not code anymore, but still have the fun of asking, "Dec Writer? Trs80?"
1967-68. I was working at AmericanRepublic Ins. They had IBM 360s (pizza ovens we called em. I had a particular talent for hitting the wrong key and crashing the entire floor of the claims dept.
My week at Drake was 7 to 5pm teach analytical chem lab. At 5 pm scamper across campus to Memorial Hall for my grad class I was taking. At 7pm when the class was done, scamper back to Harvey Ingman, across the street to the art dept parking, hop into the car and drive downtown to the parking garage near the Register. It always smelled of printer ink, Enter on the 2nd floor, past the security guard who eventually knew me. Up to the 12th floor to teach GED and around 10pm. if it was raining or to rain, power down all the computers and shut the server down. Then down the elevator to the car and home. Frequently our daughter was sleeping and I had to get a meal somewhere, then home to study . Did that for 4 years, Did get my master's degree, met Betty Bush (another short adventure). The only radio station I listened to to was WOI the classical station. Funny now as I write this , I am listening to Aaron Copeland's "Our Town." Music has that way of bringing out the best memories.
Well, yeah. Ownership. Thanks for reminding us about the world before thieves ruled it.
I was a chem major and back in the day, all chemical instrumentation was by graphs and knowing what caused the peaks and dips. It was tough. The theory that one day these instruments, larger than a tesla truck could one day be able to just tell what the compound was. I even took a class in punch cards. My first teaching gig was in Williamsburg,IA. They just got a dedicated phone line to the big computer in Cedar Rapids over at Collins Radio. I got permission to use the Dec Writer which was a typewriter hooked up to this modem and more frequently as not, half way through writing a program, I'd look up and see that the modem had disconnected from the server and what I had done, was lost. I learned to frequently back up. I used it for the science and athletic medicine inventory. Later I graduated to a TRS80 with a stringy floppy. From there to the computer at Dial center at Drake. I was a lab instructor in chemistry and had access. Onward to running the server at the Register learning center and eventually to the world of my own Gateway, Dell and now iMac. It amuses me greatly when I am somewhere some salesman wants to impress me with his computer facts, and I interupt him, saying, "You ever use a Dec Writer?" Stops them cold . The chemistry instrumentation is now smaller than a laser printer and yes, prepare the sample, put it in the machine, and the magic begins, a graph and a solution as to which of the billions of compounds there are prints out. I don't use them anymore, retired from high school teaching, I do not code anymore, but still have the fun of asking, "Dec Writer? Trs80?"
1967-68. I was working at AmericanRepublic Ins. They had IBM 360s (pizza ovens we called em. I had a particular talent for hitting the wrong key and crashing the entire floor of the claims dept.
My week at Drake was 7 to 5pm teach analytical chem lab. At 5 pm scamper across campus to Memorial Hall for my grad class I was taking. At 7pm when the class was done, scamper back to Harvey Ingman, across the street to the art dept parking, hop into the car and drive downtown to the parking garage near the Register. It always smelled of printer ink, Enter on the 2nd floor, past the security guard who eventually knew me. Up to the 12th floor to teach GED and around 10pm. if it was raining or to rain, power down all the computers and shut the server down. Then down the elevator to the car and home. Frequently our daughter was sleeping and I had to get a meal somewhere, then home to study . Did that for 4 years, Did get my master's degree, met Betty Bush (another short adventure). The only radio station I listened to to was WOI the classical station. Funny now as I write this , I am listening to Aaron Copeland's "Our Town." Music has that way of bringing out the best memories.