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VK2TV > AMSTRA 13.09.09 08:53l 75 Lines 3080 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 780105VK2TV
Read: GUEST DG1NDE
Subj: Re: Computermania.
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0ERF<OK0NAG<OK0PPL<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<F6CDD<F6BVP<
VK2TV
Sent: 090913/0640Z @:VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC #:2842 [Kempsey, QF68JX] $:780105VK2
From: VK2TV@VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC
To : AMSTRA@WW
VK6BE wrote:-
> From : VK6BE
> To : AMSTRA@WW
> Type/status : B$
> Date/time : 13-Sep 15:29
> BID (MID) : F30118VK6BE
> Message # : 2838
> Title : Computermania.
>
> Path: !GB7LDI!ZL2BAU!ON0AR!F8KFY!CX2SA!VK2DOT!VK6ZRT!
>
> From: VK6BE@VK6ZRT.#BUN.#WA.AUS.OC
> To : AMSTRA@WW
>
>
> Hi Ray and computermaniacs,
> Ye I remember the Amstrad. They were a pretty advanced machine for their
> time but still too expensive for me with a family to keep.
>
> I started with a Dick Smith kit with a 2650 processor. It was OK for
> playing simple games and learning a bit about Basic programming but
> virtually useless for anything else as there was no convenient way of
> storing data except with a taperecorder. - slow and not always a
> successful exercise, and the amount of memory was tiny..
>
> My next was a CMD 64 followed by a CMD 16 and the the CMD 128. After that
> I went to a succession of PCs. By then the machines were becoming cheaper
> and with HDDs much more convenient to use.
>
> I really believe that the Commodore word processor Superscript was one of
> the best I have tried even up to today. It had commands none of the modern
> WPs I have tried can manage to perform. There was a FORMAT command which
> formatted the work in proper paragraphing, and by highlighting and hitting
> a button I could change from upper to lower case with a single stroke of a
> key. There were other features too. It also waited for me to tell it what
> I wanted it to do not like Word 7 that makes up its mind presupposing what
> you might want it to perform, which annoys me greatly.Some of its
> decisions I find hard to reverse. Try altering its automatic tabulating
> and numbering of sentences!
>
> With the Microbees while we were using them at the primary school I got
> hold of an adaptation of WordStar and found that it worked quite well and
> that 12 year olds, in spite of what the "expert" said, could handle it
> very well. He didn't know much about the capabilities of children.
>
> Cheers,
> Bob VK6BE.
>
>
>>I still have an Amstrad "portable" computer. It's more like a small
>>suitcase than a computer. It has one of those yellow/green LCD screens
>>that has to be front-lit, two, 720kb floppies, one serial port and an
>>internal 2400bps dialup modem. The "engine" is a 4.77MHz XT.
>
> --- End of messsage #2838 to AMSTRA from VK6BE ---
>
I remember well the hour and a half it took to install Word Perfect from
floppies on a 4.77Mhz XT, and that massive 20MB HDD I installed.
I still have a Casio PB100 programmable calculator, circa 1982. It can be
programmed in BASIC and has 1.5kb of RAM, and can store up to ten
programs. We used a couple of them for spherical trigonometry for
navigation purposes when we were playing around with Sextants in the days
long before satellite navigation was an affordable accessory, back in the
days of Satnav or was that Navsat? 1.5kb of RAM teaches one economy in
programming.
The Casio still works.
Cheers ... Ray vk2tv
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