What did computers without screens do?

[Tor Arntsen]

On 15 December 2015 at 01:31, Mike <tulsamike3434 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 12/14/2015 08:21 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:

>> Personally, I think the world is GUI-addicted.
>>
>> --Chuck
>>
> Chuck If I may ask...
>
>
>   What would you do with a home no screen computer? I mean what could be
> done with one that would benefit your work / hobby. I mean NO DISREPECT
> by asking this question.

I'll jump in here - take the current microcontroller hobby segment.
You have PIC, or AVR, or Propeller based setups which is used for all
kind of things like programmed robots, model cars, drones and RC
planes, home control, model trains, temperature- and humidity
controlled garden greenhouses, chicken shed day/night door control,
and numerous other uses. These things are computers, a Propeller, for
example, is an 8-core 32-bit small computer all in one chip. Usually
these things have no screen and no keyboard connected. So you program
them by various other means, e.g. through a serial interface. For the
programming part of it (or the preparation of what you load via the
serial interface, or jtag or e.g. a flash or eeprom chip) you'll need
something else, today that's usually a PC, but that's conceptually the
same thing as in times past where you used a terminal or some device
with a keyboard to prepare punched cards or paper tape.