What is a computer? Well DUH - you're looking at one now...this is a test A computer is a device that accepts input, processes and stores data, and produces output.
Let's look first at the history of the computer. It all started back... way back...about 3000 B.C. with the abacus.
A timeline from 3000 B.C. to 1994 exists here.
Aside from the excellent sound, it boasted a whopping 64K of RAM (the same amount in the IBM PCJR) with full stroke keys (better than the IBM's - 'chiclet type' (like a calulator). Disk access (5 1/4" (drives 1541 and 1571) floppy, (a 3 1/2" (1581) was later introduced) was extremely slow (although much faster than the tape drives - which used plain audio cassettes), communicated at 300 bps (I think) - which meant you spent A LOT of time waiting for your programs or data to load. There were fixes to this of course, from cartridge enhancements, to actual chip level replacements. I went both these routes, and preferred the chip level replacement called 'JiffyDos' by Creative Micro Designs.
If you wanted software, there was plenty. We ordered by magazines then (although there were modems availible, I never went online with my 8 bit machines.) Speaking of magazines, that was also a major source of .... source code. Yes - it was a good time to learn to type - both in BASIC (I believe 2.0 on the 64, and 7.0 on the 128), and also in machine code - when programed in machine code - those little machines are quick!
My next computer was a Commodore 128-D - having onboard - 2 (or 3) CPUS - a 8510a (or 8502) - that ran at 1 - 2MHZ (this computer was compatible with the vast software library built for the Commodore 64 - compatibilty really wasn't very common in the early days of computing... buy a new computer - all the old software was now worthless - it wouldn't work with the new system - even from the same manufacturer.)
The 128-D also had a much faster serial disk drive (this one was built in), and a detached keyboard, with a number pad.
The other CPU's the 128 had was a Z-80 - that could run C/PM. The 128
Commodore's disk drives also had their own processor - and memory - and OS - all firmware - as well as the pc's - the OS was firmware.
A disk loaded OS (and later, I had a 1MB RAMDISK expansion - which kept the OS in it - it was powered all the time) came on the market later called GEOS - (Graphic Enviroment Operating System) - which allowed the pc to use icons, a mouse and drivers for printers etc. - much like windows today, and the professional GEOS version was capable of producing printed output compared to the MACS of the time (Perfect Print LQ).
Creative Micro Devices and GEOS, helped to prolong the life of this little 8-bit machine. You can read more about them here. The age of the GUI's (Graphic User Interfaces) - I feel was the beginning of the end - as well as the competition (IBM and Apple) becoming faster... the little 8 bit Commodores couldn't keep up. The next machine they introduced was the Amiga, which I believe was a 16 bit machine - based on the Motorola 68000 (like the mac) - and had 4096 colors (way more than the 16 on the 64!).
After 'my Commodore era' (I still have the 128-D, the 64 overheated...), I purchased a Gateway P5 200- Intel Pentium 200MMX , which I am still using as of 1/2005. It came with 32MB of ram, and a 2GB hard drive, with Windows 95OSR2. I've replaced 2 motherboards, a 'win' modem, added 128MB of RAM, a 27 GB hard drive, Promise Technologies Ultra ATA66 hard drive controller, added a 3DFX - Voodoo3 2000 PCI video card (the video card was so I could play Test Drive 5 - I needed more RAM than the onboard ATI RAGEII+). Also added a HP tape drive, a PCMCIA card reader (I use this for my digital camera), and a ISA to SCSI card for my Microtek scanner. Other devices include a Snappy video capture device, a HP 820Cse 'win' printer, and a HP 7500 external CDRW drive. I also have a Micron Transport XKE, 166Mhz Windows 98se, which I mainly use for vacationing (and downloading digital photos), and for midi-ing. It was one of the few laptops I could find with a built in midi port.
I presently use my computer to track my finances with Quicken, scheduling with Lotus Organizer and storing my digital photos. I enjoy graphic design (I use Ulead's PhotoImpact), Hemera's Big Box of Art (350,000 images), HTML (PhotoImpact does this as well), and AceHTML(Visicom Media), as well as Notepad. I'd like to do more midi work (I use Cakewalk and Voyetra for that). I usually prefer shopping online vs fighting the crowds at the stores. The web is a great for performing research also. Occasionally I play games such as Tomb Raider, and Test Drive.
Well, I'm tired of writing, aren't you tired of reading?
Last update 1/09/2005
Travis Higgins