Most people here have been at this a while (or a long time, or forever).
So we've all seen technologies come and go -- probably with mixed
feelings. Some vanished too soon, good riddance to others.
What computing/career artifacts do people have? I have a couple hex
calculators. One is the TI Programmer II -- might have cost $60 a couple
decades ago, much less than the $250 model that preceded it -- which my
boss foolishly refused to buy for me (productivity, what's that?). The
other is mechanical, with metal slides and stylus (I think I bought it
as a novelty, never used it in production). I know people/companies
which have decorated hallways/rooms in "early mainframe" (my wife calls
one friend's house a computer mausoleum; I liked walking down the
hallway telling her what each box did).
Of course there are computer museums...
http://destinationz.org/Mainframe-Solution/Trends/Computing-Museums-Preserve-IT-History.aspx
...but I'm interested in what individuals have. So... some thinking points:
* You've used it, now it's in museum -- how does that make you feel?
* Most influenced your career
* Most liked/disliked
* Most significant technology breakthrough
* You developed/supported it
* You have pictures of it
* You have it
* You want it
* You bought it
* You bartered for it
* You found it
* Someone gave it to you for free
* You stole it
* It's on eBay
* Family reactions; your spouse loves/hates it/them
* It's small/large
* It's operational
* You're restoring it
* You use it productively
* It's in storage
* You threw it away and now can't believe you didn't keep it
* You're glad it's gone, never want to see one again (1052, 6670,
2250, etc.)
* You've decorated your house in early mainframe
* You have the T-shirt
* You have the emotional/physical scars
Regarding first one -- quite a while ago, I saw a TI Silent 700 thermal
terminal mounted on a Smithsonian museum wall like a trophy. I sighed,
having lugged those around, to meetings, on trips.
Please copy replies to me directly so they're not buried in list
digests. Brief would be good -- this is an article, not a book. But
don't just list things; tell why you have them, what they mean to you,
etc. Tell me if you have pictures of these trophies (or might take some)
but don't send 'em yet.
I started this having hardware in mind but software seems to qualify
also -- e.g., I knew someone who had every version of MS-DOS and Windows
running in PC virtual machines, artifacts indeed. So if you're running
OS/360 PCP on a 360/40 that seems to qualify.
Thanks...
--
Gabriel Goldberg, Computers and Publishing, Inc. [email protected]
3401 Silver Maple Place, Falls Church, VA 22042 (703) 204-0433
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gabegold Twitter: GabeG0
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