'Back in the good ol' days...'
The last post caused me to plod through old memories about my own personal computers. I had a couple desktops and one tower (a Gateway IIRC), but living on a boat dictated something smaller.
My first sortie into 'portable computers' was an Osborne 1. It was new on the market having been introduced by Adam Osborne in the fall of 1981. I bought mine about Mar 1982 from a dealer who failed to mention that about 10 days later Osborne Computers would declare bankruptcy and be gone from the market. But the price was right and it worked properly. This one isn't mine but it looks identical with it's 5" screen (amber text) which displayed ASCII characters only. "Graphics? I don't need no ^(*&^%$# graphics!"
 |
| The 'portable' Osborne 1 'compact computer'... all 24 lbs of it! |
The Osborne had 2 floppy drives but no HDD (hard disk drive). IIRC I booted up with a floppy drive which had the MS-DOS operating system on it. Adam Osborne was a tech writer and publisher (Osborne Publishing maybe?) who had several successful books on operating systems, software and hardware. His name got him some $$ backing but sadly the world wasn't ready for it.
I later replaced the Osborne with a COMPAQ which (again, IIRC!) was founded by execs who left Texas Instruments (the semiconductor mfr.) to form the company. The computer pictured is about the same vintage as the one I bought. I can't recall all these years later... it may have had a HDD.
Like the Osborne the COMPAQ used MS-DOS (MS = Microsoft; DOS is the acronym for disk operating system). Those are 5-1/4" floppy drives. It took Western Digital (others preceded WD) a little longer to come up with their version of something that became a cornerstone of home computing: the hard disk drive (HDD). They didn't lead the parade but I had a friend who worked there so theirs is the name I remember.
Circumstances (living on a boat, rapidly changing technology, et al) kept me from updating till about 1988. That was the year I found myself teaching Country Western line dance with a former GF. She was the talent of the operation but I carved out my niche by developing a database of music to catalog all the CDs we used (100s!) and list which song was best suited for each line dance. Plus I measured and listed beats-per-minute and notes about where to count-in to start the line dance. I bought a PC in a tower case so it was a work machine.
Besides teaching line dance classes, we had an occasional gig as DJs, sometimes for Quick Steppers Country Western Dance Club at a couple venues on the San Francisco Peninsula and occasionally at the YWCA in Palo Alto. A request sheet let the dancer select the line dance they wanted and we'd choose appropriate music from the printed database. Required a rapid way to recall possible music choices and help avoid using the same piece multiple times. It was all fun till it wasn't.
After running aground with line dance I managed to get back on the water again in early 2001. Celia and I bought a Gemini 105Mc catamaran in late 2000 at the Annapolis Boat Show (Oct 2000). We took delivery the following April. I decided it was time for another 'portable computer'.
Thankfully (!) the world had moved on and now there were laptops with a 3-1/2" floppy drive and a HDD. I struggled to recall the brand of the laptop but whatever it was it did really well... possibly a Sony. It had an early version of Windows installed. I created a swingarm mount which allowed it to be used either from the wheel in the cockpit with the window open or swiveled 180° and operated from the inside steering station. Amazingly that laptop lasted for a few years doing duty for navigation when the boat was moving plus utilitarian chores doing e-Mail and Word docs.
 |
| Goosebumps ('the Goose') when we took delivery the morning of 11 Apr 2001. Not yet installed when the photo was taken, the laptop would ride on a swing-arm support attached above and left of the wheel in the window opening making it usable from either the cockpit or out of the weather inside the cabin. |
I wish I could recall what navigation software I installed (C-Nav?) but that is lost in a foggy memory. It displayed the chart and overlaid a track through the water as well as the planned route. Worked surprisingly well and was integrated with our autopilot and our GPS. Nav charts were purchased as-needed. We had charts for the Chesapeake, coastal US including the ICW to Key West, the East & West coasts of Florida, plus the Bahamas. We used them all.
We found a buyer for the GOOSE after we discovered Santa Fe and had bought a house there. The initial plan to drive back and forth from Santa Fe to Key West was, well... misguided. I did drag a motorcycle back to Key West one year and rode through the Everglades with cruising friend Michael, then in 2009 we discovered RVs and we pulled our 38' 5th wheel trailer to the KOA campground on Sugarloaf Key for another visit- about 15-20 miles from Key West.
Yeah... 'back in the good ol' days!'
Comments
Post a Comment