Intredasting GC MS destroyed my love of computer forever.
Jean-Sebastien Perron wwww.NeuroWorld.ws On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 1:16 AM, Onetrick Pony <[email protected]>wrote: > > Hey Listers : > > Apparently never cracked the Real3D V1.4 inner circle according to what I > can remember , but still , perhaps the > path that eventually led me to Real3D is a story worth tossing (again) . > > Somehow feel the need to begin with an overly detailed background history > about the early days , and Miicrosoft > and how things came to be (from my personal perspective) . Take it for > what it's worth . Maybe something to look > at as your RS renderings are slowly post-processing on your 12 core CPU . > > The Long And Winding Road ... > > Worked for an engineering firm doing field data gathering & handling > during the early to late-80's . The engineers and > data handlers had PC's that featured DOS initially (which was very fast on > Intel 80286 processors) . DOS was not very > "user-friendly" though (a newly coined term of the time) , however it > worked very well for most of our particular needs . > > Never heard any complaints personally about DOS in those days (except > from Apple users), circa 1986 . Self taught > 'Lotus 1-2-3' and theDOS/Intel combo ran all spreadsheets instantly !!! > There was no such thing as 'Lag' , even with > such a horrible 16 bit processor as the latest Intel offering , the 286-16 > Mhz (which made it a very slow machine for > the MS Windows we were all about to be horribly subjected to in the next > year or so) . > > The in-house (do nothing) Tech advisor suggested we upgrade to Microsoft > Windows Version 1.x in 1987 . Computer > shop demonstrations instantly sold that nightmare to the 'Brass' and all > office workstations were immediately upgraded > overnight so that we might all have this new incredible operating system > right at our very own desk(tops) !!! > > Holy freakin' she-ite . What a piece of crap ! Turned out to be a fate > worse than death to work with . Boot-times from > hell . Program launch times not fit for human consumption . Wait times > were very stressful for everyone , from the > receptionist to the data analyzers to human resources and management teams > . > > Just an absolute joke . We hated it . The tech Guru started to sweat a > little , but his second to none ass kissing made > up for a multiple of (and very possibly , kicked-backed) sins . > > Obviously the almost 3 year old computers (IBM AT's) that had very slow > 286 CPU's were part of the problem . 'The > Computer Dealer' ran their Window's demos on the latest 386 (of course) > which had over twice the amount of tran- > sistors as the 286 . More on that later . > > However ... > > ... however ... the nice clean pretty and polished GUI was indeed charming > and actually comforting to work with (somehow) > once one got it all booted up and launched finally .Something new and also > exciting was to be experienced here with this new > product . MS Excel was a real treat on a 14 inch colour monitor, but ... > launch it and then go make a pot of coffee . > > A mouse to navigate with instead of F-Keys or keyboard shortcuts . Colors > , Icons , a 'User-interface' (another new term) > that was very/very/very consistent no matter where a user chose to explore > (if they had more time than brains to do so) . > > Maybe if a person , perhaps was employed by a government agency or a > corporation etc , then I'm guessing the stress > might not have been so dramatically experienced as those of us that had 'a > certain amount of work that had to be done > within a certain amount of time' . To simply locate , and then completely > load a spreadsheet file was agonizing . Hard drives > sounded like gerbils running in a squirrel cage . Waiting - waiting - like > the Second Coming , it seemed to take forever . > > DOS was a racehorse compared to Windows and would remain that way for > quite a while . Even when we bought all > new computers again , with 386's this time MS Windows was still a slow > hog . It was a 16 bit app running on top of > another app . Mac's and Amiga's had pure sleek , 32 bit operating systems > > MS Windows was hell , but Bill Gates had a lot of clout and was able to > push his ridiculous product onto the hungry herd . > MIcrosoft was like a Mafia , and all sorts of underhandedness was very > effective in eventually gaining an almost complete > stranglehold in the marketplace . > > It was like the wild, wild west again , with a brave new frontier just > opening up , and Bill Gates was the most connivin' , > most underhanded , 2-bit , horse-thievin' , cattle-robbin' dirtiest > gunslinger in a brand new town full of nuns and > orphans . Like shooting fish in a barrel . Soon , 1000's of machines a day > would be sold with his new OS installed , all > nice and shiny and very , very slow . > > Enter 'The Mac' > > I bought a Mac in 1986 and so was one of many who could compare the 2 > systems . Bringing my Mac-Plus to work > made me instant enemies with our in house Tech Guru . My tiny Mac was a > one box solution that had a built-in small , > hi-res monochrome monitor . Just unplug the unit and pick it up by it's > handle and throw it in the passenger seat . > > I ran MS Excel on it at lightning speed , almost as fast as DOS . The > data handlers would fight for the use of it when I > went out in the field to gather more data . It was a true Cadillac > compared to the slow-as-molasses MS Windows mule . > I could not use the MS machines any longer in fact . I very simply could > not bear it and we did not have MS Excel for > DOS , so it was my Mac or nothing for me , which worked out well anyway . > > I got very good at Excel and it's built-in Macro Programming language > while others just sat there staring at the nice > colour monitor waiting for their work to finally load . Soon , the > dedicated data handlers were coming to me for help > with Excel when I was actually just a part-time handler who much preferred > the outdoors to the office pettiness . > > Eventually others in the office woke up and bought their own Macs also . > Going back to Windows after using a Mac > all day was like a kind of punishment for them . The office Guru grew to > thoroughly detest me (oh well) . > > Still . the MS/Intel cartel made Motorola and Apple's efforts look like > used napkins at a rib-fest . In this emerging and > potentially huge new marketplace , Macs managed to grab and hold a certain > part of that market but MS had their > Lion's share right from the 'Get-Go' . They had a growing mountain of > software and if you wanted it you had to run > it on THEIR OS , for the most part . > > Lucky for some that MS signed an agreement to release a strategic > portion of S/W for the Mac also , and in exchange > for that , MS got to keep the 'Look & Feel' part of Windows for V1.0 . > > Stay Tuned for Part 2 > > GC > > > > > >
