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The Michigan Road


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Perhaps also worth noting is the fact that, within hours of the event, Chris posted a (reportedly) 3D image that cost just a fraction of a penny and was taken with a pocket sized devise that cost little more than a few boxes of cards to feed your 1442. Jim was barely aware of his picture being taken. By comparison, I assume you had to sit rigidly for hours or days while the corporate artist worked, with palette and brush, on a platform above the console.

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My intro to computers was when I was working at the Portsmouth (NH) Navy Yard in the 1980's. We had a couple of those old WANG word processors with keyboard and screen one unit. When we went to "real"(???) computers, the first one was a 286. The powers that be wanted to see if we could put the files from the WANG onto the 286 (which quickly evolved into a 386). They brought some computer nerd in - his take was it would cost umpteen bucks and take about 3 weeks to a month, during which time we would have no access.

Long story short - shortly after the nerd left I noticed the WANG had a phone jack in the back. Hmmmmmmmm. I called the main computer room, gal comes up, takes a look and says "Yeah, we can download the files to the main frame via the phone connection, got a translator program, not a problem." 2 hours later ------- I walks into the bosses office and says "Oh, by the way, I got the files transferred from the WANG to the 386 and they work fine." She looked at me like I had two heads, so I told her how it was done.

 

Hey, nobody said it couldn't be done, and I sure as heck didn't know what the gal from the main computer room was telling me. All I know is (1) it worked and (2) it got me a $250 incentive check (less about $30 in taxes).

 

Oh, I should have added - what does all this chat about early computers have to do with highway travel - well for one thing if we didn't have computers we wouldn't have all these great road stories and the wonderful people here on American Road!!!

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Edited by Alex Burr - hester_nec
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My intro to computers was when I was working at the Portsmouth (NH) Navy Yard in the 1980's. We had a couple of those old WANG word processors with keyboard and screen one unit. When we went to "real"(???) computers, the first one was a 286. The powers that be wanted to see if we could put the files from the WANG onto the 286 (which quickly evolved into a 386). They brought some computer nerd in - his take was it would cost umpteen bucks and take about 3 weeks to a month, during which time we would have no access.

Long story short - shortly after the nerd left I noticed the WANG had a phone jack in the back. Hmmmmmmmm. I called the main computer room, gal comes up, takes a look and says "Yeah, we can download the files to the main frame via the phone connection, got a translator program, not a problem." 2 hours later ------- I walks into the bosses office and says "Oh, by the way, I got the files transferred from the WANG to the 386 and they work fine." She looked at me like I had two heads, so I told her how it was done.

 

Hey, nobody said it couldn't be done, and I sure as heck didn't know what the gal from the main computer room was telling me. All I know is (1) it worked and (2) it got me a $250 incentive check (less about $30 in taxes).

 

Oh, I should have added - what does all this chat about early computers have to do with highway travel - well for one thing if we didn't have computers we wouldn't have all these great road stories and the wonderful people here on American Road!!!

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

Denny,

 

Yah, they did photos on a glass plate in those days. Then they sent the plates by Pony Express to make prints! And then they were hand colored.

 

And Alex,

 

you are correct, without computers Denny couldn't make fun of my "tender years." Incidentally, I taught a class to a group of engineers at the Bremerton Ship yards in about 1980 while they still had the Big Mo there. It was the start of the IBM PC, and we taught them how to use Visacalc. They were both astounded and delighted at what the computer and Visacalc could do. I still am.

 

And I think Missouri and Michigan both start with M, which makes this post relevant.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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...And then they were hand colored.

That reminded me of something that will get this even further off topic. A long time back, a friend's mother worked at home for a local studio doing hand tinting on portraits. She usually worked in the late evening and placed the portraits against a hallway wall to dry over night. My friend, then a very young child, would wake up in a constantly changing gallery of complete strangers which made for some weird childhood memories.

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