26 Jan
1998
26 Jan
'98
11:48 a.m.
On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Steve J. Quest wrote:
On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Brett wrote:
I still have my KIM-1 8-)
Now - I have to state that I am in some agreement
with Sam but I also
disagree. The drug culture predates computers (as discussed here) by
serveral centuries (certainly meets the 10 yr rule 8-) And the drug
culture (as discussed here) is an integral part of the early computer
culture (at least in the U.S.) Anyone who attempts to ignore that is
well - Stupid! For some, computers were the anti-drug program of the
day. For others, the other way around.
It the early days of computers, when I used to hang out at the
college computer lab (where my mom worked) to get a chance at the computer
when someone who signed up for it, forgot to show up for their turn, I'd
sit down and hack away. Back in those days (pre-micro days) all the
computer enthusiasts had long hair in a pony tail and smoked pot
regularly. Typically, we'd smoke pot BEFORE we'd start hacking. ;) It
wasn't until I got my KIM-1 and started hanging around micro enthusiasts that I noticed a trend toward short hair, NON-drug
use, and (for want of a
better word) geeks. The long haired pot smoking hacker was more of a nerd
while the micro hacker was more towards the geek. However, in those days,
a geek was very bright, they had to be, you had to build most of your own
stuff, while today it's all GUI and plug&play (tm) technology...........sq
And Steve that is the point - in a way. The 'High' I get from bringing
some poor beastie up from the grave or getting that bit-twiddle interface
to finally work right far exceeds any drugs I have ever done 8-) And when
I look at my PDP-11's - it brings an immediate flash back!
One thing that scares me though is how the 'users' of today are M O R E
braindead than the druggies of yesteryear! It must have been all that
T.V. they watched 8-)
They problem is loosing the 'Solving Process' mentality. It allows anyone
to hype something as a solution to your problem and make you pay for it.
And - Gee - just like drugs - it won't solve anything! Because you are
not Solving the Problem.
Well I have some Problems to Solve now so will let you all get back to
your regularly scheduled discussion 8-)
BC