19 May
2024
19 May
'24
3:57 p.m.
I am seeing this hobby growing beyond my own expectations, and a lot of
younger people are coming into it. Many people in their teens and twenties
are newly discovering the 8-bit computers with which I grew up. I had no
concept of computer history until I fell into the hobby, and was fascinated
to learn all about the computers that came before my time, including the
S-100s of the 1970s, then the mini-computers of the prior generation on
which the S-100 machines were based, and then the mainframes on which the
minicomputers were based. I was floored when I first learned that the
ENIAC was up and running in the 1940s--a digital computer in the 1940s!!
Today it seems almost obvious, because I've studied--basically
lived--computer history for so long now.
Like with any passion, you either get it or you don't. Out of the handful
of computer professionals you spoke to, maybe 1 of them will delve deeper
into the history and come away somewhat interested, perhaps inspired in
some way, but for the most part, their career does not depend on knowing
where it all started, just like a mechanic can know every last part of a
car without needing to know about Ford, the Dodge brothers, etc.
But as new people continue to find their way into this hobby, each will
find their niche, and as long as we today do a good job of preserving what
came before us to present up to the people who come after, there will at
least be that opportunity for newcomers to discover and explore the various
facets of computer history.
In short, yes, it will live on, thanks in part to us.
Sellam
On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 8:28 AM Tarek Hoteit via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
A friend of a friend had a birthday gathering.
Everyone there was in their
thirties, except for myself, my wife, and our friend. Anyway, I met a
Google engineer, a Microsoft data scientist, an Amazon AWS recruiter (I
think she was a recruiter), and a few others in tech who are friends with
the party host. I had several conversations about computer origins, the
early days of computing, its importance in what we have today, and so on.
What I found disappointing and saddening at the same time is their utmost
ignorance about computing history or even early computers. Except for their
recall of the 3.5 floppy or early 2000’s Windows, there was absolutely
nothing else that they were familiar with. That made me wonder if this is a
sign that our living version of classical personal computing, in which many
of us here in this group witnessed the invention of personal computing in
the 70s, will stop with our generation. I assume that the most engaging
folks in this newsgroup are in their fifties and beyond. (No offense to
anyone. I am turning fifty myself) I sense that no other generation
following this user group's generation will ever talk about Altairs, CP/M
s, PDPs, S100 buses, Pascal, or anything deemed exciting in computing. Is
there hope, or is this the end of the line for the most exciting era of
personal computers? Thoughts?
Regards,
Tarek Hoteit