What was your first computer?

[mnorian]

Her is a picture of the Pickett slide rule set on 42.2 X 16.6 = 700:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/slr90.jpg


.

 

[mnorian]

The one you show is actually aluminum. Originally, they were magnesium, but corrosion was a problem. Pickett was really the gold standard for metal slide rules.

The Post slide rule shown above was indeed the WWII model which used wood rather than bamboo. Bamboo was really a superior material, being dimensionally stable and self-lubricating. So the WWII Post models are interesting mainly for the way they adapted to that and the strategic materials shortages.

Lawrence Engineering made rather ugly slide rules, in my opinion.

BTW, the largest and most accurate slide rule in the world, the Texas Magnum:

The World's Longest Slide Rule, The Texas Magnum, was demonstrated on February 28, 2001 in the Lockheed-Martin Aircraft Assembly Facility at Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Texas Magnum is 350 feet 6.6 inches and holds the world's record for the longest linear slide rule. It weighs over 300 pounds when assembled and takes 3 people to operate. The Texas Magnum was designed as a traditional Mannheim style slide rule. The A, C, D and L scales are included on the slide rule.


The Texas Magnum is a fully functioning slide rule. After assembly, actual calculations were made on the slide rule. A resident engineer asked for a calculation on the slide rule. He validated that the Magnum computation was accurate to 5 significant digits. (The operator can interpolate to six significant digits.)


The slide rule was built in sections for ease of construction, assembly, storage, and transportation. It assembles to form a single, rigid unit.


A laser tracker measuring device was used to determine the actual total length of the scales on the slide rule. The SMX Tracker 4500 measured the exact length as 350.54948 feet. The previous record of 323 feet 9.5 inches was set in 1979 at the University of Illinois.


This prototype module was made by the designers to test the construction practices. It is on loan to the museum from Skip Solberg.
http://mit-a.com/TexasMagnum.shtml

Ya; I got that pic from a google search for plastic slide rules; it said plastic beside it. There just isn't much out there for the inexpensive models; just the high-end ones or older more collectable ones.

Boy; that Texas Magnum is quite the ruler; just don't see how you would get that in your book bag to take to electronics class!

 

[Calmer Seas]

I believe my fist computer was a Dell, however I'm not entirely sure.
It was big, bulky and more reliable than computers today; I remember the joy of sending emails from that to people.

 

[mnorian]

I believe my first computer was a Dell, however I'm not entirely sure.
It was big, bulky and more reliable than computers today; I remember the joy of sending emails from that to people.

Yes; didn't we; when we got our first email program up and running (did you ever belong to an "email list" web site/club; I was on one for Honda 4 cylinder motorcycles from the 60s-70s; still remember the password to it--but forget the one from the old live,com email from a couple years ago; I lost it) think we were in on the new tech era; and were something special; I did at least; cause I was one of the first in my little community(puffs chest-up); now we get all up-set when we get too many emails; and have companies and apps (don't call them programs--you will date yourself ) to get rid of the pesky things.

 

[Calmer Seas]

Yes; didn't we; when we got our first email program up and running (did you ever belong to an "email list" web site/club; I was on one for Honda 4 cylinder motorcycles from the 60s-70s; still remember the password to it--but forget the one from the old live,com email from a couple years ago; I lost it) think we were in on the new tech era; and were something special; I did at least; cause I was one of the first in my little community(puffs chest-up); now we get all up-set when we get too many emails; and have companies and apps (don't call them programs--you will date yourself ) to get rid of the pesky things.

I'm afraid I wan't a member of the email list. I can recall how amazed at being able to receive emails from across the world in seconds - is it magic!
The truth is far less exciting. mnorian, you're right, nowadays you can check your mailbox and have 100's of emails (likely spam).
Can you remember when Microsoft Live came into action - another amazing thing that has died out.
Doesn't technology move so quickly?

 

[mnorian]

Can you remember when Microsoft Live came into action - another amazing thing that has died out.
Doesn't technology move so quickly?

You got that right; a year ago; I was running a 3 year old HP Win7, LT with IE9, using Hughes-net satellite getting about 3.6-7 MB/ps; and 30 GB per month; to now a new HP Win10, LT with SlimJet browser (Chrome derivative); using Exede Internet from Viasat Inc; running at between 12-14 MB/ps; with 150 GB per month and don't want to go back.

Yes; I was on Microsoft Exchange; a PC based dial-up mail client for Win3.1; from my local ISP; then over the years a bunch of others; till I got my first high-speed; (54.6KB/ps; wow it was neck snapping speed) ISP and finally went to Hotmail.com and now use Outlook.com; much better then Yahoo.com and equal to Google.com. ImO.

 

[Ellie1142545]

My first computer, I got in 2005.....It was a Windows XP. It lasted me almost 10 years....In March of 2014 it crashed, meaning nothing would come up on it except, "a program you tried to download, did not download right, you need to delete it." Trouble is, I couldn't get past that message, so.....Off to buy a new computer, which was windows 8....I downloaded the windows 8.1 two weeks after I bought windows 8....Afther Christmas, and before New Years day, I downloaded windows 10, and it works like a charm......

 

[mnorian]

Afther Christmas, and before New Years day, I downloaded windows 10, and it works like a charm......

Yes; people got to quit being afraid to D/L Win10; it will do no harm; and just grasp the future and don't buy the farm (Linux).

 

[Calmer Seas]

You got that right; a year ago; I was running a 3 year old HP Win7, LT with IE9, using Hughes-net satellite getting about 3.6-7 MB/ps; and 30 GB per month; to now a new HP Win10, LT with SlimJet browser (Chrome derivative); using Exede Internet from Viasat Inc; running at between 12-14 MB/ps; with 150 GB per month and don't want to go back.

Yes; I was on Microsoft Exchange; a PC based dial-up mail client for Win3.1; from my local ISP; then over the years a bunch of others; till I got my first high-speed; (54.6KB/ps; wow it was neck snapping speed) ISP and finally went to Hotmail.com and now use Outlook.com; much better then Yahoo.com and equal to Google.com. ImO.

I use Outlook.com for email, it is an ad free, crisp client. I have experienced issues with Google in the past.
Sounds like an impressive piece of kit you have there.

 

[mnorian]

I use Outlook.com for email, it is an ad free, crisp client. I have experienced issues with Google in the past.
Sounds like an impressive piece of kit you have there.

It does the job. What kind of ISP and speed do you get in the UK?

 

[Ellie1142545]

Yes; people got to quit being afraid to D/L Win10; it will do no harm; and just grasp the future and don't buy the farm (Linux).

Oh, but.....The first time I downloaded it, Was right after it became available....Bad mistake that....Had to do a total restoration, back to window's 8, to the tune of $50....Since I didn't receive a restoration disc with my computer when I bought it....A few day's after the first download, everything went haywire....Nick the computer guy told me, wait 6 months before you download again, if you still plan to use windows 10.....I waited close to 8 months.......I've had it almost 3 months now.....No problems at all.....

 

[Grateful-Nikki]

Oh wow. I was the lucky kid on the block. I had the most fastest pc. Lol. In 1989 a 486 ibm with a VGA screen.

 

[mnorian]

Oh, but.....The first time I downloaded it, Was right after it became available....Bad mistake that....Had to do a total restoration, back to window's 8, to the tune of $50....Since I didn't receive a restoration disc with my computer when I bought it....A few day's after the first download, everything went haywire....Nick the computer guy told me, wait 6 months before you download again, if you still plan to use windows 10.....I waited close to 8 months.......I've had it almost 3 months now.....No problems at all.....

I upgraded my old Win7 machine to W10 the day it was available; and even though it took a little learning curve to get it up to speed (mostly me) and had one period of it blue screening due to a conflict with another program (Slimjet); most of my problems have had to do with browsers; Edge; Firefox, Chrome, and Slimjet; and my dvd player and graphics drivers. I think that's what most of these Win10 problems are; conflicts with old drivers. Here is a thread of all my adventures with Win10 and my old HP LT:

http://www.christianforums.com/threads/a-day-in-the-life-of-windows-10-and-edge-browser.7900142/

 

[LordForgiveMe]

My first computer was Windows 98 but I used a computer since elementary school in the 1990's.

 

[topcare]

A commodore 128, I still miss it.

 

[Ellie1142545]

I upgraded my old Win7 machine to W10 the day it was available; and even though it took a little learning curve to get it up to speed (mostly me) and had one period of it blue screening due to a conflict with another program (Slimjet); most of my problems have had to do with browsers; Edge; Firefox, Chrome, and Slimjet; and my dvd player and graphics drivers. I think that's what most of these Win10 problems are; conflicts with old drivers. Here is a thread of all my adventures with Win10 and my old HP LT:

http://www.christianforums.com/threads/a-day-in-the-life-of-windows-10-and-edge-browser.7900142/

The first time I downloaded it, it worked fine for about 2 weeks, and then everything froze up....I could open any of my browsers...I had firefox and chrome, and of course edge, that came with windows 10.....My games I had up, I couldn't even open them.....That's why i had to have it restored to the Original.....When I took my computer in to Nick, he told me that ohter people were having problems....Mainly with opening the browsers....That's why he suggested waiting until the glitches could be worked out....This time around, it's working like a charm.....

 

[mnorian]

The first time I downloaded it, it worked fine for about 2 weeks, and then everything froze up....I could open any of my browsers...I had firefox and chrome, and of course edge, that came with windows 10.....My games I had up, I couldn't even open them.....That's why i had to have it restored to the Original.....When I took my computer in to Nick, he told me that ohter people were having problems....Mainly with opening the browsers....That's why he suggested waiting until the glitches could be worked out....This time around, it's working like a charm.....

The main problem I had with my old LT; which came with Win7; and started before I d/l-ed Win10; was the drivers for the graphics card from AMD; and neither HP nor AMD had the driver updates for it and the drivers were made in 2011.

Microsoft was still sending monthly updates for windows 7; and is still sending them out and will till 2020; and which company gets the bad publicity? Not HP or AMD; that's for sure.

So if all these company (that includes the browsers; which it is a good chance that one of them did in my LT as they were crashing all the time and might have done yours in as well) would make driver and security updates as long as MS does; there would be a lot less problems with PC's, security; and even video downloading and streaming.

While all this was/is going on with Windows 10; the video streaming world is arguing over Flash players and HTML5; which caused me some problems of my video card not being able to handle the new video bandwidth requirements; or Adobe Flash causing crashes; take your pick. But you would be suprised how many people think; all these problems are from Microsoft.

 

[The Barbarian]

A commodore 128, I still miss it.

The cool part was you could program in CP/M on it, and run some CP/M programs.

 

[FreeinChrist]

Her is a picture of the Pickett slide rule set on 42.2 X 16.6 = 700:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/slr90.jpg


.

oh, I remember college chemistry tests using those! Yikes!

Our first computer was a Commodore.

 

[pgp_protector]

A commodore 128, I still miss it.

Haven't tried it, but might bring back some memories
http://vice-emu.sourceforge.net/